50 BULLETIN 716, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE. 



perceriiage of tlie iarms keeping sheep. The receipts from the sale 

 of sheep and wool were $183 per farm, or one-sixth of the total re- 

 ceipts on the large farms, while they were $50 per farm, or one-tenth 

 of the total receipts on the small farms. 



On the small farms the percentage of the total receipts from crops 

 was much smaller than on the larger farms, the result of a smaller 

 percentage of the crop area being in wheat. On the other hand, a 

 larger percentage of the farm receipts were obtained from poultry 

 on the small farms. 



The small farms used a somewhat higher percentage of the farm 

 receipts for expenses in operating the farm business than did the 

 larger farms. The proportion of the total expenses for hired labor 

 was a little less on the smaller farms, but that for depreciation and 

 repairs and for feed was somewhat more. The other items of ex- 

 pense represented about the same percentage of the total expenses 

 for all groups. 



On the small farms the investment in land was proportionately 

 less and that in dwellings more, and at the same time the dwellings 

 were not so good as those on the large farms. The real estate was 

 A alued $2 per acre more on the small farms. 



The farms producing 45 acres or over of crops had a machinery 

 investment of $0.11 per crop acre, while those producing 30 acres or 

 under of crops had an investment of $7.67 per crop acre. 



QUALITY OF BUSINESS. 



As already shown (p. 48) the group of farms with the smallest 

 business (smallest crop acreages) had the lowest average labor in- 

 come, and the group with the largest business (largest crop acreages) 

 hud the highest average labor income. This is usually true of groups 

 of farms, but it is not always true of individual farms ; that is, not 

 every farm having a large business has a higher income than every 

 farm having a small business. In each size group of farms were 

 farms with good labor incomes, and farms with poor labor incomes. 

 These variations in labor income must have been partly due to some 

 other cause or causes than the size of the business, and the most im- 

 portant other cause is the quality of business. 



The quality of the farm business either for an individual farm 

 or for groups of farms may be fairly well determined by comparing 

 the crop yields per acre and the receipts per animal unit from live 

 stock with the corresponding yields or receipts for all the farms 

 studied. 



Of course, the character and fertility of the soil and the climatic 

 conditions have great influence in determining crop yields, but within 

 a restricted area, such as that in Palmer Township, these influences 



