FARM-MANAGEMENT SURVEY OF REPRESENTATIVE AREAS. 5 
TABLE XVIII.—Relation of the size of farm to the income on 273 farms operated 
by owners in Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. 
| Farms. Distribution per acre. Money 
available 
Area | for farm- 
| Average ee _ | ef sJiving 
| Number. size (acres). Receipts. | Expenses. | Interest. meek 
ebt. 
40 acres and less......-..-------- | 32 37.4 $18. 10 $6. 98 $9. 03 $416 
NMOL SOACTOSHeaicrine eae alone ee = | 51 72.9 17. 09 5. 46 8. 45 848 
SIstopl ZO CheS san veel Soke | 48 106. 9 16. 22 6. 88 8. 22 998 
ISHORIGOFACRES Bees ose a ee 44 149. 4 15. 62 5. 80 8. 30 1, 467 
IGS AOO EG (S38 Sates saees eae se 31 179. 1 18. 04 (iy 8. 58 1, 956 
ZONE oO28 0 Acnes susan see oo | 36 239. 8 18. 12 6. 70 8. 42 2,738 
2ecor400lacresmee sac ae22 2. | 19 321.8 13. 89 5. 07 8. 32 2, 838 
401stonle250ja cress =. 2h | 12 623. 8 16. 19 6. 28 7. 90 6, 182 
Total or average......-..-- 273 178.3 17. 25 6. 38 8. 58 1,938 
The receipts per acre are practically the same on the small and 
large farms. The expenses are also the same. If greater intensity 
were practiced on the small areas, larger receipts to the acre would 
be the result. 
If the farmer is free of debt he has available for his living the 
amount shown in the right-hand column of Table XVIII. This 
amount represents the combined income from capital and labor. 
The results of the 1910 census show that nearly one-half of the 
farm owners in the counties from which the survey records were 
taken have mortgages on their farms. The amount of the mortgage 
is approximately one-fourth of the total farm investment. It is not 
hard to understand why the small farmer is less efficient. Just as 
long as he continues to grow such crops as corn, oats, wheat, and hay 
his income will be meager. The only possible remedy is more land. 
He may either rent or buy, according to his available funds. 
On the other hand, if the man on the small place should change 
his type of farming so that he could grow crops returning a high 
income per acre, he would then have possibilities of a much greater 
income. <A farm is a place to work, and unless it is so organized to 
permit the full use of labor small wages must result. 
There are a few highly specialized farms which return a high 
rate of income per hour of labor. However, these farms are not 
found where corn and oats are the leading crops. The introduction 
of good live stock in a measure helps toward utilizing more labor, 
but even this step will seldom suffice to give the small farmer an 
income comparable with that of the man on 160 acres or more. 
Thus, the decrease in the number of farms in the North Central 
States is no cause for alarm. It is rather a sign that land is being 
utilized more efficiently and that the same products are being pro- 
duced at less cost. 
