108 FAEM MANAGEMENT 



case rotation is desirable. This usually involves diversi- 

 fied farming. 



79. Diversified farming lessens the risk of total 

 failure. The farmer is so dependent on weather, pests, 

 and prices that he hesitates to take the chance of total 

 failure that he must assume if he has only one product to 

 sell. Even if this product is an animal, .the risk is very 

 great, because if crops fail, feed must be purchased and 

 often at prices that make the animals unprofitable. If there 

 are several important crops, they are not likely to all fail 

 in the same year. These risks are not so great when 

 farming by irrigation, but even then the risk is great. A 

 farmer must pay his living expenses, labor, interest, taxes, 

 and farm running expenses. A failure when he has but 

 one cash product is a serious matter, as he will have to 

 carry all these expenses for another year. 



80. Diversified farming may distribute the income 

 throughout the year. If the year's income is all re- 

 ceived at one time, it is difficult to make the money last 

 through the year, even when the same amount of money 

 coming at convenient intervals might provide very well. 

 Most kinds of diversified farming are better than special 

 farming in this respect. 



81. Diversified farming may distribute the labor 

 throughout the year. The most important considera- 

 tion of all and the one that controls the situation in nearly 

 every case is the problem of keeping men, horses, and 

 machinery busy throughout the year. This subject is so 

 important that an extended discussion of the problem will 

 be given. Some types of special farming are satisfactory 

 in this respect, but they are so very rare that only here 

 and there do we find a profitable farm that sells only one 

 important product. 



