9: BULLETIN 694, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
(3) To gather information regarding some of the more valuable 
farm practices in vogue on the better farms of the region and to sug- 
gest ways of improving the organization and management of the less 
successful farms in the light of the facts thus brought out. 
SUMMARY. 
The agriculture of Lenawee County has passed tnrough several a 
important changes but at present has become well established along 
the lines of general or diversified farming and dairying. 
General farming with a hmited amount of dairying is on the aver- 
age the type most easily made profitable of those so far developed 
in the area studied. 
Specialized dairy farms apparently pay better normally than dairy 
and grain farms, but on the average do not pay so well as the combi- 
nation of Jasons and hog raising. 
Dairying, with hogs and grain, usually yields a better Labor income 
than any other combination found. The outstanding advantages of 
this type as compared with others are a greater diversity of income, 
a large percentage of receipts from the sale of live stock and live- 
stock products, and a comparatively small percentage of the income 
from the sale of crops. 
The types of farming established and the general conditions which 
prevail make the size of the farm a very important factor bearing on 
the returns secured from farming in this region. There is also a 
direct relation between the amount of capital invested and the labor 
income of the operator. 
The 66 owner farms studied, with 60 acres and under and aver- 
aging 45 acres in area, made an average labor income of $277; the 
group of 124 owner farms from 61 to 100 acres and averaging 84 
acres in area, Made an average labor income of $445; and the group 
of farms of over 160 acres, averaging 223 acres in area, Made an aver- 
- age labor income of $1,047. This shows the influence in the size of 
business as Measured in terms of the size of the farms. 
Sixty-seven farms, with an average investment of $4,850, made an 
average labor income of $276; 54 farms, with an average investment 
of $12,813, made an average labor income of $488; and 31 farms, with 
an average investment of $27,124, made an average labor income of 
$1,139. This shows the influence of the size of business as measured 
by capital invested. 
Crop yields and the quality of live stock kept are two very impor- 
tant factors in efficient farm management which show a marked 
effect in the profitable management of the farms of Lenawee County. 
The quality of dairy cows or the income per cow is especially umpor- 
tant on farms which are devoted largely to dairying. 
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