No. 4.] FACTORS IN SUCCESSFUL FARMING. 73 



than we consume all told ; that is what the State Board of 

 Agriculture put out, and we are getting down pretty close. 

 If we should have a famine we should have to go to Russia 

 to get something to eat. A fellow goes to the city and gets 

 $60 or $70 a month, pays $30 for house rent, and all things, 

 and where is his money ? The cashier of a bank in Great 

 Barrington said the other day something which I want to re- 

 peat to you. I said to him, " Who are your depositors in 

 your bank ? Who are the most reliable ? Where does the 

 most money come from that you can depend on ? He says, 

 " The farmers." " How about the business men ? " And 

 he says, " They overdraw their accounts every month." 



Professor Waeren. Perhaps we had better turn it around 

 the other way, about boys leaving the farm. We have 

 studied this thing, and it isn't all hot air, as it is in the 

 papers. We went to every farmhouse and said, " How many 

 children have you ? " We asked them, " What is each child 

 doing?" We got the occupation of the daughters, the hus- 

 bands, the sons, found what they were doing, and found that 

 82 per cent of the sons were staying on the larger farms of 

 200 acres and over. I don't remember the exact percentage 

 on the small farms, but it was about 29 per cent. The sons 

 will not stay on the small farms where there is nothing for 

 them to do. 



Mr. Race. Then a man had better buy a farm right 

 side of his and put the boy on it. 



Professor Warren. That is business. [Laughter and 

 applause.] Suppose you have got 8 cows and 15 acres of 

 hay and a little corn silage and a little oats and have got 

 four sons and, of course, you aren't dead yet yourself — 



Mr. Race. Then I would have four farms right around 

 there and work them between the four sons. 



Professor Warren. And tJiat is business, too ; and then 

 you get your 200 acres, [Applause.] The little farm busi- 

 ness is a question of whether you are going to starve to death 

 or not. The crop yield per acre on the large farm is as 

 good, or better, than on the small. Furthermore, on the 

 small farm the horse eats up about all it earns, and there is 

 nothing much left. The 200-acre farms are contributing 



