ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF FARMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 21 



Table XI is designed to show the crop yields and live-stock returns 

 for the different size-groups of farms expressed in percentage of the 

 average yields of all farms, known as the crop index. 1 



Table XI. — Average crop and live-stock index on 349 farms, Grove City, Pa., area. 



Crop index 



Live-stock index . 



70 acres 



or 

 under. 



102 

 102 



71 to 



100 



acres. 



100 



101 to 



130 

 acres. 



Over 



130 



acres. 



101 

 99 



This table shows that there is very little difference in the crop 

 yields and returns per unit from live stock on the farms of different 

 sizes. 



The crop yields expressed in percentage of the average for all 

 farms in the region were 101 per cent on the dairy and 99 per cent on 

 the general farms. The live-stock returns were 111 per cent of the 

 average for the region on the dairy and 91 per cent on the general 

 farms. This does not mean, however, that the live stock on the 

 dairy farms was 20 per cent more profitable than that kept on the 

 general farms. On the dairy farms the receipts per animal unit 

 were higher, but the feed cost per animal unit was also higher, 

 owing to the more expensive feeds consumed by the dairy stock. 

 On the general farms, where more beef cattle and sheep are pro- 

 duced, the returns are comparatively lower than dairy receipts, 

 but the farmers are able to produce these at a much lower feed cost; 

 and the net profit from such stock may be as high as from the dairy 

 stock. 



The crop index on the large farms was practically as high as on the 

 small farms, indicating that the old belief that the small farms pro- 

 duce on the average the highest crop yields per acre is not justified 

 by results in this area. 



1 The crop index may be defined as the crop yields of a particular farm expressed in percentage of the 

 average crop yields of all the farms in the community. It is found as in the following example: 

 A particular farm produces- 

 Acres. 



2,000 hushels of corn on 40 



1,200 bushels of wheat on. . . 40 



900 bushels of oats on 30 



120 tons of hay on 80 



Total 190 



The average yields of the above crops in the community are: Corn, 60 bushels; wheat, 32 bushels; oats, 

 40 bushels; and hay, If tons per acre. Hence, on the average, the areas required to produce the above 

 quantities of the products mentioned are — 



2,000^-60=33.3 acres of corn, 

 1,200^-32=37.5 acres of wheat, 



900h-40=22.5 acres of oats, and 



120-^1|=68.6 acres of hay. 



Total= 161.9 



Thus, it requires 190 acres on the farm in question to produce what 161.9 acres produces on the average. 

 Hence, 1 acre produces on this farm 161.9-H190, or 85.3 per cent as much as the average acre of the com- 

 munity. 



The live-stock index is the percentage comparison of the receipts per animal unit on farms weighted 

 by their receipts, using as the basis the average receipts of all farms in the area expressed .as 100. 



