FARM-MANAGEMENT STUDY IN ANDERSON CO., S. C. 
17 
Yields in this area could be increased by the use of lime, but com- 
paratively little has been used. Winter cover crops of crimson 
clover, burr clover, and rye are advisable, but these crops are not 
grown to any considerable extent for this purpose. Planting vetch 
with oats for hay is profitable, but thus far only a few farmers do 
this. 
ACRES PER WORK ANIMAL AND SIZE OF FARMS. 
In the management of a farm the business should be so adjusted 
that the unit of organization can be utilized at its optimum capacity. 
In the Belton area, where cotton is the main crop, the work animal, 
usually in this case the mule, is the pivot around which the unit of 
organization is built. Usually there is one mule for each family, 
as one mule can do the plowing for all the crop the average family 
can handle, and one-horse implements are the kind commonly used. 
The number of acres per work animal is therefore an indication of 
the utilization of the labor and equipment and of the efficiency of 
the farm organization. 
ACRES PER WORK ANIMAL. 
The most profitable acreage of crops per work animal in the Belton 
area can be closely approximated from the data in Table XII. The 
table shows that as the crop-area per mule increases, profits increase 
until an acreage of 20 to 23 acres is reached. Individual cases such 
as might occur when an old man or a boy does the plowing or when a 
poor mule is used may make smaller acreages more desirable; the 
data in the table represent the averages for the area. The rate of 
income on the investment, 4.32 per cent, and the income per mule, 
$422, are both highest in this group. When the acreage became 
higher than this the farms became less profitable. 
Table XII. — Relation of crop area per work animal to farm efficiency. 
Number of crop acres per work animal. 
Number 
of farms. 
Per cent 
of return 
on invest- 
ment. 
Income 
per mule. 
11 or less 
7 
13 
33 
28 
23 
6 
2.64 
3.30 
3.67 
4.32 
3.62 
2.86 
$238 
12 to 15 
267 
16 to 19 
324 
20 to 23 
422 
24 to 27 
396 
28 or more 
386 
It is of interest to note in this connection that for each acre per 
mule above or below 21.5 the effect on profits was the same, on the 
average, as a reduction in yield of 8 pounds of lint cotton per acre. 
