8 
BULLETIN 848, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
charged against the business, whether actually paid for or not. The 
expense for hired labor is low compared with that for the large 
farms. In other words, the small business on these little farms 
would not justify a big expenditure for labor. It should be ex- 
plained that " family labor " is the farmer's estimate of what he 
would have paid had he hired some one to do the farm work done by 
his family. 
Table IV. — Distribution of farm expenses on 152 small farms near Washington, 
D. C. 
Item of expense. 
Tillable area. 
10 acres 
and 
under. 
11 to 20 
acres. 
21 to 30 
acres. 
Over 
30 acres. 
Hired labor 
Family labor 
Feed 
Seed 
Fertilizer and manure 
Marketing and commission 
Repairs and depreciation . . 
Insurance and taxes 
Miscellaneous 
Per cent. 
15.4 
16.7 
24.5 
5.4 
4.0 
11.0 
13.8 
4.3 
4.9 
Per cent. 
32.9 
4.9 
17.9 
4.4 
6.3 
14.0 
9.8 
5.4 
4.4 
Per cent. 
39.7 
2.4 
11.1 
4.4 
8.7 
15.3 
10.2 
3.8 
4.4 
Per 
cent. 
38.0 
2.4 
10.0 
5.0 
7.6 
16.6 
11.3 
3.7 
5.4 
The man on the small farm has to buy much of his stock feed. He 
usually lives in a region of small farms, where most of his neighbors 
are also truckers, and he is forced to buy most of his feed from feed 
stores rather than directly from farmers, and thus has to pay deal- 
er's prices. He has not enough land to produce the more cheaply- 
raised feeds such as hay, corn, and corn fodder. 
In studying Table IV as a whole it will be noticed that the larger 
farms are spending relatively more money than the others for labor, 
fertilizer, and marketing, and less for feed. In other words, they 
are paying out the most for the three big items of farm expenses, 
which on truck farms indicate greater production. 
CAPITAL. 
Table V. — Average distribution of capital per farm on 15 
Washington, D. C. 
small farms near 
Tillable area. 
10 acres 
and 
under. 
11 to 20 
21 to 30 
Over 
acres. 
acres . 
30 acres. 
S2,434 
$5,830 
$6, 506 
$7,397 
638 
861 
1,076 
1,458 
131 
300 
593 
648 
144 
262 
422 
601 
97 
188 
266 
248 
15 
34 
99 
171 
57 
116 
158 
219 
2,747 
6,430 
7,451 
8,636 
134 
208 
212 
297 
Real estate. 
Dwelling 
Other buildings 
Livestock 
Machinery 
Feed and seed on hand 
Cash to run farm 
Total capital 
Renting value of farm. . 
