AN EXAMPLE OF SUCCESSFUL FAKM MANAGEMENT. 



13 



In the autumn of 1910 the ground was again plowed, and in 1911 

 it was planted to oats. This time about 1,200 pounds of acid phos- 

 phate were applied to the 6 acres, a moderate application of lime 

 being also made. The oats yielded 55 bushels to the acre. Mr. 

 English did not treat his oat seed for smut. The writers went 

 through the field a short time before the oats were ripe and found 

 that from 20 to 30 per cent of the plants were smutted. No doubt 

 had this not been the case the yield would have been greatly in- 

 creased. The field had a fine stand of clover later in the season. 



The cost of and income from this land for five years are shown in 

 Table III, allowing 30 cents per bushel as the cost of growing the 

 oats and estimating the cost of growing the first crop of potatoes to 

 be the same as that of the second crop. 



Table III. — Cost of and income from 6 acres of hill land on the English farm 



for five years. 





Yield 

 (bushels). 



Cost.i 



Income. 



Crop. 



Cents per 

 bushel. 



Gross re- 

 ceipts. 



Net re- 

 ceipts. 





800 



1,200 



330 



2 $251. 60 



251.60 



99.00 



80 

 60 

 50 



$640 

 720 

 165 

















Total 





602. 20 





1,525 

 50.83 



$922. 80 









30.76 













1 Details of the cost cf the second crop of potatoes are shown in Table II. 



2 Cost of the first crop of potatoes estimated to be the same as that of the second crop. 



An income of $30.76 per acre per year for each of the five years 

 is not a bad record for abandoned land. This certainly would jus- 

 tify a valuation on this hill land of not less than $100 per acre, which 

 would much more than pay for the improvements made. The cost 

 of growing and turning under the green crops, the picking up of the 

 stones, and the use of the lime was about $20 per acre. In the above 

 figures this amount has been added to the original land investment, 

 and interest on it has been charged at 5 per cent. 



Another factor makes the profit from this improvement greater 

 than the figures indicate. No additional cash expense was incurred 

 for either man or horse labor, although this has been charged against 

 the crops as cash. These improvements and the growing of the addi- 

 tional crops were carried on with regular farm labor, and this made 

 a more efficient distribution. It was necessary, however, to rearrange 

 the rotation in the valley somewhat, growing more hay and a little 

 less of the intensive crops, such as onions and potatoes, but owing 

 to the high price of hay this did not cut down the income greatly. 



