334 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



It is seen that in the Wisconsin county the average labor income, 

 as above determined, is $558 per annum and the average farm income 

 is $1,073 P er annum. In the Massachusetts county the average labor 

 income is minus $67. In other words, the average farm income is 

 $67 less than 5 per cent interest on the average investment per farm. 

 The reasons for this difference are seen in the data given in the table. 

 In the first place, the western farms are twice as large as the eastern 

 farms, but the average investment in farm buildings is nearly 50 per 

 cent larger on the eastern farms. The investment in farm machinery 

 is also considerably larger on the small farms of the East. In the 

 matter of gross income the eastern farms have distinctly the advan- 

 tage. Although the average number of cows per farm in the Massa- 

 chusetts county is less than half of what it is in the Wisconsin county 

 and the income per cow is i\ times as much, the great difference in 

 expenses in the two counties more than counterbalances this increased 

 income. The Massachusetts county has on the average a higher 

 income per farm from dairy products. It also has a 50 per cent 

 greater income from crops. The trouble lies in the higher expense of 

 farming in the East. The labor bill on the Massachusetts farm is 

 $527 annually, while on the Wisconsin farm it is only $146. The 

 Massachusetts farmer's children have gone to the city and he must 

 hire his labor; the Wisconsin farmer's family does most of the labor. 

 The farmer in the Massachusetts county spends an average of $74 a 

 year for fertilizers, the one in Wisconsin about $i annually. The 

 Massachusetts farmer buys practically all his concentrated feed and 

 perhaps some roughage; the Wisconsin farmer raises most of the feed 

 on his own farm, his farm being large enough to justify this course. 

 The total expenses of the average farm in the Massachusetts county 

 are nearly a thousand dollars greater than in the Wisconsin county, 

 while the total income is only about $200 greater. 



In order that farming in this Massachusetts county shall be as 

 profitable as in the Wisconsin county, it is necessary, on account of 

 the very much higher expense of farming hi the East as compared with 

 the West, that the farm business be based largely on enterprises which 

 have a distinct economic advantage over similar enterprises in the 

 West. It is not yet possible to state in full just what these enterprises 

 are, but some illustrations can be given. The production of hay in the 

 New England states is less than sufficient to supply the local demand. 

 A considerable proportion of the supply must, therefore, come from 

 the Middle West. As hay is a cheap, bulky product, transportation 



