FARM MANAGEMENT PRACTICE OF CHESTER COUNTY, PA. 75 



proper limits they make more profit by this procedure. The figures 

 of Table XLI show that as a rule the farmer who tills a small acre- 

 age does not get better yields than those who till larger areas, at least 

 within the limits of the areas found in this study. 



Table XLI. — Yield of crops per acre on 37 S owner farms, Chester County. 



Acres. 



Number 

 of farms. 



Corn. 



Silage. 



Potatoes. 



Wheat. 



Oats. 



Hay. 





54 

 61 

 60 

 68 

 52 

 61 

 22 



62.2 

 67.2 

 64.6 

 64.5 

 66.7 

 66.0 

 64.7 



10.8 

 12.0 

 15.3 

 12.7 

 12.6 

 12.5 

 13.7 



72.1 

 81.5 

 78.2 

 79.6 

 76.1 

 75.8 

 88.1 



25.1 

 25.3 

 25.6 

 24.1 

 24.8 

 2 4.3 

 25.8 



37.0 

 38.0 

 44.8 

 43.0 

 42.9 

 41.4 

 38.0 



1.4 



41 to 60 



1.5 



61 to 80 



1.4 



81 to 100 



1.3 



101 to 120. . 



1.3 



121 to 160 



1.3 



Over 160 



1.3 









378 



65.3 



13.1 



78.8 



24.8 



41.6 



1.3 







There appears to be very little relation on these farms between 

 size of farm and yield per acre. 



RELATION OF YIELD PER ACRE TO LABOR INCOME. 



While Table XLI shows very little relation between size of farm 

 and yield per acre, Table XLII shows that within certain very wide 

 limits there is a very distinct relation between yield per acre and 

 labor income; The crop index, which is used as a measure of the 

 yields on a given farm, is found as follows: Suppose a given farm 

 produces — 



500 bushels of corn on 10 acres ; 



200 bushels of wheat on 10 acres ; 



25 tons of hay on 20 acres ; 



A total of 40 acres. 



Suppose, further, that the average yields in the locality are such 

 that, on the average, farmers produce — 



500 bushels of corn on 7.7 acres (65 bushels per acre) ; 



200 bushels of wheat on 8.0 acres (25 bushels per acre) ; 



25 tons of hay on 16.7 acres (1.5 tons per acre) ; 



A total of 32.4 acres. 



The crop index of the farm in question is now found by dividing 32.4 

 by 40; that is, by dividing the average acreage in the community by 

 the actual acreage on this farm required to produce the quantities 

 of these products which this farm produces. In this case the crop 

 index is 0.81. Roughly speaking, this means that the yields on this 

 farm are 81 per cent of the average of the community. 



