6 BULLETIN 848, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table II. — Summary of the farm business on 152 small farms near Washing- 

 ton, D. C. 



Item. 



Tillable area. 



10 acres 



and 



under. (45 



farms. ) 



Farm area acres . 



Crop area do.. . 



Investment 



Receipts , 



Expenses 



Farm income 



Interest on investment at 5 per cent 



Labor income 



Value of farmer's labor 



Per cent, on investment 



Value unpaid family labor 



Family income 



Interest paid on indebtedness 



Amount available for family living 



Hired labor 



Operator and his family 



11 

 6 



S2, 747 

 S794 

 S526 

 S268 

 8137 

 $131 



S305 

 —1.3 



8356 



88 



8348 



11 to 20 

 acres. 



(57 

 farms.) 



21 

 13 



S6, 430 



SI, 651 



81,107 



8544 



S321 



S223 



S351 



3.0 



S54 

 S59S 



S10 

 S5SS 



21 to 30 



acres. 



(29 



farms.) 



39 

 23 



17, 451 



S2, 478 



SI, 437 



SI, 041 



S373 



S668 



8.5 



S34 

 81,075 



826 

 SI, 049 



Over 30 

 acres. 



(21 

 farms.) 



57 

 35 



$8, 636 

 S3, 013 

 81,434 

 SI, 579 

 S432 

 SI, 147 



S372 



14.0 



834 

 SI, 613 



828 

 81,585 



Months of labor for the year. 



2.9 

 15.3 



12.3 

 14.0 



19.0 

 13.2 



17.6 

 13.2 



Note. — Definitions of terms: 



Investment. — The value at the beginning of the farm vear of all real estate, machinery, live stock, and 

 other investment used to carry on the farm business. It includes the value of the farm dwelling, but not 

 the household furnishings. 



Receipts. — All sales of crops, the net increase from stock, receipts from outside labor, increase of inven- 

 tory of feed and supplies at end of year, rent of buildings, etc. Farm products r etained for personal use 

 are'not included. 



Expenses. — The amount of money paid out during the year to carry on the farm business, together with 

 the value of the unpaid labor performed by members of the family. Decrease of inventory of feed and 

 supplies at end of year is considered as an expense. Household and personal expenses not included. 



Farm income. — The difference between receipts and expenses. 



Labor income. — The amount that the farmer has left for his labor after 5 per cent interest on the invest- 

 ment is deducted from the farm income. It represents what he earned as a result of his year's labor after 

 the earning power of his investment has been deducted. 



Per cent on investment. — The rate returned on the farm investment after the value of the farmer's labor 

 is deducted from the farm income. 



Family income. — The sum of the farm income and value of unpaid family labor, or the amount available 

 for family living had there been no interest to pay. 



PROFITS. 



In Table II is shown a general financial summary of the farms 

 visited. It will be noticed that the 45 farms having an average crop 

 area of 6 acres have the smallest investment, and that their income 

 is also the lowest. Only five of the farmers of this group made a 

 labor income of over $400. It thus can be seen readily that the 

 chances for making a large income on farms of under 10 acres in this 

 region are not very good. It is the exceptional farmer who can make 

 more than a living on such farms without any outside source of 

 income. 



The incomes increase very rapidly with increase in the number 

 of tillable acres available. The second group of farms, having 11 

 to 20 acres tillable, make an average labor income of $223. Two out 

 of every five farms returned labor incomes of over $400. The farmers 

 in the other two size-groups made labor incomes averaging over $400. 



