A FARM MANAGEMENT SURVEY IN BROOKS CO., GA. 5 



From the first, cotton and corn have been the crops of greatest 

 importance. By 1900 the cotton acreage had declined, relatively, as 

 compared with other crops, following a number of years of low 

 cotton prices, but since that date cotton has been developed more 

 rapidly than any of the' other crops. The acreage of oats increased 

 rapidly up to 1880, but since then it has steadily declined both in 

 actual acreage and relatively. The plantings of rye have been in- 

 creasing since 1880, but the total acreage is still small, this crop 

 being used mainly for pasture purposes. The rapid increase in the 

 planting of peanuts is noteworthy, the acreage having increased 

 from 6,884 acres in 1880 to 14,775 in 1910. This increase has been 

 coincident with and a result of the development of the swine in- 

 dustry. The peanut acreage in Brooks County was in 1910 consid- 

 erably in excess of that of any other county in Georgia, and equal 

 to nearly 10 per cent of the total for the State. 



Of the different classes of live stock other than work stock, swine 

 is the only one that has increased in importance. The number of 

 sheep has declined rapidly since 1870, to an insignificant number, and 

 the number of cattle was nearly the same at the time of the last 

 census as it was in 1860. The number of hogs in the county declined 

 somewhat from 1860 to 1870, but since then the number has con- 

 stantly increased from 11,087 to 47,210 in 1910. Measured in terms 

 of the number per 100 acres of improved farm land, the number of 

 hogs declined from 37 to 18.3 during the decade between 1860 and 

 1870, but since that time the number has increased to 38.9 per 100 

 acres. 



Since this survey was made the acreage of peanuts grown and the 

 number of hogs produced have increased very rapidly. This has 

 been due partly to the better market offered for hogs, but 

 principally to the invasion of the boll weevil, which has greatly in- 

 creased the hazard of cotton growing. 



METHOD AND SCOPE OF INVESTIGATION. 



In this study a record was obtained from each farmer of the 

 amount and value of each class of farm property; the amounts, 

 sources, and nature of all receipts and expenses; the amounts and 

 values of each item contributed by the farm toward the family liv- 

 ing; the amount of labor expended on each enterprise, and data on 

 numerous other factors necessary in making a complete analysis of 

 the farm business and calculating the cost of each productive enter- 

 prise. The methods and details of calculating costs will be dis- 

 cussed in another place. 



A farm-management survey should represent conditions that are 

 as nearly normal as possible if the results are to be useful and of 

 wide application. This is particularly true of crop yields and mar- 



