CAPITAL NECESSAEY IN FAEMING 25 



The most important factor in successful farm- 

 ing is the size of the business. The highest 

 profits are made when size, diversity, and good 

 production are combined in a well-balanced 

 business ; but it is almost impossible to make a 

 large profit unless one has plenty of capital 

 with which to work. 



Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa are wealthy farm- 

 ing communities. The land is productive and 

 conditions are propitious. Yet when all the 

 farms in one county of each state were investi- 

 gated it was found that one farmer out of every 

 three was paying for the privilege of working 

 on his own farm. He had to work with his 

 money to make it pay interest. The family lived 

 well because the capital invested paid enough 

 to allow of good living but the head of the 

 household was working for nothing. 



The farmer does not talk in terms of finance 

 but he knows more about the business of farm- 

 ing than people give him credit for. The Illi- 

 nois owner of a farm does not exert himself 

 to make a labor income, because he has enough 

 to live on without it, but the tenant farmer of 



