GRAIN FARMING 25 



farm every year. Yet all of the work must be done in practi- 

 cally half the year. Considering this fact, with high cost of 

 labor and the added cost of seed, it can readily be seen that 

 , grain farming is an expensive method. 



Farm Equipment. — ^The equipment of machinery and horses 

 on a grain farm, moreover, is necessarily large and expensive. 

 There must be sufficient horse or traction power to work all 

 the land every year. And there must be plows, discs, harrows, 

 drills or seeders, harvesters, threshers, wagons, etc. The 

 taxes, interest, depreciation in value, repairs, room for stor- 

 age, etc., on all of those items is a matter of considerable 

 importance. 



Social Aspect of Grain Farming. — The grain farmer, who is 

 idle a large part of the year, develops the habit of idleness, and 

 idleness leads to shiftlessness and laxness. When these 

 characteristics once become firmly established they lead 

 rapidly to social decline. 



