FARM MANAGEMENT 407 



To raise corn on 30 acres the greatest distance from farmstead 

 will require : 



Manuring 240 trips 



Plowing 20 trips 



Harrowing 9 trips 



Disking 8 trips 



Planting 6 trips 



Cultivating 40 trips 



Husking 30 trips 



Total 353 trips 



If each trip is 172 rods, 353 trips will make 190 miles, additional 

 travel. Equal to $19 cash in time consumed. 



Note. Fencing. Ten acres of land contains 1 600 square rods. 

 In a square field 160 rods of fencing would be required to inclose it, 

 but such a field would be expensive to work on account of the large 

 amount of turning necessary. If the field were made ioX 1 60 rods, 

 340 rods, or 180 rods additional, fence would be required. The de- 

 preciation of this amount of additional fence and the cost of keeping up 

 the fence would indicate that a compromise between these two, ex- 

 tremes would be wise. A field 20X^0 rods would be the medium. 



A well-arranged farmstead is also instrumental in greatly reducing 

 the cost of operating the farm. When the number of trips and the 

 time consumed is calculated, one realizes the importance of well- 

 arranged buildings and yards. On most farms 1095 trips will be 

 made yearly between the feed barns and the swine pens. If the pens 

 are 5 rods farther from the barns than is necessary, 10,950 rods, or 

 34.2 miles, of unnecessary travel will be entailed. The saving of time 

 that may be made in connection with doing the chores on a modern 

 diversified farm is large and becomes an important factor in the net 

 earnings of the business. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL 



Part of the business of the farm manager consists 

 in preserving the fertility of the land and in improving 

 the condition of the soil as far as possible. Fertility 



