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



27 



cotton has an advantage, for it will furnish more profitable work per 

 acre than corn or oats. If, on the other hand, the labor supply for 

 a given acreage is scant, then, from the standpoint of the profits of the 

 whole farm, the acreage of the more extensive crops should be in- 

 creased. Under average conditions, however, the farms should grow 

 the feed crops first and then plant all the cotton that can be handlod. 

 Under normal conditions cotton is the crop that exerts the greatest 

 influence on the profits of these farms. The amount of cotton 

 produced perwork animal, which is a result of both yields and acreage, 

 is the best index of the efficiency of these farms. In Table XXII the 

 farms are grouped on the basis of the number of bales produced per 

 work animal. Twenty-seven farms that produced less than 5 bales 

 per mule barely paid expenses and made only 0.5 per cent on the 

 investment and $212 per mule. More cotton meant more profit, 

 and on the 35 farms in the highest group, producing 7 bales or more 

 per work animal, the return on the investment was 6.24 per cent and 

 the income per mule $475. The total production of cotton, as can 

 be seen from the last two columns of the table, was due both to the 

 yields and acreages per work animal. 



Table XXII. 



-Relation of the number of bales of cotton produced per work animal to 

 the returns of the farms. 



Number of bales per work animal. 



Number 

 of farms. 



Per cent 

 returns 

 on invest- 

 ment. 



Income 

 per mule. 



Crop 

 area per 



work 

 animal. 



Yield of 

 net lint 

 per acre. 



Acres of 



cotton 



per work 



animal. 





27 

 20 

 28 

 35 



0.50 

 1.92 

 4.66 

 6.24 



$212 

 273 

 334 

 475 



Acres. 

 18.3 

 19.4 

 20.8 

 23.2 



Pounds. 

 195 

 247 

 249 

 283 



9.1 



5 to 5.99 : . . 



11.4 



6 to 6.99 



12.9 





14.9 







It is evident also from a study of the cost of production that 

 more oats and cowpeas and less corn (see Table II) would increase 

 the profits of the farms in the Belton area. Oats were produced at 

 a profit, and corn, when costs are computed by standard cost-account- 

 ing methods, was produced at a loss. Furthermore, by planting 

 oats the land is available for cowpeas, which, as has been shown, 

 is an important factor in obtaining yields. Apparently farmers are 

 realizing these things, for from 1900 to 1910 (see Table XVIII) the 

 acreage planted in corn in Anderson County decreased, while the 

 acreage of oats doubled. 



LIVE STOCK. 



The status of five stock on these farms is an indication of the 

 live stock that should be kept. There was an average of 4.7 head 

 of cattle of all kinds per farm owned by the operators on the 112 

 farms included in the survey of the Belton area. On January 1, 

 1915, the average farm value of all cows was $30.40 per head; of 

 heifers a year old or older, $13.65; and of calves that would be 



