UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



^-U^^«-r<^ 



% BULLETIN No. 694 



Office of the Secretary 



Contribution from tlie Office of Farm Management 



W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief 



J^^i^U 



Washington, D. C. 



July 24, 1918 



A STUDY OF FARM MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS 

 IN LENAWEE COUNTY, MICH. 



By H. M. Dixon, Assistant Agriculturist , and J. A. Drake, Agriculturist. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Object of study 1 



Summary 2 



Description of area studied 4 



Distribution of farm capital 7 



Utilization of land ' 8 



Crops 10 



Live stock- 10 



Sources of income n 



Factors of organization and management 12 



Cropping systems 25 



Special crops 28 



0\^'ner and tenant farms compared 31 



OBJECT OF STUDY. 



The basic data here presented were obtained in a survey of 300 

 owner farms and 153 tenant farms, located in Lenawee County, Mich. 

 Later this work was supplemented by a special study of the more 

 valuable farm practices of the region, special crops grown, and indi- 

 vidual farms of more than ordinary merit. 



The objects in view in conducting these investigations are in part 

 as follows:^ 



(1) To obtain, through a close study, knowledge of some of tlie 

 details of successful farming in an area typical of the northern edge 

 of the corn belt. 



(2) To determine the more important factors in the profitable 

 management of the farms of this region. 



1 Acknowledgment is due Mr. E. H. Thomson, assistant chief, Office of Farm Management, for selecting 

 the area and planning the work; to Messrs. J. I. Falconer, L. G. Conner, H. M. Doyle, J. H. Hamilton, 

 E. L. Mofflt, and D. L. Cottrill, who assisted in collecting field data; and to H. W. Hawthorne, H. F. 

 Williams, and J. C. McDowell for assistance in the preliminary work. Thanks are also extended to the 

 many farmers of the region who have given the information which has made this publication possible. 



The preliminary and basic data for this bulletin were gathered in 1912 and cover the farm year of 1911. 

 It was planned to follow with a similar study five years later. In view of the abnormal conditions brought 

 about by the war it has seemed more feasible to publish the findings as based on normal conditions. The 

 ba<sic data presented are supplemented with additional information gathered recently. 

 55504°— 18~Bull. 694 1 



