36 BULLETIN 994, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



FIELD MAP. 



It is essential in all cost-accounting work on the farm to have 

 measured acreages of the various fields on which records are being 

 kept. From the organization standpoint a carefully drawn map of 

 the fields and the farmstead also aids the farmer by emphasizing any 

 change in ' farmstead and field arrangement that will make for the 

 more economical operation of the farm. This is one of the first steps 

 toward the reorganization of a farm business, as the layout of the 

 farm is one of the important features of its organization. If the 

 map is made on a reasonably large scale it may be found possible to 

 note on it the rotation and the yield of the crop in each field, together 

 with the amount of fertilizer and manure applied, the amount of 

 seed and twine used, and other items of value for each particular 

 field. 



THE ROUTE METHOD OF ENTERPRISE STUDY. 



For certain types of farm production the route method, when 

 applied to a single enterprise, has proved successful. Studies con- 

 ducted by this method are usually a combination of the survey and 

 accounting methods, inasmuch as a record of the entire year's busi- 

 ness for the farm is obtained at the end of the year by the survey, 

 while the accounting method is applied intensively to the special 

 enterprise studied. Good examples of this combination of the two 

 methods are found in the cooperative tobacco cost study conducted 

 in Kentucky, and in the cooperative studies of the cost of fattening 

 cattle in the corn-belt States. 



In the tobacco project each route consisted of 75 farms, a route 

 man taking care of the tobacco project by the accounting method, 

 while a survey was made on each farm at the end of the farm year 

 to cover the other activities of the farm business. These studies are 

 most sucessful on specialized farms where the enterprise studied is 

 the most important item of production. Detailed labor records are 

 kept for the special crop, and the acreage of this particular crop is 

 measured carefully by the route agent. All financial records pertain- 

 ing to this crop are carefully made, and at the same time an attempt 

 is made to get a complete financial record of the entire farm business 

 through the year. In the case of tobacco it is practically a year's 

 study, inasmuch as the marketing operation on the tobacco crop 

 occupies a long period of time and often a part of the crop is held 

 over after the succeeding crop is planted. 



In the case of the beef-cattle studies, a survey of the previous 

 year's business on 75 to 100 farms was made in each locality, and 

 25 to 30 of these farms were formed into a group to be visited by 

 the route agent throughout the cattle-feeding season. This season 

 usually lasts from five to seven or eight months. During that time 

 the enterprise record covers in detail the feed, labor, and cash require- 



