32 BULLETIN 341, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



modity they produce. They are thus better farmers all round than 

 the others, and for this reason make much better labor incomes. 



It must not be assumed, however, that this reason accounts for 

 the results in all these tabulations. There is no reason for believing 

 that the actual conclusions in any case are different from what they 

 should be because of this effect. The results are simply magnified 

 by it. In general the better farmers of the community do not depart 

 widely from the average practice of the community, but the very fact 

 that this is true is of itself evidence that in the case of most enter- 

 prises there is a normal status, departure from which interferes 

 with the efficient management of the farm. 



Thus those farmers who have 30 to 39 per cent of their crop acre- 

 age devoted to corn make greater profits than those having more or 

 less than this. Similar conditions are shown for the other crops. It 

 appears that the more alert farmers in this region have recognized 

 at least to a considerable degree, the status which each of their 

 enterprises should occupy for the best results. These men are, in 

 general, better farmers than their neighbors. 



It must not be concluded, however, that an unusual acreage of 

 one of the important crops of the region is without influence on 

 profit. There is undoubtedly a balance between the enterprises of the 

 farm; a status of each enterprise which fits best into the local sys- 

 tem of farming. Wheat, although not a highly profitable crop here, 

 has its place in the system. It furnishes straw for bedding and offers 

 opportunity for seeding the more important and more profitable hay 

 crop. It also occupies the time of farm laborers and teams and 

 utilizes farm equipment at seasons of the year that would not other- 

 wise be fully occupied. Hence, although the crop is less profitable 

 per acre than corn or hay, a certain percentage of acreage devoted 

 to it makes the farm more profitable than if the crop were omitted. 



That the conclusions drawn in the following pages concerning the 

 most profitable status of each of the enterprises are, in the main, 

 correct is strongly indicated by the three cases in which these con- 

 clusions indicate that the average practice of the community is not 

 in keeping with the highest profit, or at least was not during the 

 year of this survey. The first of these cases relates to the acreage of 

 the corn crop. 



The average per cent of corn acreage for the 378 farms is 22.3 

 of the total crop area. Table X indicates that the most profitable 

 acreage is between 30 and 39 per cent. The most progressive farmers 

 in this locality all agree that more corn should be grown locally than 

 is grown, and a good many of them have in recent years let corn 

 occupy two whole years in their rotations. Census data show that 

 the relative acreage of corn has been increasing in recent years in 

 Chester County. It will be remembered that about a decade and a ; 



