76 



BULLETIN 341, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



In Table XLII the owner farms are divided into groups according 

 to the crop index of each farm. 



Table XLII. — Relation of crop index to labor income and adjusted income {per 

 cent ) ; 378 Pennsylvania owners. 



Crop index. 



Number 

 of farms. 



Average 



labor 

 income. 



Average 

 adjusted 

 income. 



Average 

 size of 

 farms. 





75 

 91 

 107 

 92 

 13 



360 



616 



870 



1,183 



1,005 



Per cent. 

 49 

 74 

 108 

 153 

 130 



Acres. 

 89 



85 to 99 



93 



100 to 114 



89 



115 to 139 



91 



140 and over 



82 









Total 



378 



789 



100 



90 







There were 75 farms on which the crop index was 84 or less. The 

 average labor income of these 75 farms, when adjusted for size of 

 farm, was just 49 per cent of the average for the whole number of 

 farms. 



As the crop index increases the labor income is seen to increase 

 until near the limit of yields found in this survey. But the 13 farms 

 having a crop index of 140 or more had smaller labor incomes on the 

 average than the next lower group. The number of farms in this 

 group is too small to permit very positive conclusions on this point, 

 but these results are consistent with those found in other surveys. 

 Ordinarily it pays well to increase crop yields till they are consider- 

 ably above the average, but a limit is finally reached beyond which it 

 does not pay to go. Good yields are ordinarily more profitable than 

 extremely high ones, and decidedly more profitable than very small 

 yields. 



The last column of Table XLII shows again that there is here very 

 little relation between size of farm and yield per acre. The small 

 farms on the average make just about the same yields per acre as the 

 large ones, and it does not pay their owners to apply the necessary 

 additional labor and materials to increase these yields very materi- 

 ally. In the case of certain crops, however, especially hay, it would 

 probably pay the average farmer in this region to go to the necessary 

 expense to secure a considerable increase in yield. In general, if crop 

 yields are loiv, it usually pays to increase them. 



RECEIPTS PER COW AS RELATED TO LABOR INCOME. 



Table XLIII shows that the income per cow is a very important 

 factor in the profitableness of farming in this region, as it is wher- 

 ever such studies have been made. Since dairying is the principal 

 business of the farmers in Chester County, the income per cow is 



