28 



BULLETIN 659, U. s. DEPARTMENT OF A.GRICULTUBE. 



senting size of farm (crop area) rises from Left to right, there are 

 three noticeable high points in the curve representing the per cent 

 return on investment for the corresponding groups of farms as rep- 

 resented'!))' the size curve. These high points are caused primarily 

 by the efficienl use of teams. It is seen that the first high point of the 

 curve representing per cent return on investment occurs for farms 

 from 55 to C'O acres in extent ; the second high point occurs for farms 

 of from 95 to 105 acres and the third high point occurs for farms from 

 130 to 170 acres. 3 



Table XII. — Appropriate number of teams for f'armi 



County, Tex. 



>f different sizes, Ellil 



Crop area. 



Number 

 of horses 

 per farm. 



Number 



of 

 records. 



Average 



crop 

 area. 



Horse 



days |ior 

 horse. 



Acres 



per 



horse. 



Per cent 

 return 



on 

 invest- 

 ment. . 





/ 2 



! i 



f 4 

 l 6 



11 

 13 

 19 

 15 

 2 

 5 



56 

 61 

 9.8 

 110 

 142 

 188 



S9 

 • 51 

 72 

 60 

 131 

 83 



29 

 16 

 24 

 IS 

 36 

 23 



6.5 





4.9 



7. 1 





5. 1 

 0.2 





5.9 



In Table XII is shown' the appropriate number of teams for farms 

 of different sizes as indicated by the curves -of figure 11. The first 

 two groups, consisting of 11 and 13 farms, respectively, are com- 

 posed of the two-horse and four-horse farms from 39 to 75 acres in 

 extent. It is seen that the two-horse farms make much better use of 

 the work stock than do the four-horse farms; the two-horse farms 

 average 56 acres, while the four-horse farms average only 61 acres. 

 It is apparent therefore that farms of 61 acres are not large enough 

 for efficient use of four animals, since on the two-horse farms the 

 equivalent of 29 acres is covered by each animal. The returns of the 

 two-horse farms are 6.5 per cent, while the income of the four-horse 

 farms is only 4.9 per cent on the investment. 



The first high point of the curve (fig. 7) representing per cent 

 return on investment is reached when the efficient size for two horses 

 is reached. Beyond this point the farms are too large for efficient 

 use of two horses and not large enough for four animals until farms 

 of about 100 acres are approached. Farms of less than about 50 acres 

 do not make efficient use of horse labor and consequently make low 

 returns, as indicated by the curve. 



The same relationships are found between the four-horse and six- 

 horse farms of from 75 to 140 acres in extent as were seen for two- 



1 The curves were constructed by the use of the moving average. The farms were ar- 

 ranged in the order of size from smallest to largest and each point of the curves represents 

 the average of 11 farms. ." farms <m each side of the point being averaged with the farm 

 of thai size. 



