242 



Table 9. — Size of Farm Related to Profits. 

 578 farms, Livingston County, New York. 



Number of Average size Tillable area I^abor 



Acres farmed. farms. (acres). (acres). income. 



30 or less 17 20 17 $54 



31-50 35 43 37 295 



51-100 147 79 64 437 



101-150 178 127 104 593 



151-200 89 175 142 934 



Over 200 112 305 241 1,082 



In these regions the average farmer with less than 50 acres would 

 make more money if he sold his farm, loaned his money and hired out as a 

 farm laborer, or better yet, be a tenant on a larger farm, or many of them 

 might better go in debt for a large farm and own it. 



Comparatively few farmers with less than 100 acres made very good 

 profits. Of the 551 farmers who farmed 100 acres or less, only six made 

 labor incomes of $1500. But of 292 farmers who farmed over 150 acres, 

 60 made over $1500. 



Relation of Acres of Crops to Profits. — A still better way of measuring 

 size is to compare the area of crops grown. This includes all harvested 

 crops but does not include pasture. Table 10 gives such a comparison. 



Table 10. — Relation of Acres of Crops to Labor Income. 



Average Number of 

 Acres of crops. acres crops farm. Labor income. 



'20 or less 14 18 $24 



21- 40. 31 55 257 



41-60 51 95 400 



61-80 69 115 481 



81-100 90 96 642 



101-140 118 112 937 



Over 140 193 88 1,261 



Most of the economics in production are dependent on the area of 

 crops grown. Five horses can raise 100 to 125 acres of general farm crops 

 when the crops consist of a good combination of grain, hay and potatoes, 

 apples or cabbage. If the crops are of the above kinds, there should be at 

 least 20 acres per horse, but if they are hay and grain, there should be at 

 least 30 acres per horse. In the eastern states, the cost of horse labor per 

 acre is more than the interest on the land. While five horses can raise 

 125 acres of crops, it is difficult to raise 50 acres of crops with two horses. 

 Farm machinery is built on the 2, 3 and 4-horse basis. Evidently if one 

 has less than 80 acres of crops, he must go without good machinery or must 

 keep too many horses. There is no solution of the problem for him. 



Machinery, horses and labor cannot be used efficiently with less than 

 80 to 100 acres of crops, 200 acres is still better. The various reasons 

 for this have been published elsewhere. In this discussion, it is sufficient 

 to see that size of business is very important and that crop acres is one of 

 the best measures of size. 



