18 



BULLETIN 482, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table XI.-^— Relation of size of business (measured by operating expenses) to 



labor income. 



Operating expenses. 



$3,000 or less... 

 $3,001 to $5,000. 

 S.-...HU io.<7. iiihi. 

 Over $7,000.... 



All farms 



Number 

 ofrecords. 



178 



Farm 

 area. 



Acres. 

 143 

 234 

 320 

 648 



310 



Average 

 operal ing 



expenses. 



$2, 23fi 

 3,785 

 5,787 



10,022 



5,001 



Value of 

 total pro- 

 duction. 



$2, 955 

 4,!W2 

 7, (151 



13, 4(il 



G,030 



Labor 

 Income, 



$323 



548 



7S6 



1,393 



r,s(i 



RELATION OF SIZE OF BUSINESS TO LABOR INCOME. 



The size of the farm in this region is an unreliable measure of 

 the size of the farm business, owing to the fact that many farms with 

 a comparatively small arceage have a larger business than is con- 

 ducted on farms much larger in area. The operating expenses, how- 

 ever, give an approximately accurate measure of the size of business. 

 In Table XI, showing the relation of the size of business to labor 

 income, the farms are sorted into groups on the basis of operating 

 expenses. It will be observed that the labor income increases with 

 the size of business. 



TYPES OF FARMS. 



Table XII shows the farms grouped on the basis of type. 1 Judg- 

 ing from the mere outward appearance of all the farms studied, 

 except the 10 dairy farms, there would seem to be one general 

 type of farm. All raise about the same crops and handle about 

 the same classes of live stock. The differences lie in the relative 

 percentage of receipts from live stock, tobacco, and other crops, 

 which affects the organization and thus distinguishes specific types. 

 The stock farms require less labor in proportion to size of business 

 and to size of farm than farms of the tobacco or the dairy type. 

 Stock farming, to be profitable, requires relatively a large amount 

 of capital invested in live stock and less per acre in land. Tobacco, 

 on the other hand, is a highly specialized enterprise, requiring a 

 large amount of labor per acre of crops and yielding much greater 

 returns per acre than live stock. (See Table XII.) 



1 The tobacco type includes all farms that have 50 per cent or more of their receipts 

 from tobacco, with not over 30 per cent from any one other source. 



Tobacco-stock farms have 75 per cent or more of their receipts from tobacco and live 

 stock combined, the income from neither being below 3Q per cent. 



The general mixed type includes all farms that do not fall into any of the other types. 



Stock farms with tobacco have 50 per cent or more of their receipts from live stock, 

 witli not over 30 per cent from any one other source. 



Stock farms with no tobacco have 50 per cent or more of their receipts from live stock, 

 but grow no tobacco. 



Dairy farms have 50 per cent or more of their receipts from dairy products. 



