FARM MANAGEMENT IN THE OZARKS. 
15 
of the property himself, and acquainting himself fully with the con- 
ditions under which his operations will have to be carried on. If 
prospective purchasers before selecting a given farm would acquire a 
more intimate knowledge of these lands and their agricultural possi- 
bilities and limitations, they would take an important step toward 
putting the agriculture in many of these areas upon a more stable 
and satisfactory basis. 
FARM INVESTMENT. 
The investment of these farms consists of the value of the land and 
buildings, of live stock, of machinery used in operating the farm, and 
of feed and supplies on hand, together with the cash needed for meet- 
ing current expenses before farm receipts are sufficient to meet oper- 
ating expenses. Table II shows the distribution of capital for the 
various size-groups of hill and valley farms. The investment in land 
and buildings constitutes the major part of the capital. Next in order 
of importance come live stock, machinery, cash for operation, and 
feed supplies. 
REAL ESTATE. 
The real estate investment — the value of land and improvements — 
averages $3,701 for the hilly farms and $6,539 for the valley farms. 
The better buildings are on the valley farms. Real estate averaged 
in value $20 per acre for the hilly and $30 per acre for the bottom and 
level upland farms. 
The value of the land was estimated on the basis of the entire farm 
with buildings and improvements. The average per acre of the groups 
of farms with a small, medium, and large area of crops per farm 
follows : 
Value of real estate. 
Class of farm. 
Small 
farms. 
Medium- 
sized 
farms. 
Large 
farms. 
All farms. 
$23 
35 
$20 
32 
$18 
26 
$20 
30 
LIVE STOCK. 
About one-fifth of the capital of these farms is invested in live stock. 
Almost universally the farmers in this region follow some branch of 
the live-stock industry. In the case of the larger farms, the invest- 
ment in live stock at the beginning of the year does not give a correct 
measure of the proportion of capital used in the live-stock industry, 
for the reason that in the case of the hill farms the live-stock business 
is mainly restricted to the stock on hand and the increase, whereas in 
the case of the large bottom farms a considerable portion of the cash 
to run farms is used in buying and feeding additional live stock. 
