60 



BULLETIN 341, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



stated, the price of farm land has risen materially in this locality 

 since the survey was made. Unless there has been a corresponding 

 increase in the price of farm products, which is very doubtful, a 

 repetition of this survey would therefore show a decrease in labor 

 incomes, because a larger proportion of the profits would be absorbed 

 by interest on the investment. 



RELATION OF SIZE OF FARM TO EFFICIENCY. 



In Table XXVII some of the reasons are given why it is easier to 

 make a satisfactory income on a large farm than on a small one. Let 

 us consider first the number of productive work units per farm. On 

 many farms a great deal of the work is devoted to things which add 

 little or nothing to the profits of the business. By productive work 

 we mean work applied to an enterprise which constitutes a source of 

 income, and by a work unit we mean an average day's work of a man 

 or a beast. 



Table XXVII. 



-Relation of size of farm to efficient use of labor and working 

 capital, Chester County owners. 



Sizes of farms, 



Num- 

 ber 

 of 

 farms. 



Productive 

 work units 

 per farm. 



Crop 

 acres 

 per 



man. 



Man la- 

 bor per 

 crop 

 acre. 



Value 



of 

 labor 



per 

 month 



per 

 man. 



Crop 

 acres 

 per 

 work 

 horse. 



Work 



horses 



per 



man. 



Value 

 of ma- 

 chin- 

 ery 

 per 

 crop 

 acre. 



Ratio of cost of 

 buildings to 

 farm income. 



in acres. 



Man. 



Horse. 



Dwell- 

 ing. 



Other 

 build- 

 ings. 



13 to 40 



54 

 61 

 60 

 68 

 52 

 61 

 22 



184 

 299 

 372 

 475 

 551 

 582 

 856 



. 82 

 140 

 177 

 226 

 259 

 286 

 444 



13.7 

 20.2 

 23.2 

 25.2 

 25.6 

 29.0 

 31.1 



$20. 74 

 15.78 

 13.98 

 13.46 

 13.64 

 11.80 

 13.05 



$23.93 

 26.60 

 27.12 

 28.30 

 29.22 

 28.50 

 33.77 



9.0 

 11.9 

 13.9 

 14.5 

 15.0 

 16.8 

 17.4 



1.5 

 1.7 

 1.7 

 1.7 

 1.6 

 1.7 

 1.8 



$15. 11 

 12.57 

 11.92 

 10.79 

 11.80 

 9.20 

 8.94 



3.41 

 2.19 

 1.88 

 1.76 

 1.83 

 1.62 

 1.68 



2.78 



41 to 60 



1.91 



61 to 80 



1.89 



81 to 100 



101 to 120 



121 to 160.. 



160+ 



2.03 

 1.92 

 1.83 

 1.91 







All sizes. . 



378 



439 



211 



24.7 



13.69 



28.27 



14.7 



1.7 



10.88 



1.88 



1.96 



The 54 farms of 40 acres or less furnish their owners on the 

 average 184 productive man-work units and 82 productive horse- 

 work units a year. A man who works at profitable employment only 

 184 days in the year does not get a good income unless he is a man 

 of unusual ability. These farms are too small to give a sufficient 

 amount of labor with the style of organization which prevails on 

 them. If the region were one which permitted still more intensive 

 farming, these farms might permit a satisfactory business. The 

 third and fourth columns of Table XXVII show that as the farms 

 increase in size the amount of labor the farm provides increases 

 markedly. In the case of the 22 farms of more than 160 acres we 

 have an average of 856 man-work units and 444 horse-work units. 

 It will be noticed that in all the groups the number of productive 

 horse-work units is about half those of the productive man units. 

 On the average for the whole number of farms there are 439 man 

 and 211 horse work units. This increase in the number of produc- 



