28 
BULLETIN 1258, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
FARM CAPITAL. 
The average farm capital for the first 4-year period was $24,038 
per farm, and for the second 4-year period "$29,543 per farm. (See 
Table 1 and fig. 3.) Of the total farm capital, about 90 per cent 
was in real estate, and 10 per cent in working capital other than 
real estate. Including buildings, real estate averaged $174 per acre 
the first 4-year period, and $203 the second 4-year period. "Exclud- 
CAPITAL 
DOLLARS 
THOUSANDS 
eo 
30 
20 
10 
1 
A 
AVERAGE OF FOUR YEARS 
■—— 1916-1919 
■ ■■■I9ICAND 1913-1915 
y 1 j* 
s 
* 
* 
* 
* 
t 
/ 
>V 
y 
y 
IUSJ 
40 
80 
120 
160 200 240 
SIZE OF FARM IN ACRES 
280 
320 
360 
400 
Fig. 3. — The farm capital for the last 4-year period was higher than for the-first 4-year period. The capital 
of the larger farms increased relatively more than that of the smaller farms. The capital of 40-acre farms 
increased 12 per cent; of 120-acre farms, 17 per cent; and of 240-acre farms, 19 per cent. The amount of 
increase in capital which on the average accompanied an increase of 1 acre in the size of the farm is shown 
by the "regression coefficient" of capital on size of farm. The regression line shows the trend of the 
increase in capital with increase in size of farm. In every case the coefficient for each of the 4 years under 
consideration was computed and the 4 coefficients then averaged to find the slope of the line shown in 
the chart. The same principle applies to Figures 6, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17. 
ing buildings, the values were $160 and $184 for the respective 
periods. (See Table 1.) 
There was a decided increase in the farm capital of these farms 
from 1910 to 1919. The increase in land values was from $147 to 
$220 per acre, or slightly more than 50 per cent. From 1910 to 1913 
there was a marked increase; from 1913 to 1917 the increase little 
more than offset the cash outlay for additional improvements put 
on the farms, but in 1918 there was another marked increase. There 
were also increases in the average size of the farms, and in the amounts 
and values of livestock and machinery. From 1910 to 1919 the value 
