26 



BULLETIN 651, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



can not be utilized, so that the credit of the straw against the cost of 

 production declines, which in reality increases the cost per bushel, 

 he can not compote with the middle western man who produces his 

 cats at a lower cost. The ability to grow minor crops with labor 

 and equipment that would otherwise be unemployed, and the fact 

 that these crops when purchasod are bought at a retail price and when 

 sold are sold at a wholesale price, establish very definite limits to the 

 extent to which the minor crops can be profitably grown. As soon 

 as the farm and possibly a limited local market are supplied the 

 profitable outlet for the minor crop is gone. With cotton, the major 

 crop, it is otherwise. Cotton is sent into the markets of the world, 

 where it can meet competition with cotton from other countries. 

 Consequently it has a wide range of adaptability on these farms, 

 while with the minor crops the limits, as just shown, are well defined. 

 This makes it profitable for these farms to produce feed crops neces- 

 sary for home consumption, but if any considerable amount more or 

 less than this is grown there will be a decline in the profits. It was 

 noticeable from a study of individual cases that farms that produced 

 the feed crops for home use and had just enough to insure this supply 

 were the ones that made the most money. Those that purchased 

 feed were the least profitable. 



We may see from Table XXI how the crops are distributed on 

 farms having different acreages per work animal. In the group 

 planting 11 acres or under per mule, the percentage of land in cotton 

 was lowest and the percentage in feed crops highest. The per cent 

 of land planted in cotton increased and that in feed crops decreased 

 as the acres per work animal increased until the group planting from 

 20 to 23 acres was reached. With acreages higher than this the 

 relative distribution of crops was about the same. This table shows 

 the natural tendency of farmers is to produce the feed crops before 

 planting cotton. 



Table XXI. — Relation of 



crop area per 



work animal to distribution 



of crops. 





Average 



crop 

 acres per 



work 

 animal. 



Acres per work animal. 



Per cent of crop 



area planted in — 



Crop acres per work animal. 



Cotton. 



Corn. 



Oats 



and oat 



hay. 



Cow- 

 peas. 



Cotton. 



Corn. 



Oats 



and oat 



hay. 



Cow- 

 peas. 





10.0 

 13.8 

 18.0 

 21.5 

 25.3 

 32.5 



5.2 



8.1 



10.3 



14.2 



1G.0 

 20.1 



3.5 

 3.9 

 5.0 

 5.5 

 5.8 

 8.0 



1.3 

 1.8 

 2.5 

 2.4 

 3.0 

 4.1 



0.9 

 1.2 

 1.7 

 1.6 

 2.5 

 3.2 



50.9 

 58.1 

 58.6 

 64.9 

 64.9 

 63.2 



34.9 

 27.7 

 24.6 

 23.7 

 20.5 

 24.6 



14.2 

 14.4 

 15.8 

 11.7 

 11.8 

 11.9 



11.0 



12 to 15 



9.9 



16tol0 



10.5 



20 to 23 



8.4 



24 to 27 



9.2 





9.4 







All classes (HOfarms). 



20.5 



12.6 



4.9 



2.5 



1.8 



61.5 



23.9 



12.2 



8.8 



In determining the combination of crops that is most profitable 

 for the individual farm the labor supply must be taken into considera- 

 tion. Where there is an abundance of labor needing employment, 



