FARM MANAGEMENT STUDY OF COTTON FARMS. 



.37 



The data from these farms indicate that the point has not yet been 

 reached where the cost increases with the yield (law of diminishing 

 return), but the curve would seem to indicate that this point for I his 

 region, and with methods now used, is not far above 50 bushels per 

 acre. 



Table XVI. — Relation of yield to east of corn (119 crops, Wi farms, Ellis 



County, Tex.). 



Yield per acre. 



Cost per 

 bushel. 



20 bushels or less.. 



21 to 30 bushels... 

 31 bushels or more 

 All crops 



SO. 94 

 .53 

 .45 

 .58 



From these data concerning yields of the two principal crops, cot- 

 ton and corn, it is apparent that considerable attention should be 

 given to the matter of maintaining and even increasing the yields 

 per acre. These relations may be expected to be affected by the use 

 of manure, rotten straw, corn and cotton stalks, etc. In this section 

 little effort is made to utilize these common fertilizers, manure being 

 dumped in roads, stream channels, etc., while straw rots in the stack 

 or is burned to make room for the planting of more cotton. The 

 stalks of cotton and corn are frequently raked and burned, although 

 the introduction of various types of stalk cutters (see figs. 17 and 18) 

 makes it possible to get these humus-forming products into the soil 

 again. Fortunately, the value of these various materials is becoming 

 better known and more attention is being given to their utilization. 



The size of the enterprise has some bearing on the yield of cotton. 

 This is true on small farms as well as on the larger ones. A tabula- 

 tion made on the basis of the proportion of crop land in cotton on 

 each farm shows that where less than 60 per cent of the crop area is 

 in cotton, average yields of 272 pounds of lint per acre are made. 

 As the proportion of land in cotton increases to 86.2 per cent, the 

 yield decreases to 230 pounds of lint per acre. On the farms where 

 considerable areas of crops other than cotton are grown there is some 

 change of crop on the same field from year to year. This of itself 

 tends to increase yields. 



Several varieties of cotton were found on the farms studied. 

 One variety, known as Mebane's Triumph (see fig. 12), was pre- 

 dominant, 96 of the 115 farms producing this cotton. On 11 farms 

 a number of varieties were found, among them being Eowden and 

 Webb. On 9 farms the variety reported was " just cotton." Tabula- 

 tions of yields of different varieties do not show material differences 



