FAEM PROFITS. 45 



LABOR REQUIRED. 



It required 22.5 months of labor per year to operate these farms, 

 12 months for the farmer himself, 4.4 months for hired labor, and 6.1 

 months for family labor. Thus 80 per cent of the work was done by 

 the operator and his family, and 20 per cent hired. 



FARM CAPITAL. 



The capital value of these farms for the five-year period averaged 

 $17,692; 84 per cent of which was in real estate, 11 per cent in live 

 stock, 3 per cent in machinery, and 2 per cent in supplies and cash. 

 Real estate averaged $100 per acre. The value of land, exclusive 

 of buildings, averaged $12,137 per farm, or 69 per cent of the total 

 farm capital. 



RECEIPTS. 



The farm receipts in this area (Table IX) averaged $2,300 per 

 farm for the five-year period. They were higher in 1913 ($1,961) 

 than in either 1914 or 1915, due primarily to the decline in the price 

 of milk for these two years. In 1916 the price of milk was advanced, 

 and this together with an increase in the number of cows raised the 

 receipts to $2,560 per farm. In 1917 these same factors aided in 

 increasing the receipts to $3,278 per farm. 



Figure 16 shows graphically the average distribution of receipts 

 for each year and for the average of the five-year period. This 

 chart shows the great importance of the live-stock business in the 

 organization of these farms. In 1913 fully 93 per cent of the total 

 income was from live stock, with 4 per cent from crops, while in 

 1917 live stock represented 96 per cent of the total receipts and crops 

 only 2 per cent. The sale of dairy products heads the list of re- 

 ceipts. In 1913 42 per cent of the income was from this source, and 

 this percentage increased during the period to 53 per cent in 1917. 

 A decrease in the number of hogs for sale was mainly responsible for 

 the decrease in the proportion of receipts from hogs. 



EXPENSES. 



The expenses connected with operating these farms, above those 

 of interest on capital and the value of the farmer's own labor, aver- 

 aged $1,007 for the five-year period, increasing from $882 per farm 

 in 1913 to $1,288 in 1917. The largest four items of expense, in 

 order, were family labor, hired labor, taxes and insurance, and feed 

 purchased. Thes»four represented two-thirds of the total expense. 



In figure 17 is shown the relation of each of the more important 

 items of expense to the total. The increase in expenses during the 

 period had little effect upon the relative importance of the various 

 items. The poor corn yields in 1915 and 1917 increased the expense 

 for purchased feed these years. 



