FARM MANAGEMENT IN THE OZARKS. 



15 



of the property himself, and acquainting himself fully with the con- 

 ditions under which his operations will have to be carried on. If 

 prospective purchasers before selecting a given farm would acquire a 

 more intimate knowledge of these lands and their agricultural possi- 

 bilities and limitations, they would take an important step toward 

 putting the agriculture in many of these areas upon a more stable 

 and satisfactory basis. 



FARM INVESTMENT. 



The investment of these farms consists of the value of the land and 

 buildings, of live stock, of machinery used in operating the farm, and 

 of feed and supplies on hand, together with the cash needed for meet- 

 ing current expenses before farm receipts are sufficient to meet oper- 

 ating expenses. Table II shows the distribution of capital for the 

 various size-groups of hill and valley farms. The investment in land 

 and buildings constitutes the major part of the capital. Next in order 

 of importance come live stock, machinery, cash for operation, and 

 feed supplies. 



REAL ESTATE. 



The real estate investment — the value of land and improvements — 

 averages $3,701 for the hilly farms and $6,539 for the valley farms. 

 The better buildings are on the valley farms. Ileal estate averaged 

 in value $20 per acre for the hilly and $30 per acre for the bottom and 

 level upland farms. 



The value of the land was estimated on the basis of the entire farm 

 with buildings and improvements. The average per acre of the groups 

 of farms with a small, medium, and large area of crops per farm 

 follows : 



Value oj real estate. 



Class of farm. 



Small 

 farms. 



Medium- 

 sized 

 farms. 



Large 

 farms. 



All farms. 



Rolling and hilly farms 



Valley and level-upland farms. 



S23 

 35 



$18 

 26 



$20 

 30 



LIVE STOCK. 



About one-fifth of the capital of these farms is invested in live stock. 

 Almost universally the farmers in this region follow some branch of 

 the live-stock industry. In the case of the larger farms, the invest- 

 ment in live stock at the beginning of the year does not give a correct 

 measure of the proportion of capital used in the live-stock industry, 

 for the reason that in the case of the hill farms the live-stock business 

 is mainly restricted to the stock on hand and the increase, whereas in 

 the case of the large bottom farms a considerable portion of the cash 

 to run farms is used in buying and feeding additional live stock. 



