22 BULLETIN 920, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Farm No. 1, with the highest average labor income, had a good- 

 sized business, but not the largest, as measured by crop area and 

 amount of live stock. The crop yields for the seven-year period were 

 15 per cent above the average of all farms. Most of the crops were 

 fed to live stock, which returned more per head than that of most 

 farms of the region. This farm had about the average number of 

 crop acres per man and per horse. In other words, a comparison of 

 the business of this farm with that of the others shows a much larger 

 business, with better crop yields and higher live-stock returns than 

 the average. 



Farm No. 11 had the largest business of all. It had about average 

 crop yields, but the most of the crops were fed to live stock showing 

 low returns per head. Had the live-stock returns from this farm been 

 as much per head as from any of the first, six farms, it no doubt would 

 have been at the top in labor income. 



Farms 24 and 25 represented the heaviest losers. The size of 

 the business on each of these farms was about the average when 

 measured by crop area, but much below average when measured by 

 amount of live stock. Both farms show poor organization, having 

 large acreages of pasture with only small amounts of live stock. The 

 live-stock return per head was the factor which so adversely affected 

 the profits of each farm. The crop yields were also produced less 

 economically than on most of the other farms. 



Another interesting comparison in this table is in regard to the 



range in crop yields, live-stock returns, crop acres per man and per 



horse. Comparing the crop yields for the average of the seven-year 



period, we find only one man producing crops 20 per cent above the 



average of the region; also there are only two producing below 80 per 



cent of the average. In the case of live-stock returns we find a wider 



range; two farms have returns 30 per cent above the average, while 



two are below 70 per cent of the average. Since both intensity of 



farming and size of farm have a direct bearing upon crop acres per 



man and per horse, these should always be kept in mind in a study of 



the range. The figures do show, however, that in this area both the 



man and the horse cover small acreages as compared with many 



other regions but that the variation in acreage covered within the 



region is marked. 



THE INDIANA AREA. 



The area in Indiana, which is located about 40 miles north of 

 Indianapolis, is typical of general crop and live-stock farming in 

 north-central Indiana. The land was originally covered with heavy 

 hardwood timber, except for a few strips locally known as "prairie." 

 The surface is level to slightly rolling and much of the land is tiled. 

 The main wagon roads are improved, most of them graveled, and 

 railroad points are readily accessible the year around. General farm- 

 ing prevailed, with corn and hogs the leading sources of income. 



