10 



horse power. A tractor, even in good hands, has off days, 

 when it is laid up for repairs. In the case of truck crops such 

 delays are attended with too much risk. I have, therefore, kept 

 the same number of horses as before I had the tractor, but 

 have enlarged my business by purchasing another farm which 

 is devoted largely to hay and grain growing. A few days' 

 delay in handling these crops is not dangerous, so we have 

 plenty of reserve power to handle our truck crops in an emer- 

 gency, and use the reserve to advantage when all goes well. 



I have found it good policy, also, to have duplicates of certain 

 kinds of machinery which experience demonstrates is likely to 

 give out when in use. A potato digger in stony soil is such a 

 machine, and while my acreage in potatoes is not sufficient to 

 require two diggers, yet I have an extra one in readiness if one 

 breaks down. Three years ago I thought of purchasing a potato 

 sprayer of a little larger capacity, but the price was so high 

 that I thought I would wait until prices went down after the 

 war. In July, 1918, our sprayer broke down when we first 

 began to use it, and we were delayed in getting repairs. In the 

 meantime late blight developed to a large degree. We sprayed 

 thoroughly the rest of the season, and perhaps would have 

 been all right if it had not been a rainy fall. But the fall was 

 rainy, and we had fallen down in our preparations for such an 

 emergency. The consequences were that we lost money enough 

 to have bought five new sprayers at war prices. 



The crops farmer in our climate is usually at a loss to find 

 ways to employ his men during the winter season. I have 

 found a farm shop, where all harnesses and machinery can be 

 overhauled, repaired and all weak parts renewed, to be a splen- 

 did investment. Every day spent at this work in winter saves 

 a day at a critical time in summer. With a full complement of 

 machinery all overhauled and repaired, and every piece ready 

 for use the day it is needed, we have eliminated a big source 

 of risk. 



Labor. 



Our next factor is that of labor. Farm management studies 

 have shoMm that the farmer's labor income is conditioned upon 

 his doing a business of good size. This means that most 

 farmers must hire labor to supplement their own. Ability to 



