FAKM PROFITS. 27 



LABOR REQUIRED. 



An average of 19.1 months of man labor per year was used in the 

 operations of these farms. Twelve months of this was the farmer's 

 own labor and management, 2.8 months unpaid family labor, and 4.3 

 months hired labor. Thus 77 per cent of the labor in operating these 

 farms was performed by the farm operator and members of his family 

 and 23 per cent was hired. 



FARM CAPITAL. 



There was a decided increase in the capital value of these farms 

 from 1910 to 1918. Between the period 1910 and 1913 there was a 

 considerable increase in land values. From 1913 to 1917 the increase 

 hardly offset the value of additional improvements put on the farms, 

 but in 1918 there was another marked increase. There were slight in- 

 creases in the average size of farm and in the amounts and values of 

 live stock and of machinery. The farm capital for the seven-year aver- 

 age was $25,958 per farm. Of this capital $23,234, or 90 per cent, was 

 in real estate; $1,770, or 7 per cent, in live stock; $394, or 1 per cent, in 

 machinery; and $560, or 2 per cent, in supplies and operating cash. 

 The value of land, exclusive of buildings, averaged $21,309 per farm, 

 or 82 per cent of the total farm capital. 



While the farm receipts increased from $1,911 per farm in 1910 to 

 $4,386 in 1918, the distribution of the more important items of receipts 

 over the seven-year period shows no marked change in the farm 

 organization in this area. Hogs were the leading source of income, 

 with corn and oats second. The income from wheat varied most, 

 but wheat represented only 6 per cent of the total receipts. Even 

 with the low yields of corn in 1917 and 1918, a number of these 

 farmers maintained the production of hogs by buying more feed than 

 usual, and the higher price of "hogs increased their incomes. 



Figure 10 shows graphically the average distribution of receipts over 

 the seven-year period. Over the later years of the study the propor- 

 tion of the receipts from live stock increased and that from crops 

 decreased. This was due in part to the poor yields of the last two 

 years. Comparing the first three years with the "last three, the pro- 

 portion of the total income represented by live stock increased 12 per 

 cent. Corn, in addition to supplying the farm needs, contributed 

 considerable income as a cash crop during most of the years. 



EXPENSES. 



The distribution of farm expenses is shown in Table V. For the 

 seven-year period these averaged $931 per farm, or 33 per cent of the 

 total receipts. These expenses include $81 for the value of labor per- 

 formed by the farm family. The expenses were lowest in 1910 ($624) , 



