I'AHM management study of cotton farms. 
27 
Table XL — [{elation of size of farm to efficiency of horse labor I / / ', farms, 
Ellis County, Tex. I. 
Size of crop area. 
Num- 
ber of 
farms. 
Aver- 
age 
size 
of crop 
area. 
1 
Horse » 
P er t h-rse 
horse. n ' rse ' 
ITirse 
days 
pci- 
acre. 
Cost of 
labor 
crop 
Cost of 
work 
slock. 
per day 
of labor. 
3 or less 
37 
39 
38 
111 
62.5 
101). 1 
188.9 
117.5 
60.3 
66.7 
70. 1 
71.7 
18.5 
20.6 
25.2 
22. 1 
3.25 
3.22 
3.14 
3.19 
15. 7 
4.95 
3.99 
4.53 
SI. 68 
81 to 120 a sres 
1.54 
121 a t.'s and m ire 
Ai! farms 
1.27 
1.42 
One of the many weaknesses of the one-crop cotton system of 
farming is shown by the facts brought out in the preceding para- 
graph. Even on the large farms, where horses are used most effi- 
8 
T 
Z 
l 6 
If) 
> 
z 
1 5 
z 
c 
U 4 
C 
Z 
3 
T. 
• > !"! ! ! 
■ • > ■ 
: : ; : ' '■ 
■ I- ■ ■ A^ • 
■ I ■ i / \ i 
1 K '• ■ / \ ' 
n n I % r il? 
| U / \ A / '• : v\ /! ' V 
2S0A. 
JtrnciEHT- efficient j , efficient ' / 
■ 2-HORSlJ " * MORSE , | e-HORSE ! . / 
JfaRHs! r *«M , 1 FARM6 / 
!iS-60A.J 85-IOSA J , 130- 170 A [ / 
i ; i ' ! ! A°°* 
; ! ioo a. cp ^v — 
^IX—^^V \ ! 1 
1 J ■ J 
,i ! 1 j i ! 
Fig. 7. — Relation of size of farm to percentage return on investment, showing sizes 
favorable for most efficient use of two horses, four, horses, and six horses. 
ciently. the average horse works less than 80 days, during the year. 
This adds greatly to the cost of a day's work for a horse. The same 
difficulty exists to a considerable extent with man labor on cotton 
farms. There is too much work at certain seasons and not enough at 
others. It is only when cotton is relatively high priced that such dis- 
advantages are overcome. Unfortunately, in the past there have 
been many periods when prices fell below cost of production, and this 
caused great suffering. 
The graphic illustration (fig. 7) shows certain relationships be- 
tween size of farms and returns. It is seen that as the curve repre- 
