FARM-MANAGEMENT SUEVEY OF REPRESENTATIVE AREAS. 



25 



Table XVIII. — Relation of the size of farm to the income on 218 farms operated 

 by owners in Indiana, Illinois, and Ioiva. 





Farms. 



Distribution per acre. 



Money 



available 



Area. 



Number. 



Average 

 size (acres'). 



Receipts. 



Expenses. 



Interest. 



for farm- 

 er's living 

 if free of 

 debt. 





32 

 51 

 48 

 44 

 31 

 36 



37.4 

 72.9 

 106.9 

 149.4 

 179.1 

 239.8 

 321.8 

 623. 8 



$18. 10 

 17.09 

 16.22 

 15.62 

 18.04 

 18.12 

 13. 89 

 16.19 



86.98 

 5.46 

 6.88 

 5.80 

 7.12 

 6.70 

 5.07 

 6.28 



$9.03 

 8.45 

 8.22 

 8.30 

 8.58 

 8.42 

 8.32 

 7.90 



$416 



■i 1 to 80 acres 



81 to 120 acres 



848 

 998 



121 to 160 acres 



161 to 200 acres 



1,467 

 1,956 



201 to 2S0 acres 



2,738 



281 to 400 acres 



401 to 1,250 acres 



19 

 12 



2,838 

 6,182 



273 



178.3 



17.25 



6.38 



8.58 



1,938 







The receipts per acre are practically the same on the small and 

 large farms. The expenses are also the same. If greater intensity 

 were practiced on the small areas, larger receipts to the acre would 

 be the result. 



If the farmer is free of debt he has available for his living the 

 amount shown in the right-hand column of Table XVIII. This 

 amount represents the combined income from capital and labor. 



The results of the 1910 census show that nearly one-half of the 

 farm owners in the counties from which the survey records were 

 taken have mortgages on their farms. The amount of the mortgage 

 is approximately one-fourth of the total farm investment. It is not 

 hard to understand why the small farmer is less efficient. Just as 

 long as he continues to grow such crops as corn, oats, wheat, and hay 

 his income will be meager. The only possible remedy is more land. 

 He may either rent or buy, according to his available funds. 



On the other hand, if the man on the small place should change 

 his type of farming so that he could grow crops returning a high 

 income per acre, he would then have possibilities of a much greater 

 income. A farm is a place to work, and unless it is so organized to 

 permit the full use of labor small wages must result. 



There are a few highly specialized farms which return a high 

 rate of income per hour of labor. However, these farms are not 

 found where corn and. oats are the leading crops. The introduction 

 of good live stock in a measure helps toward utilizing more labor, 

 but even this step will seldom suffice to give the small farmer an 

 income comparable with that of the man on 160 acres or more. 

 Thus, the decrease in the number of farms in the North Central 

 States is no cause for alarm. It is rather a sign that land is being 

 utilized more efficiently and that the same products are being pro- 

 duced at less cost. 



