Mav. 1921. 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE 



199 



Several of the facts brought out in these results have 

 the effect of making it verj- difficult to secure very 

 early hybrids with all other desirable qualities. Since 

 most of the F„ are intermediate a great many must be 

 raised in order to secure any number as early as the 

 early parent, and the greater tlie difference between the 

 parents the greater the number that must be raised. Of 

 the early ones obtained in this waj^ most, again, will be 

 small and unproductive. Of the few, if any, which 

 remain after these eliminations, a large percentage must 

 be further eliminated because of other undesirable qua- 

 lities (such as seed color, baking quality, etc.) if, as is 

 generally the case, the early parent had any such un- 

 desirable qualities. The chances, therefore, of getting 

 a necessary combination of good qualities along with 

 earliness are .small. It is. however, apparently only a 

 matter of raising a sufficiently large number of F„ 

 plants. As only one seed is obtained for each cross polli- 



nation this means an immense amount of time and labor. 

 Of course if an intermediate condition between the two 

 parents is all that is desired, the task is very much 

 lightened. 



Literature Cited. 



1. — East and Jones — Inbreeding and Outbreeding. 

 Lippincott Co., Philadelphia 1919. 



2. — Leake, H.M. — Studies in Indian Cotton. Joum. 

 Gen. Vol. 1 pp. 205-372. 1911. 



3. — Thompson, W.P. — The Inheritance of the Length 

 of the Flowering and Eipening Periods in Wheat. Trans. 

 Roy. Soc. Can. Ser. III. Vol. 12. 1918. 



4. — Thompson, W. P. — The Inheritance of Earliness 

 and Lateness in Wheat. Trans. Rov. Soc. Can. Ser. III. 

 Vol. 13. 1919. 



5. — Tsehermak, E. V.— Ueber die Verebung der 

 Blutezeit bei Erbsen. Verb. Xaturf. Verein., Brunn. Vol. 

 49. 



British Columbia Dairy Farm Survey 



By H. R. HARE, Extension Asst. Animal Hiis- 

 bandrv' Dept. U. B. C. 



The report as submitted is based on a preliminarj' 

 siir\-ey which it is planned to extend to other farms 

 and districts during tiie coming yeai"s. The conclusions 

 on one year's operations are consequently tentative. 



During the summer of 1920. the Animal Husbandry 

 Department of the University of British Cohambia 

 conducted a dairy farm siir^'ey in three milk pro- 

 ducing districts of the Province. Tw^o of the districts 

 were in the Fraser Valley and one on Vanconver Is- 

 land. The sur\-ey included 26 fai-ms in the Chilliwaek 

 district, 13 in the Ladner area and 15 in the \aeinity 

 of Courtenay on Vancouver Island. 



Why and How the Survey Was Made. 



The purpose of the sur\'ey was to determine the 

 factors that make for profit or lo&s on dairy farms 

 as they are operated in Britisii Columbia. 



In order to get the neces.sary information a field man 

 went to each farmer included in the sui'V'ey and se- 

 cured detailed records of each farmer's receipts and 

 expenses for one year. The year's business included 

 in the survey extended from 'May 1st 1919 to April 

 30th 1920. In addition to the business transacted dur- 

 ing the year, an inventory of all live stock, equipment, 

 buildings and land was taken -for both the beginning 

 and end of the year. 



From tpe figures gathered directly from the farm- 

 ers as above, and with the co-operation of feed houses 

 and creameries that were able to give detailed accounts 

 of the feed the fanners bought, and the milk the farm- 

 ers sold, data has been secured from which several 

 conclusions have been drawn. 



Explanation of Terms Used. 



Labor Income. — The Labor Income is tiie differ- 

 ence between the total receipts and total expenses on 

 the farm. The expenses include interest on capital 

 at 7 per cent, depreciation on buildings and machinery 

 during the year, wages for labor including family help, 

 but does not include wages for the operator of the 

 farm. No record is made of farm products used in 

 the house except in case of beef and pork. In other 

 words the labor income is t;ie return the fann opera- 

 tor receives as wages after allowing for interest on 



investment and depreciation on equipment. Farms 

 which .show a minus labor income may yet provide 

 a living for the farmer. In these cases he lives on 

 such interest on capital as the farm actually pays, or 

 it may be wages which are allowed to members of tJie 

 family, but which are not paid in cash by the operator. 

 If. however, he must pay interest on investment and 

 wa^es for work performed by his family, two alter- 

 native courses are open to him, either he must event- 

 ually leave the fann. or so arrange his operations 

 that his labor income wdll be increased. 



Labor Income represents the wa^es tjtie farm returns 

 to the operator for his labor and management of 

 the farm. It is used as a means of comparing the 

 efficiency of one farm with that of another. Varia- 

 tions in Labor Incomes are due in many eases to 

 unavoidable circumstances, but largely they are due 

 to factors that come more or less within the farmer's 

 control. 



Animal Unit. — A mature cow kept on the farm for 

 a yeax is termed an animal imit. All ot^er live stock 

 is reduced to the animal unit basis according to the 

 amount of feed consumed and the number of months 

 kept. A farm having 30 animal units has stifficient 

 live stock to consume the same amount of feed as 

 would 30 cows in one year. 



Live Stock Index. — This is a measure of the ef- 

 ficiency of the live stock. A farm having a live stock 

 index of 100 would be one where the gross live stock 

 receipts per animal unit were equal to tjhf average 

 for the survey. A live stock index of 90 would indi- 

 cate that the gross receipts per animal unit were 

 below average and one of 110 would indicate that 

 gross receipts per animal unit were above average. 



Crop Indfx. — This is the measure of efficiency in 

 the production of crops. It is based on yields per 

 acre. A crop index of 110 would indicate that the 

 crop yields were above average and a crop index of 

 90 would indicate that the crop yields were below 

 average for the surv^ey. 



Diversity Index. — This expres.ses tiie percentage of 

 receipts from the sale of milk and milk products. A 



