THE SIZE OF FARMS 159 



and whose family does not detract too much from the well- 

 being of the neighborhood (an effective man married to an 

 effective woman usually operates on his own account very soon, 

 and cannot be had on the wage basis), (4) the possibility of two 

 single-handed farmers arranging to help each other on the 

 tasks requiring two men. 



Economy in the utilization of machinery. " Most of the 

 common farm machinery can be used to do the work on a 200- 

 or 3Oo-acre farm, as well as on a small farm." l There is truth 

 in this statement so far as certain types of machines are con- 

 cerned. In the production of corn, no very expensive ma- 

 chinery is used unless a corn binder is used. Plows can be had 

 of varying capacity from one horse to the great tractor plows. 

 In the production of small grain, the binder is the one machine 

 usually owned by the farmer which costs over one hundred 

 dollars, and in humid regions and on rich land, the acreage to 

 be cut by one machine cannot be expanded much beyond what 

 two men can put in without the risk of losing a part of the 

 crop. The two single-handed farmers will find it profitable 

 to own a binder jointly and work together in grain harvest. 

 The question always arises, " Will the greater degree of utiliza- 

 tion of a given machine compensate for the other disadvantages 

 involved in increasing the size of the farm? " 



This leads to a discussion of the unit of organization on the 

 farm. On the great wheat fields in California, the unit may 

 be based upon the combined harvester and thresher. This ma- 

 chine, the crew to operate it, and the land, men, horses, 

 and other equipment required to raise that amount of wheat 

 which can be cut during the normal harvest period, may here 

 make up the unit of organization. In the corn belt of central 

 Illinois, where corn is the principal source of income, one man 

 and team of from two to four horses, a plow, a harrow, a corn 

 planter, a corn cultivator suited to the horse power decided 

 upon, becomes the basic unit of organization. This same unit, 

 with the addition of a grain seeder, a binder, and a mower, will 

 care for oats and hay in combined amounts equal to the area 



1 G. F. Warren, "Farm Management," p. 257. 



