FARM-MANAGEMENT STUDY IN ANDERSON CO., S. C. 
27 
cotton has an advantage, for it will furnish more profitable work per 
acre than corn or oats. If, on the other hand, the labor supply for 
a given acreage is scant, then, from the standpoint of the profits of the 
whole farm, the acreage of the more extensive crops should be in- 
creased. Under average conditions, however, the farms should grow 
the feed crops first and then plant all the cotton that can be handled. 
Under normal conditions cotton is the crop that exerts the greatest 
influence on the profits of these farms. The amount of cotton 
produced per work animal, which is a result of both yields and acreage, 
is the best index of the efficiency of these farms. In Table XXII the 
farms are grouped on the basis of the number of bales produced per 
work animal. Twenty-seven farms that produced less than 5 bales 
per mule barely paid expenses and made only 0.5 per cent on the 
investment and $212 per mule. More cotton meant more profit, 
and on the 35 farms in the highest group, producing 7 bales or more 
per work animal, the return on the investment was 6.24 per cent and 
the income per mule $475. The total production of cotton, as can 
be seen from the last two columns of the table, was due both to the 
yields and acreages per work animal. 
Table XXII. — Relation of the number of bales of cotton produced per work animal to 
the returns of the farms. 
Number of bales per work animal. 
Number 
of farms. 
Per cent 
returns 
on invest- 
ment. 
Income 
per mule. 
Crop 
area per 
•work 
animal. 
Yield of 
net lint 
per acre. 
Pounds. 
195 
247 
249 
283 
Acres of 
cotton 
per work 
animal. 
27 
20 
28 
35 
0.50 
1.92 
4.66 
6.24 
$212 
273 
334 
475 
Acres. 
18.3 
19.4 
20.8 
23.2 
9.1 
5 to 5.99 
11.4 
6 to 6.99 
12.9 
14.9 
It is evident also from a study of the cost of production that 
more oats and cowpeas and less corn (see Table II) would increase 
the profits of the farms in the Belton area. Oats were produced at 
a profit, and corn, when costs are computed by standard cost-account- 
ing methods, was produced at a loss. Furthermore, by planting 
oats the land is available for cowpeas, which, as has been shown, 
is an important factor in obtaining yields. Apparently farmers are 
realizing these things, for from 1900 to 1910 (see Table XVIII) the 
acreage planted "in corn in Anderson County decreased, while the 
acreage of oats doubled. 
LIVE STOCK. 
The status of live stock on these farms is an indication of the 
live stock that should be kept. There was an average of 4.7 head 
of cattle of all kinds per farm owned by the operators on the 112 
farms included in the survey of the Belton area. On January 1, 
1915, the average farm value of all cows was $30.40 per head; of 
heifers a year old or older, $13.65; and of calves that would be 
