g* 



Size of Farm and Tillage Costs 



The farms studied in Chautauqua Co., N.Y,, and Erie County, Pa., 

 were grouped by size, according to the acreage in crops, (table 57.) Crop 

 acreage, included that in fruit, cultivated crops, grain, hay, and other 

 crops, grovm on oimed and rented land. Acreages used for pasture, v/oods, 

 roads, and farmstead were not included. 



Table 57. - Relation of size of farm to tillage costs per acre of 



vineyard, Chautauqua Co., N.Y. , and Erie County, Pa., 



19E8 



Size of farm 







: Difference : 





(Crop <'^creage) 



: Acreage 



: Tillage 



: in tillage 

 ; cost from ; 









: Vineyards 



Range 



: Averr, go 



: in : 



cost per 



: one acreage 









: vineyard : 



acre of 



: group to 





.»- 







vineyard 



; the next 





Acres ; 



! Acres ; 



! Acres ; 



: Dollars 



; Dollars : 



r Number 



Less than 25 



; 15 



: 10 • 



22.82 



' »m * 



: 51 



S5 to 49 



: 36 : 



; 18 : 



18.13 : 



: 4.69 ; 



: 81 



50 to 74 : 



: 62 



; 29 : 



16.50 : 



; 1.63 ; 



46 



75 and more : 



111 : 



45 : 



> « 



14.34 : 



; 2 .16 ; 



33 



Fifty one of the vineyards studied in Chautuaqua Co., N.Y., and Erie 

 Co., Pa., were on farms of less than 25 crop acres, averaging 15 acres, of 

 \7hich 10 acres v/ore in grapes. The average cost of tilling vineyards on these 

 sma.ll farms was high, ' averaging $22.82 per acre. This cost was 59 percent 

 greater than the average cost to till an acre of vineyard on farms of 75 or 

 more crop acres. 



The group of farmers working 36 crop acres, on the average, tilled 

 their vineyards for $4*^9 less per acre' than did the group working an aver- 

 age of 15 crop acres, a differonce in tillage costs of one fifth. For the 

 group averaging 62 crop acres, the tillage cost per acre of vinej^cird v/as only 

 |1.63 less than the cost for the group v/ith 36 crop acres. But tillage costs 

 on the farms v/ith an acreage of 62 crop acres v;ere ^2.16 more per acre of 

 grapes than the cost on the farms with 111 crop acres. 



In each of the areas studied tillage costs per acre of vineyard 

 averaged less on the larger farms than .bn the smaller faims. (table 58.) 

 Savings in tillage costs on farms of 50 or more crop acres compared Y7ith 

 farms of less than 50 crop acres varied in the different areas from an aver- 

 ago of 15 percent in North East, Pa., to 41 percent in the Hudson Valley. 



Growers on the larger farms used only about 70 percent as much labor 

 to till an acre of vineyard as did growers on the sioaller farms. Tractors 

 were more generally used on the larger farBis. On the smailer farms, much of 

 the tillage work was done with one horse. On the smaller farms in the Finger 

 l^akes area, work with one horse amounted to 57 percent of the total labor 

 used in tilling vineyards compared with only 35 percent on the larger farms. 



