74 THE NEW BUSINESS OF FAEMING 



(5) Proportion of days which will be lost by 

 weather, condition of soil, etc. 



With such data at hand it is possible to work 

 out a system of cropping which will provide the 

 maximum amount of profitable work for men, 

 horses, tools, and land for the year. 



There is work for the mathematician in figur- 

 ing out the additional cost of a field forty rods 

 distant from the barn if the crop is of such a 

 nature as to demand four trips between the field 

 and barn for a man and team each year. To de- 

 termine how much more expensive the distance 

 becomes if the exigencies of the crop demand 

 sixteen such trips is a problem which may tell 

 why farmers keep certain crops near the barn. 



Compared with the selling of grain, the 

 agronomist must consider that a small propor- 

 tion of the fertility leaves the place when dairy 

 products such as butter and cheese are sold. 



The economist can easily find that an inex- 

 pensive way to purchase fertilizing material for 

 the farm is to buy it in the form of feed stuff. 

 Good cattle will live on the purchased food, im- 



