58 



BULLETIN 341, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



at the right and the largest at the left of the diagram. The line 

 running clear across the lower part of the diagram shows approxi- 

 mately the size of each farm as measured on the scale of acres shown 

 at the left. The largest farm was 393 acres and the smallest 13 acres. 

 The first farm to reach a labor income of more than $1,000 was a 

 farm of about 37 acres. It was an intensive dairy farm conducted 

 by a very efficient owner. The first farm to reach a labor income of 

 more than $2,000 was one of 80 acres and of similar type to the 

 smaller farm just mentioned. The first to reach $3,000 was a farm 

 of 120 acres, which was also a dairy farm, but quite diversified in 

 character, having several other important enterprises. Quite a num- 

 ber of minus labor incomes are shown, represented by the vertical 

 columns projecting downward from the zero line of labor incomes. 

 The largest minus labor income was found on a farm of more than 



RELATION OF SIZE OF FARM TO LABOR INCOME 



Fig. 9. — Labor income and area of each of the 378 farms operated by their owners. 



100 acres and the next largest on a farm of about 120 acres. Thus 

 a large farm presents the possibility of large losses as well as large 

 profits. Size of farm, then, is not sufficient; the farm must be 

 properly organized and efficiently managed and must be devoted to 

 types of farming that are suited to the locality and to the business 

 conditions on the farm. The largest minus labor income shown on 

 this diagram was due to a serious error in the selection of the type 

 of farming. 



It will be noticed that many minus labor incomes are shown on the 

 very small farms at the right of the diagram in figure 9. The next 

 largest number of minus labor incomes is found just to the right of 

 the middle of the diagram, on farms of about 70 to 90 acres. These 

 farms were of proper size for a good two-man dairy farm, but for 

 some reason they were not organized in this manner and were conse- 

 quently not efficient, but some of the most efficient farms found, tak- 

 ing their size into consideration, belong in this group. It will be 

 noticed that there are distinct stages in the increase of the highest 

 labor incomes as we proceed from the small to the large farms in this 



