16 BULLETIN $41, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



MACHINERY. 



The machinery investment usually covers equipment for a combi- 

 nation of grain and live-stock farming. For the grain crops, binders 

 and drills are needed, and for the live stock many of the farmers are 

 putting in silos, which necessitates gasoline engines and cutters. 

 These expensive items of equipment are to some degree purchased 

 cooperatively, but frequently a farmer is so far from his nearest 

 neighbor with similar requirements that he is forced to buy them 

 individually. 



FEED AND SUPPLIES. 



The item of feed and supplies covers feeds and farm supplies on 

 hand at the beginning of the farm year, which for this survey was 

 the spring of 1917. The year 1916 had been unfavorable to the 

 production of crops in this region, and most of the feed raised had 

 been fed during the winter. Few farmers had more feed on hand 

 than was necessary to feed their work stock until the 1917 harvest. 

 Many were depending entirely on pasture, together with small pur- 



Fig. 9. — Red clover, as it grows on "level upland." In point of desirability these lands class with the 



"valley" lands. 



chases of grain concentrates, to eke out until the oat crop was ready 

 to feed. The crop year 1917 was favorable, thereby enabling the 

 farmers to carry sufficient feed and supplies for the following spring 

 feeding without the purchase of as much feed as was necessary the 

 previous year. 



CASH TO RUN THE FARM. 



The average amount of cash reported by the operator as on hand 

 during the year to meet farm expenses increases regularly as the size 

 of farm increases. The large amount reported for the largest-size 

 group of valley and bottom farms is due to the fact that the buying 

 and feeding of stock is practiced by these farmers. In some instances 

 a bunch of feeder cattle or hogs may be bought and carried through 



