20 



BULLETIN 920, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



In 1912 and 1913, 5 of the 25 farmers made in labor income what 

 they considered their year's labor worth, in addition to food, fuel, 

 and house rent furnished by the farm; in 1914 and 1915, 9; in 1916, 

 12; in 1917, 19; and in 1918, 11. 



Table III. — Per cent return on capital on the %5 farms in Palmer township, Washing- 

 ton County, Ohio, 1912-1918. 



(Ranked according to size of the seven-year average labor income.) 



Rank of farms. 



7-year 

 average 



1912 



1913 



1914 



1915 



1916 



1917 



1918 



1 



9.3 

 8.1 

 7.6 

 10.5 

 7.2 



7.0 

 5.5 

 7.4 

 7.2 

 6.6 



4.9 

 2.7 

 5.7 

 .8 

 2.6 



- .2 

 .1 



.6 

 2.3 



-1.4 



2.6 

 .3 



-1.4 



- .8 

 -2.9 



8.7 

 4.2 

 3.9 

 11.9 

 4.4 



4.3 

 5.3 



7.5 

 1.2 

 7.9 



3.6 

 1.0 



- 2.7 

 -12.1 



- 3.2 



1.2 



- 3 5 



- 3.5 



- 2.3 

 1.1 



3.3 

 



2.2 



- .6 



- .7 



9.7 

 6.1 

 1.4 

 4.4 

 5.5 



8.1 

 .3 

 5.8 

 2.3 

 4.2 



2.4 

 1.2 

 4.1 

 2.5 



- 5.7 



-10.5 



- 4.5 

 2.8 

 1.3 



- 1.7 



- .9 

 2.0 



- 2.1 



- 1.3 



- 2.3 



8.4 

 11.0 

 1.5 

 2.0 

 6.3 



7.1 

 1.5 

 10.9 

 8.6 

 3.8 



7.2 

 1.7 

 8.0 



- 1.0 

 1.7 



-10.7 



.7 



5.8 



2.8 



- 4.9 



- .5 



- 1.1 



- 2.5 



- .2 



- 2.7 



7.9 

 6.1 

 6.1 

 3.5 

 5.0 



9.6 

 6.5 

 6.9 

 3.1 

 4.3 



.6 

 .5 



6.0 

 .9 



1.5 



5.4 

 -2.9 



3.9 

 2.9 



- .8 



.3 



- .5 



-4.8 



- .6 

 -5.2 



7.9 

 8.2 

 12.7 

 14.9 



7.6 



5.9 

 9.2 

 2.1 



7.5 

 4.9 



5.8 

 4.2 

 9.7 

 4.6 

 5.2 



-.4 

 2.8 

 .2 

 1.4 

 6.1 



2.8 

 -1.8 

 -1.9 



2.8 

 -2.0 



15.3 

 12.2 

 17.1 

 21.9 

 11.6 



6.7 

 7.3 

 13.7 

 15.9 

 15.6 



12.3 

 8.1 

 10.4 

 16.5 

 7.6 



12.0 

 9.8 

 3.6 



10.0 

 3.4 



7.8 



2.4 



3.4 



.3 



-5.0 



7.3 



2 



8 8 



3 



10.9 



4 



25.0 



5 



10 2 



6 



7.7 



7 



8 2 



8 



4 6 



9 



11.9 



10 



5.6 



11 



2.7 



12 



2.3 



13 



4 5- 



14 



15 



-5.7 

 11.2 



16 



1.5 



17 



1.8 



18 



-8.5 



19 



.3 



20 



—6.8 



21 



5.4 



22 



-2.7 



23 



-4.1 



24 



-5.8 



25 .--. 



-2.7 









3.7 

 10.5 

 -2.9 



100 



1.7 



11.9 



-12.1 



46 



1.4 



9.7 

 -10.5 



38 



2.6 



11.0 



-10.7 



70 



2.6 



9.6 



-5.2 



70 



4.8 

 14.9 

 -2.0 

 130 



9.6 

 21.9 

 -5.0 



259 



3 6 





25.0 





— 8.5 





97 







1 Represents the percentage the returns each year are of the seven-year average (3.7=100). 



For the seven-year average shown in Table III only 11 of the 25 

 farmers made over 5 per cent interest on the farm capital after de- 

 ducting conservative, charges for their own labor and management, 

 and but 3 of these exceeded 8 per cent. Only 1 farmer made better 

 than 5 per cent every year, while 1 failed to make as much as 2 per 

 cent return on the capital in any year. 



From Tables II and III and figure 7 it is observed that profits on 

 most farms varied widely from year to year. The uncertainty of the 

 farmers' annual return is partly due to the many conditions over 

 which he has little or no control. Some of the conditions which 

 adversely affected these farms, as well as the Indiana and Wisconsin 

 areas were: 



1. Partial crop failures, due to deficient or excessive rainfall; ex- 

 treme heat or cold; too short growing season; wind or hail storms; 

 plant diseases ; insect injuries. 



