A FIVE-YEAR FARM MANAGEMEN^T SURVEY IN OHIO. 



37 



expenses as feed grinding, silo filling, fodder shredding, horseshoe- 

 ing, breeding fees, veterinary, spray material, twine, thrashing, 

 clover hulling, baling, hire of machinery, fuel and oil for farm work, 

 rented pasture, and team work. Not one of these items of expense 

 amounted to 2 per cent of the farm expenses, and combined they 

 amounted to $39 per farm, or nearly one-tenth of all farm expenses. 

 More than one-half of this amount was for the four items of horse- 

 shoeing, breeding fees, thrashing, and baling. 



THE INVESTMENT. 



The farm investment consists of real estate and working capital. 

 The real-estate investment is separated into land, dwelling, and other 

 buildings, and the working capital into live stock, machinery, feed 

 and supplies, and cash for operating the farm business. For the 

 five-year period the investment averaged $6,378 per farm, increasing 

 from $6,087 in 1912 to $6,639 in 1916. The average real-estate invest- 

 ment for the five-year period was $4,773 per farm, or three-fourths 

 of the total investment; the working capital was $1,605 per farm, 

 or one-fourth of the farm investment. 



The percentage distribution of the farm investment in this area 

 from 1912 to 1916, inclusive, together with the five-year average, is 

 shown in Table VII. 



Table VII. — Percentage distribution of investment on 25 farms over a period of 

 five years, 1912-1916 (Palmer Township, Washington County, Ohio). 



Item. 



1912 



1913 



1914 



1915 



1916 



5-year 

 average. 





Per cent. 

 48 

 16 

 14 



Per cent. 

 47 

 16 

 13 



Per cent. 

 45 

 16 

 13 



Per cent. 

 45 

 16 

 13 



Per cent. 

 44 

 16 

 13 



Per cent. 

 46 





16 





13 









.78 



76 



74 



74 



73 



75 









13 

 5 

 3 

 1 



15 

 5 

 3 

 1 



16 

 5 

 4 

 1 



16 

 5 

 4 

 1 



17 

 5 

 4 

 1 



15 





5 





4 



Cash 



1 









22 



24 



26 



26 



27 



25 







EEAL ESTATE. 



The greater part of the real-estate investment was in land, this 

 including all farm improvements except buildings. The five-year 

 average investment in land was $2,912 per farm, or less than one- 

 half of the farm investment. 



The dwelling as a rule represented good and substantial types of 

 buildings. As would be expected in any farming area that had been 

 settled for more than 100 years, the dwellings here were of widely 



