STUDY OF FARMING IN SUMTER COUNTY, GEORGIA. 



51 



RELATION OF SIZE OF FARM TO THE EFFICIENT USE OF LABOR, MULES, AND 



MACHINERY. 



In Table XXIV is shown the effect size of farm has upon the effi- 

 cient use of labor, mules, and machinery in this area. The percent- 

 age increase of the cotton area is of importance in its relation to the 

 value of labor per tilled acre on the different size farms. The very 

 small farms had but 46 per cent of the tilled area in cotton, while the 

 very large farms had 64 per cent. With but one exception each 

 size-group had a greater percentage of its tilled area devoted to 

 cotton than the next smaller-size group. The value of labor, averag- 

 ing $11.79 per acre, is rather uniform in all the sizergroups, but 

 when we consider that cotton requires a greater amount of labor 

 per acre than most other crops raised in this section, the superior 

 efficiency of the large farms over the small farms in the use of labor 

 is seen. With practically the same amount of labor per tilled acre, 

 the very large farms have 18 per cent more of their area in cotton. 



Table XXIV. — Relation of size of farm to various factors of efficiency on 160 

 farms operated by white owners, Sumter County, Ga. 





Tilled acreage groups. 



Factor of efficiency. 



50 acres 

 and 

 less 

 (25 



farms). 



51 to 



100 



acres 



(41 



farms). 



101 to 



150 



acres 



(40 



farms) . 



151 to 



250 



acres 



(31 



farms). 



251 to 

 450 



acres 



(12 



farms). 



Over 



450 



acres. 



Total 



(100 



farms). 



Per cent of tilled area in cotton 



46 



$11.23 



10 



11 



$2.40 



48 



$11.32 



12 



12 



$2.40 



52 



$12.00 



14 



12 



$2.18 



57 



$12.69 



16 



11 



$2.33 



57 



$10.97 



16 



11 



$2.59 



64 



$11.58 



19 



10 



$2.61 



57 





$11.79 





16 



Number of acres of other crops per mule 



Value of machinery per tilled acre 



11 

 $2.43 







Another example of increase in efficiency as the farms increase in 

 size is furnished by the work stock. f On the smallest farms 1 mule 

 works 10 acres of cotton and 11 acres of other crops. As the farms 

 increase in size the number of acres of cotton per mule increases and 

 the number of acres of other crops remains about constant until on 

 the very large farms 1 mule works 19 acres of cotton and 10 acres 

 of other crops. Thus a mule on any size farm works practically 

 the same number of acres of feed and home-supply crops, but on 

 the very large farms works almost twice as many acres of cotton as 

 the mule on the very small farms. 



The value of machinery per tilled acre shows but little variation. 

 There is some difference in the type of machinery found on different 

 size farms, but the large farms are enabled to use a considerable 

 amount of improved and labor-saving machinerj 7 with no greater 

 investment per tilled acre than that found on the small farms. 



