SHALL I RE A FARMER f 15 



The hours of labor on a farm are usually longer than in 

 the city, hut when allowance is made for the trip to and 

 from work, there is not much difference. The successful 

 farm owner works long hours, but so does the successful 

 business or professional man in a city. 



One advantage of farming as of any other independent 

 business is that one does not face a " dead line." If one 

 who works on a salary loses his position when he is past 

 middle life, he is likely to find it hard to get another, 

 because young men are wanted. 



10. Ways of measuring profits. If all business 

 expenses are subtracted from the farm receipts, we ob- 

 tain the income that has been produced by the farmer and 

 his money. If from this we subtract the value of his 

 work, we can determine the per cent made on the invest- 

 ment. If 'instead we subtract the interest that his money 

 would have earned if placed at interest, we will have left 

 the pay that the farmer received for his year's work or his 

 labor income. 



If the capital is very large, the rate of interest made on 

 the capital is the more important figure, but with the 

 amount of capital that is usual in farming, the labor income 

 is much more significant. Furthermore, the interest rate is 

 easily determined, while it is difficult to estimate the value 

 of the farmer's labor and supervision. If a farmer makes a 

 labor income of $300, it means that his farm has paid 

 interest on the investment at the prevailing rate in the 

 region, has paid all business expenses, and has left $300 

 to pay for the farmer's management and labor. 1 If a 



1 In calculating labor income, the value of board of hired labor is 

 counted as an expense, but no personal or living expenses are counted. 

 If the farmer's sons or other members of the family do farm work without 

 pay, their labor is counted as an expense and rated at what they would 



