CHAPTER 20 

 SOME SUCCESSFUL FARMS 



CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL FARMS AND HOW TO 

 FIND THEM 



No farm can be called successful that does not main- 

 tain its productivity, pay all farm expenses, interest 

 on the capital, pay for work done by members of the 

 family, and, in addition, leave the operator good pay for 

 his year's work ; that is, a good labor income. 



Sometimes a person who desires to find a profitable 

 farm starts out by looking for unusual types of farming. 

 Sometimes the attempt is to find a farm that agrees with 

 some theory of what a successful farm is thought to be. 

 This has sometimes been a farm that keeps the greatest 

 number of cows per acre, secures the largest crop yields, 

 uses green manure, or some other point that agrees with 

 the searcher's fancy. 



By survey methods, when the capital, receipts, and 

 expenses on each farm in a region are recorded, one finds 

 the really successful farms. Usually they are farms that 

 are much like those of the neighbors, but that are more 

 efficient for some reason. Occasionally, the very profit- 

 able farm is entirely different from the other farms of the 

 region. 



Of the 49 farms in Table 22, pages 134 to 140, only 

 8 are very different from the farms of the neighbors. 



A farm may be very successful for the amount of capital 



535 



