CAPITAL-GOODS AS A FACTOR IN PRODUCTION 291 



Land, 165 . 88 acres at $46 . 25 (average) . . $7,676 . 42 



Farm buildings 2,700. oo 



Household buildings 2,500. oo 



Fences 763 . 74 



Drainage 366. 43 



Water supply 225 . oo 



$14,231.59 



Work animals 640. 71 



Colts and driving horses 250. 95 



Cattle 582 . 26 



Sheep 201 . 05 



Swine 158.34 



Poultry 52 . 60 



Bees 3.23 



Harness 131-05 



Machinery 1,125 . 48 



Minor articles 200. oo 



Produce, supplies, etc 631 . 03 



3,977.60 



In actual practice innumerable factors tend to reduce the cost of 

 equipping farms. Few farms in the older sections of the United 

 States, like Ohio, are equipped outright with new buildings, fences, and 

 machinery, and the foregoing summary would, of course, apply only 

 to these farms; but the table is of interest in showing the amount of 

 money spent during a series of years in bringing the equipment up 

 to a profitable working basis. Proper organization, a prerequisite to 

 successful farm management, refers not only to the cropping system, 

 live-stock management, etc., but to the distribution of capital and 

 the selection of equipment. This study of a number of Ohio farms 

 does not afford sufficient data from which to draw general conclusions, 

 but illustrates by concrete example many of the factors to be taken 

 into consideration in equipping farms. 



88. OVERINVESTMENT IN BUILDINGS AND MACHINERY 1 

 BY G. F. WARREN 



In Livingston County, the investment in houses represents 14 per 

 cent of the total capital in the farm business, including real estate, 

 equipment, live stock, and supplies. Certainly, one should hesitate 



1 From "Some Suggestions for City Persons Who Desire to Farm," Circular 

 No. 24, Agricultural Experiment Station of the College of Agriculture, Cornell Uni- 

 versity, pp. 35-39. 



