536 FARM MANAGEMENT 



that the owner has, or successful for the area used, or 

 successful for a farm operated by a woman, or successful 

 under some other condition. But if we wish to see what 

 the principles of successful farm organization and man- 

 agement are, we can best determine them by studying 

 farms that are not so limited. 



The most successful farmers usually pass through many 

 years before they are able to secure the capital and other 

 conditions that enable them to make large profits in a year. 

 All the time they may be doing the best thing with their 

 limitations, but only when they overcome the limitations 

 do they make examples of the most efficient farm organi- 

 zation. 



Some persons are inclined to say that it is all in the man. 

 But the unusual man can only express himself by definite 

 acts. By studying many farms, it is possible to see in 

 just what way the successful farm or its management 

 differs from the other farms of the region. Merely being 

 an " unusual man " does not amount to anything, unless 

 one does something definite. Successful farms differ 

 from unsuccessful ones by perfectly tangible things. The 

 farm may be large, so that labor and equipment are more 

 efficiently used. It may be that there are three or four 

 important products rather than one, and that these fit 

 together so that they can be produced without much more 

 labor than one or two products require. It may be that 

 the crop yields, or the production of animals, are increased 

 without proportionate increase in cost. Sometimes the 

 results are due to a better soil, or some other natural 

 factor. Sometimes a farmer may work harder, or be able 

 to get his men to work harder, than the average, but either 

 or both of these do not go very far unless some other fac- 

 tors, usually one or all of the above, are combined with the 



