BEST TYPE OF FARMING 797 



Crops are frequently subject to cycles of over and under production. 

 When prices are high, farmers are apt to think they are going to continue 

 to be high; consequently, they increase their acreage of those products 

 which command the best price. This generally results in over production 

 and the consequent decrease in price. Farmers then think that low 

 prices will continue, and restrict their production to such an extent that 

 prices again rise. This process repeats itself periodically and nearly all 

 products are consequently subject to cycles of over and under production. 

 These cycles vary greatly in their length of duration. They are longest 

 in case of crops that require much time in coming into full fruitage, such 

 as apples and other tree fruits. 



In apple production the cycles range from twent}^ to twenty-five 

 years in length. In annual crops they are subject to very short cycles of 

 two or three years in length. With livestock, the longer cycles are with 

 horses that require four or five years to come into maturity, while the 

 short ones are with swine that mature in a year or less. 



It is worth while for farmers to study crop statistics and crop prices 

 with a view of meeting the demands as nearly as possible. Such fore- 

 thought on the part of the farmer will lessen the variation in both supply 

 and price, and make more certain the probable price. 



Animals. — Livestock production is affected by climate and the grazing 

 period. Beef cattle have never been successfully raised in the Northern 

 states, because of the short grazing period and the long winter feeding 

 period. With higher prices for meat it is possible that beef cattle may 

 be successfully raised in that region. 



Long, cold winters require better housing facilities for livestock and 

 more labor in the feeding of them. Both add to the cost of production. 



Horses are not adapted to hard work in tropical regions. Mules and 

 oxen are better adapted to such regions. 



Labor. — The type of farming is dependent to a considerable extent 

 upon the character and supply of labor. Improved livestock and the 

 extensive use of agricultural machinery call for skilled labor. Dairying 

 calls for men trained in milking. Attempts to establish dairying in the 

 South have often failed because of the unreliable nature of available help 

 and its lack of adaptation for the daily business. Sugar beets and most veg- 

 etables call for much hand labor, and cannot be extensively grown unless 

 labor is comparatively cheap and abundant. The weeding of beets and 

 the picking of berries, if done economically, must be done by cheap labor. 



Competing Types. — -The crops which pay best are the ones that 

 should be given prominence. Corn may be profitably grown near cities, 

 but it cannot compete with potatoes, sweet corn and other crops requiring 

 similar soil and climatic conditions, and for which there is a good market. 

 Root crops make excellent stock feed, but cannot compete with corn 

 which produces equally as good winter feed in the form of silage and 

 which can be grown more cheaply. 



