50 



BULLETIN i?26, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



XXVIII contains the total labor requirement per acre for the three 

 districts represented in this study. 



Table XXVIII. — Labor requirement in producing an acre of sugar beets. 



District. 



Greeley 



Fort Morgan 

 Rocky Ford. 



Year. 



1914-15 



1915 

 1914-15 



Acres 

 grown. 



5. 028. 4 



2. 455. 5 

 2, 429. 



Yield per 

 acre. 



Tons. 

 15.57 

 13.65 

 12.99 



Hours per acre. 



Man. 



123.9 

 118.1 

 117.3 



Horse. 



104.5 

 103-0 

 132.7 



It will be seen that there is little variation in the number of man 

 hours. There is a difference of about 6 hours of man labor between 

 Greeley and Fort Morgan. A greater variation is apparent in the 

 horse labor expended. At Rocky Ford about 30 hours more horse 

 labor were necessary than at Greeley or Fort Morgan. A study of 

 the farm practice tables shows that the tillage operations were per- 

 formed a greater number of times at Rocky Ford than at Greeley or 

 Fort Morgan. This was true, especially with such work as crowning, 

 disking, leveling, cultivating, and furrowing out. Ordinarily the 

 hours of man labor will exceed the hours of horse labor in the pro- 

 duction of sugar beets. However, one of these regions furnishes an 



exception to this rule. 



PROFIT. 



In the last analysis the success of a given farm depends not so much 

 upon the profit that may be derived from a single enterprise as it 

 does upon the balance and stability of the entire organization. A 

 certain enterprise on the farm may bring an exceedingly small profit 

 at the end of the year, and in comparing the returns with the income 

 from other crop or live-stock enterprises, the operator might con- 

 clude that the one showing a narrow margin would have to be dis- 

 carded, but in reaching this decision he may overlook the fact that 

 the industry in question enables him to utilize hands and teams to 

 advantage when otherwise they might be idle and merely entailing 

 expense. Large direct profits from a single crop should not be the 

 determining factor in leading the operator to increase his acreage 

 greatly, since the seemingly less profitable enterprises may be con- 

 tributing much to his success; indeed, failure might follow if they 

 were dropped. This is merely another way of saying that farming 

 is a complex business, and that in order to attain the highest success 

 each enterprise should be considered not only in its relationship to 

 others but also in its bearing upon the farm policy as a whole. Cost 

 figures should be discussed in the same manner. However, it may 

 be pointed out that estimates can be obtained more readily with a 

 single crop than with all enterprises combined (Table XXIX). 



