FARMING IN SOUTHWESTERN KENTUCKY. 3 
by any individual farmer. The large diversified farms require a 
heavy investment in live stock, and experience has shown that 
handling live stock involves considerable risk, so that farmers hesi- 
tate to use their own capital too freely in live-stock investments; 
for the same reason it is difficult to borrow large amounts for such 
ventures. 
On the farms studied the most common way of enlarging the farm 
business 1s by renting additional land. Of the farmers visited, those 
who rented additional land almost invariably made higher profits 
than those who farmed only the land they owned. Fifty-five farm 
owners out of 342 farmers rented additional land and made an aver- 
age labor income of $552, while the average labor income of farm 
owners without additional rented land was $222. Sixty-eight were 
tenant farmers, and these made the highest labor income, $656.13. 
The good farmer will aim to make the net earnings of his farm 
as high as possible. Net earnings are what is left after subtracting 
from receipts all expenses excepting a charge for rent of land, but in- 
_ cluding a charge for management.t Net earnings as thus defined 
would be what a farmer could afford to pay a landlord for rent. The 
average of 342 farmers made the land earn $3.14 per acre, net. The 
average of 140 more successful farmers made the land earn $6.14 per 
acre. The average of all others, representing the less profitable 
farms, was $1.05 per acre. Difference in quality of soil only partly 
accounted for the difference in land earnings, since all these farms are 
located on land similar in kind and topography. Neither did the 
prices of land vary widely on the different farms. The differences, 
evidently were due mainly to farm practice and organization. The 
farms showing highest earnings per acre were better stocked, had 
greater diversity, less idle and waste land, and better economy in the 
utilization of horse labor. Farms over 400 acres in size averaged 
about 120 productive days’ work per horse, while farms under 100 
acres in size averaged but about 80 days. The cost of man labor was 
also lower on the large farms. 
CROP YIELDS. 
Next in importance to size of business in profitable farming is crop 
yield. While low crop yields in large measure account for the very 
low profits on many of these farms, a good many farmers were able 
to make fair profits in spite of low yields. It is even possible to 
secure high yields at too great expense. It must always be kept in 
1 When taking the farm records each farmer was asked to estimate the value of his 
services as manager, not including the labor he performed. The average of these esti- 
mates was $459. The average cost of labor on the farm, including an estimate of the 
value of the operator’s actual farm labor, was $782. Thus the cost of management was 
58 per cent of the labor cost. : i 
