2 BULLETIN 32, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGEICULTUEE. 



: 



he is carrying' on is well illustrated by the conditions about the farm- 

 stead, as shown in figure 1. 



The purpose of this bulletin is to emphasize the following facts: 

 It is not enough to raise good crops or to secure large animal 

 production; these must be economically secured. This is only ac- 

 complished when capital and labor are so adjusted to existing con- 

 ditions that maximum yields are obtained at the lowest cost. To 

 farm successfully every department must be well organized and 

 must be coordinated with the others. Labor must be fully employed, 

 capital must be well utilized, both quantity and quality of products 

 must be secured, and the products must be well marketed. All these 

 things come as the result of close attention to and a detailed knowl- 

 edge of the business. 



The reason and at the same time the justification for recounting 

 the experiences and the methods of any individual farmer, however 

 successful he may be, lie in the fact that a definite illustration brings 

 out the underlying principles most clearly and effectively. To most 

 practical men the concrete appeals more strongly than the abstract. 

 Especially is this true in the teaching of better farm management, 

 because it is a comparatively new method of attacking farm problems 

 which is not yet clearly defined. 



The general problems which confront the farmer in southern New 

 York and northern Pennsylvania were outlined in an earlier publi- 

 cation. 1 In the continued study of these problems, one of the best 

 means of getting information which might lead to solutions of cer- 

 tain phases of them has been found to be the observation of success- 

 ful farms. For two years the work and methods of Mr. English 

 have been studied. It is because he had worked out a more profitable 

 solution of farm problems in this region than any other man in our 

 experience that his success is worthy of telling and of reading. 



HOW THE OWNER BECAME A FARMER. 



Mr. English purchased the farm in 1897. He had no previous 

 farm experience to aid him in starting the enterprise. His new 

 possession consisted of 162 acres of land, "more or less," with good 

 buildings and all the stock, machinery, and other equipment then on 

 the farm. The stock consisted of 3 horses, 50 cows, 12 head of young 

 cattle, and a few chickens. The ordinary equipment was left on the 

 place, together with some hay, grain, and roughage. About 00 

 acres of the farm lie in the broad, level valley, the remainder being 

 on a slope too steep for cultivation and on the top of a hill nearly 

 500 feet above the valley. About 30 acres of quite level and easily 



1 Burritt, M. 0. Agricultural conditions in southorn New York. U. S, Department of 

 Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Circular 64, 19 p., 6 fig., 1910. 



