14 



BULLETIN 633, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



this is a practice very little followed in this region. This phase of 

 the problem of maintaining soil fertility will be referred to again in 

 discussing the organization of farms in this area. 



To show how important from the standpoint of profit good crop 

 yields are, the data given in Table 7 will be of interest. In order to 

 make the meaning of this table clear, it is necessary to tell what the 

 crop index is. To say that the crop index of a particular farm is 90 

 means that the average yield of crops on this farm is 90 per cent of 

 the average of the community. The farms included in this survey 

 were divided into three groups, the first consisting of those on which 

 the crop index was 90 or less, the second those having a crop index from 

 90 to 110, and the third those with a crop index of more than 110. 

 There were 88 farms in the first group, 86 in the second, and 70 in 

 the third. The average size of farm was nearly the same in each 

 group. The average of the crop indexes of the first group was 76, 

 the second 100, and the third 129. The average labor income of the 

 first group was $122, of the second $377, and of the third $676. 

 These figures show the outstanding importance of keeping the land 

 fertile. It is one of the most important problems confronting 

 farmers in this region. 



Table 7. — The effect of crop index 



on profits (2.'i-'/ farms near 



Monet t, 



Mo..). 







Groups based on crop index. 



Item. 



90 and 

 under. 



90.1 to 

 110. 



110.1 and 

 over. 





88 



76 



S122 



86 

 100 



S377 



70 





129 





S676 







ORGANIZATION OF SOME TYPICAL FARMS. 



The organization of three typical grain and live-stock farms is 

 shown in Table 8. Each of these farms has from 105^ to 107 acres 

 in crops. It happens also in each case that the operator owns part 

 of the land and rents additional land. The first one rents 62 acres, 

 the second one 40, and the third one 38. These farmers have recog- 

 nized the fact that it is easier to make a satisfactory income on a 

 large farm than on a small one, and have chosen a very satisfactory 

 means of enlarging their business in the absence of sufficient capital 

 to own all the land they can till. It will be noted that they have 

 almost exactly the same amount of live stock, the investment in this 

 item being about $1,100 in each case. On one of them the value of the 

 buildings, other than the dwelling, is very low. This is due to the 

 fact that the buildings are very old and practically ready to be 

 torn down. 



