FARM-MANAGEMENT STUDY IN ANDERSON CO., S. C. 



11 



2. Labor income, which is what is left of the farm income after 

 deducting a fair rate of interest on the investment. 



3. The rate of income on capital after deducting a fair amount for 

 the operator's services. 



4. The cost of production per unit of measure. 



5. Net income per mule. In this bulletin this will represent the 

 net income of both the labor and the investment in the animal. 



6. Yields per acre. 



These measures and a few others will be used as occasion requires 

 in the following pages. If a farm ranks high when measured by all 

 of these, it safely can be regarded as an efficient and successful farm. 



YIELDS. 



As has previously been stated, yields are the most important factor 

 in determining the success of the farms in this area. In reducing the 

 cost per unit of product, yields exert a greater influence than any other 

 factor. 



Since cotton is by far the most important source of income on these 

 farms, the acre yield of this crop is a very safe index of the efficiency 

 of the farming. In Table V 110 of these farms were divided into 

 groups based on the yield of -net lint per acre. Nineteen of them had 

 yields of 175 pounds or less. On these 19 farms the average cost of a 

 pound of lint cotton was more than 15 cents. The income of these 

 farms was not sufficient to pay expenses, so that after deducting the 

 estimated value of the operator's services there was a net loss of 0.71 

 per cent on the investment. In the next group, consisting of farms 

 on which the yield was from 176 to 225 pounds per acre, cotton cost 

 13.5 cents, and there was a profit of 2.54 per cent on the investment. 

 As the yield increases the cost of lint cotton per pound decreases and 

 the rate of income on investment increases. In the last group, where 

 the yield is 326 pounds or more, the cost per pound falls to 9.6 cents, 

 while the profit on the investment r^ses to 6.59 per cent. 



Table V. — Relation of yields of cotton to farm efficiency. 



Pounds of net lint cotton per acre. 



Number 

 of farms. 



Average 

 yield. 



Per cent 

 return on 

 invest- 

 ment. 



Cost per 

 pound of 

 gross lint 

 cotton. 



175 or less 



19 

 24 

 34 

 19 

 14 



Pounds. 

 159 

 198 

 247 

 305 

 371 



10.71 

 2.54 

 4.45 

 6.12 

 6.59 



SO. 1554 



176 to 225 



.1353 



226 to 275 



.1170 



276to325 



.1108 



326 or more 



.0961 







1 Loss. 



Yields of corn have much less influence on the per cent return on 

 investment than does cotton, as corn is a minor crop. But the 

 influence of yield on the cost of production is just as marked with 



