CHAPTER 62 



Farming Compared with Other Occupations 

 farm management 



Columella, noted writer of the first century, who wrote extensively on 

 agriculture, stated that there are three essentials to success in agriculture, 

 namely, love for the occupation, knowledge and capital. These three are 

 just as essential now as they were in the time of this noted writer. 



Farm management is the application of the science and practice of 

 soil management, crop production and the raising of farm animals, to the 

 business of farming. It includes the planning of crop rotations; feeding 

 systems; the employment, distribution and direction of labor; the equip- 

 ment of the farm; the keeping of records and accounts of each farm enter- 

 prise; and the application of modern business methods. Farm manage- 

 ment pertains to the farm as a unit, while rural economics, to which it is 

 closely related, pertains to the community. How to produce any partic- 

 ular crop is a question of crop production, but whether to produce alfalfa 

 or potatoes is farm management. Whether to sell a crop for cash or to feed 

 it to livestock on the farm is farm management. The effect of tenantry 

 on a community is rural economics, but the form of a lease and the equitable 

 distribution of the proceeds between the tenant and the landlord is a prob- 

 lem in farm management. Farm management is concerned with the 

 profitable relationship of all the factors of the individual farm. If any 

 particular farm enterprise is over developed or insufficiently developed, it 

 should be readjusted so as to bear the proper relationship to the other 

 enterprises, and thus increase the profits of the farm as a whole. 



Farm management calls for good judgment, practical experience and a 

 knowledge of the principles underlying farming. A change in the manage- 

 ment of a farm involves many questions, such as the determination of 

 which crops are most profitable; should certain crops be fed or sold; when 

 mil it pay to purchase a machine to perform certain farm work; or when 

 will it pay better to do it by hand; can soil fertility be maintained by the 

 use of green manures and fertilizers as economically as by keeping live- 

 stock; will a three-course or four-course rotation be most economical; 

 how many horses and men will be required to handle a certain acreage of 

 crops; what is the most economical roughage on which to raise young 

 animals ; and when will a soiling system most economically replace pasturing 

 of animals? These are some of the many questions in farm management. 



Rather extensive investigations have been under way for the past 

 few years with the view of ascertaining some of the fundamental facts in 



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