MO. 9 
grower is attested by the fact that his labor income amounted to about 
$2,500. That is, the net income of his farm was $2,500 more than 5 
per cent on his investment. 
The relation between labor income and the size of farm as indicated 
by the area in crops is brought out very strikingly in Table 5. Tak- 
ing first the grain and live stock farms, those in the group having 65 
acres or less in crops each made only $117 more than interest on their 
investment. As the area in crops increases the labor income increases, 
averaging $759 for the group having 125 or more acres in crops. 
The grain farms and the grain and fruit farms tell the same story. 
In all the surveys that have been made by the Office of Farm 
Management the results have shown conclusively that men of average 
ability must farm rather large areas in order to secure a satisfactory 
income. It is only the exceptional man that can realize the ideal of 
the "little farm well tilled." The average man should not try to 
do so. Just how large a farm should be for best results it is difficult 
to say. A good deal depends upon the type of farming. A farm of 
an intensive type — that is, one which requires a great deal of labor 
and working capital for each acre in cultivation — may be smaller 
than one devoted to enterprises requiring less labor and working 
capital. 
The two-man farm has many advantages as opposed to a one-man 
farm, for in a great many farm operations two men are needed. So 
far as profit of the owner is concerned, there appears to be no upper 
limit to the size of farms except the managerial ability of the opera- 
tor; but when farms are larger than fair-sized two-man farms — that 
is, farms that will give tw T o men constant employment throughout 
the year — certain important disadvantages to the community appear. 
In the first place, the community is filled up with a class of hired 
labor which is not an addition to the permanent citizenship ; farm 
houses are farther apart ; there are fewer children for the district 
school ; and it is more difficult to secure good roads. The two-man 
farm may, for many reasons, be considered as approaching the ideal 
for American conditions. 
There is room in every community for a few farms devoted to the 
production of vegetables and fruits, and these may well be small 
farms because of the intensive labor such farming involves. This is 
especially true when the markets for the products of such farms are 
local. But when the farmer must depend upon distant markets and 
is thus thrown into competition with other regions engaged in similar 
types of farming, the small, intensive farm is placed at a serious dis- 
advantage. Only about 4 per cent of the total crop area of the entire 
country is devoted to fruits and vegetables, yet this area supplies 
approximately the entire demand for products of this class. A rela- 
tively slight increase in the production of fruits and vegetables re- 
18027°— 18— Bull. 633 2 
