FARM MANAGEMENT PRACTICE OF CHESTER COUNTY, PA. 65 



is true of the grain binder. On the larger farms grain binders are 

 quite general, and 8G per cent of the big farms own their binders. 

 Only 31 per cent of the small farms have this machine and must de- 

 pend upon getting a neighbor's machine. Further consideration of the 

 figures given in this table is left to the reader. They show con- 

 clusively that the small farms are inadequately equipped, although, as 

 we have already seen, the value of machinery equipment on them is 

 nearly twice as great per acre as it is on the larger farms. 



DISTRIBUTION OF CAPITAL ON FARMS OF DIFFERENT SIZE. 



Table XXXI shows the average capital per farm, and the per cent 

 of this capital invested in land, dwelling, other buildings, live stock, 

 machinery, feed, and supplies, and cash to run the farm, for each of 

 the size groups. The last two lines of the table give similar data 

 for 124 tenant farms and 27 special farms. Considering first the 

 farms operated by their owners, the average capital of the entire 

 378 farms is $10,486 ; on the 54 farms of 13 to 40 acres it is $4,453, 

 increasing gradually to $23,124 on the 22 farms of over 160- acres. 

 The fourth column of the table shows another reason why it is easier 

 to make a profit on a large farm than a small one. 



Table XXXI. — Distribution of farm capital on oicner, special and tenant farms, 

 Chester County (per cent). 



Size of farm in acres. 



Num- 

 ber of 

 farms. 



Average 

 capital. 



Land. 



House. 



Other 

 build- 

 ings. 



Live 

 stock. 



Machin- 

 ery. 



Feed and 

 supplies. 



Cash to 

 run farm. 



13 to 40 



54 

 61 

 60 

 68 

 52 

 61 

 22 



S4,453 

 6,486 

 8,948 

 11,045 

 12,461 

 14,478 

 23, 124 



P.ct. 

 13.3 

 20.9 

 26.8 

 28.5 

 28.7 

 34.8 

 34.3 



P. ct. 

 35.4 

 29.4 

 24.7 

 22.4 

 22.9 

 20.4 

 19.9 



P. ct. 

 28.9 

 25.8 

 24.9 

 25.6 

 54.1 

 23.0 

 22.5 



P.ct. 

 12.2 

 13.8 

 13.4 

 14.0 

 14.2 

 13.2 

 14.9 



P.ct. 

 6.4 

 6.4 

 6.1 

 5.7 

 6.2 

 5.0 

 4.6 



P.ct. 



2.5 

 2.4 



2.7 

 2.4 

 2.9 

 2.4 

 1.9 



P.ct. 

 1.3 



41 to 60 



1.3 



61 to 80 



1.4 



81 to 100 



1.4 



101 to 120 



1.0 



121 to 160 



1.2 



Over 160 



1.9 







Total average. . 



Tenant farms 



Special farms 



378 

 124 

 27 



10, 486 

 12, 030 

 12,893 



28.8 

 33.3 

 19.6 



23.5 

 22.0 

 30.0 



24.5 

 21.5 

 31.9 



13.7 

 14.6 

 8.8 



5.6 

 5.3 

 5.2 



2.5 

 2.3 

 1.9 



1.4 



1.0 



2.6 



The large farms have a markedly greater proportion of their capi- 

 tal devoted to land, which is the foundation of the farm business. 

 On the other hand, the small farms have a very much greater per- 

 centage of their capital invested in buildings. The percentage of in- 

 vestment in live stock is approximately the same in all the groups, 

 which merely shows the similarity in type of farming and in farm 

 organization on farms in this region. The percentage of investment 

 in machinery decreases slightly as the farms increase in size. The 

 proportion of the capital represented by feed and supplies is approxi- 

 mately the same in all the groups except the very largest, where it 

 14138°— Bull. 341—16 5 



