A FIVE-YEAR FARM MANAGEMENT SURVEY IN OHIO. 



27 



The suggestion that this crop rotation be. more gonerally practiced 

 is made with a full realization of certain difficulties encountered in 

 planning and carrying out such a system in this area. The broken 

 character of the surface renders it difficult to arrange the desired 

 number of fields of the same size to be used in the crop-rotation sys- 

 tem. However, the surface features of the farms on which rotation 

 systems have been established were no more favorable for this arrange- 

 ment than are those of many of the farms lacking a definite 

 rotation system. It is largely a question of a farmer realizing the 

 importance of such a system. ^Vhen this is once realized-, by careful 

 planning the fields of most farms can be arranged more favorably 

 for establishing a definite crop-rotation system. 



RECEIPTS. 



The farm receipts in this area amounted to $925 per farm for the 

 five-year average, ranging from $796 in 1913 to $1,112 in 1916. (See 

 Table I). There was considerable diversity in the sources of income, 

 as shown by the percentage distribution of the receipts in Table III. 

 The sales of live stock, together with such products as butter, creani, 

 eggs, and wool, amounted to $672 per farm, while the sales of crops 

 amounted to $165 per farm. Approximately, then, almost three- 

 fourths of the receipts were from live stock and its products. 



Table III. — Percentage distribution of receipts on 25 farm,s over a period 

 of 5 years, 1012-1916 {Palmer Township, Washington County, Ohio). 



Item. 



1912 



1913 



1914 



1915 



1916 



5-year 

 average. 



Crop receipts 



Per cent. 

 26 



Per cent. 

 10 



Per cent. 

 16 



Per cent. 

 20 



Per cent. 

 16 



Per cent. 

 18 







Live stock rece^ts: 



Cattle a 



19 

 4 



20 

 7 



17 



27 

 1 



12 

 13 



20 



23 



3 



13 



16 

 20 



28 



1 



12 



13 



18 



31 

 1 



12 

 13 



18 



26 





2 



Sheep and wool 



14 



Hogs 



12 





19 









67 



73 



75 



72 



75 



73 







Miscellaneous receipts 



7 



17 



9 



8 



9 



9 







a Includes sale of dairy products. 



CATTLE. 



Most of the cattle in this area represented good types of the beef 

 breeds, A number of the bulls were pure-bred Herefords or Short- 

 horns, and some pure-bred coats were kept on a few farms. More 

 receipts were obtained from cattle than from any other source. For 

 the five-year average, cattle receipts amounted to $240 per farm, 

 increasing from $168 in 1912 to $339 in 1916. This increase of over 

 100 per cent in the. cattle receipts is attributed to an increase in the 



