A FARM MANAGEMENT SURVEY IN BROOKS CO., GA. 



35 



Of the food purchased, flour constitutes much the largest item, 

 equaling 41.7 per cent of the total ; sugar comes next with 18.4 per 

 cent; the beverages (coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, postum) constitute 

 10.1 per cent; rice equals 6 per cent; and all other items make up 

 the remaining 23.8 per cent. 



Much has been said about the production of home supplies on the 

 farm, and farmers are often urged to increase the proportion of the 

 family food produced at home by growing more foods and buying 

 less. But in this study it has been found that the ratio of food grown 

 to that consumed is of less consequence than is the actual amount 

 produced. However, in a tabulation made, but not presented here, 

 there was found to be a certain relation between the percentage of 

 family food produced at home and the farm returns as measured by 





ii-q: or 



OX! tf 



^6 , 









- 



ITEMS 



3=> o 



l°Jl 



$100 



200 300 400 



*500 



TOTAL FOOD 

 SWINE PRODUCTS 



$ 

 453 



131 



100.0 

 29.0 













DAIRY PRODUCTS 



1 1 8 



26.2 











VEGETABLES 



80 



17.6 











(1) 















MISCELLANEOUS PROD'CTS 



52 



1 1.4 











POULTRY & EGGS 



46 



10.2 











FRUIT AND NUTS 



24 



5.2 











OTHER UVE STOCK PROD'CTS 



2 



.4 



1 



■««**.» 



Hfo 



°°" 



Fig. 13. — Value per farm of food products consumed in the home. 



the farmer's earnings. Thus, the farmers growing less than 80 

 per cent of the food consumed had earnings 11 per cent lower than 

 the average for farms of a similar size, while the similar return was 

 7 per cent above the average for those who produced more than 90 

 per cent of their own food. However, only 19 of the 106 farms fell 

 in the former group, and only 28 in the latter, showing that the range 

 of percentages was not so wide as would ordinarily be expected. 



When the farms were grouped on the basis of the value of food 

 grown at home the farmer's earnings and per cent return on the in- 

 vestment indicated considerably greater returns from the farms 

 which furnished the more food. Thus, farms furnishing food to the 

 value of less than $250 each gave gross labor incomes 19 per cent 

 below the average, while returns were 44 per cent above the average 

 on the farms supplying more than $600 worth of products. 



When the farms were grouped on the amount of food furnished per 

 person, tabulations showed much the higher returns from farms 



