6 BULLETIN 548, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
SEVEN SUCCESSFUL DAIRY FARMS ANALYZED AND COMPARED. 
FARM NO. 1. 
Nize-ol farm ob Cr oe i. pee ee =e aera nw neens acres... 400 
Nimm ber, ofyeowws= a.) 8s ese ea ete eee pe a glue WD 
Number of otherianimal units] 2222 ogee ae es aif 
Fotalleaprtal a sec eis ee cle te rs ee re ee ae et $50, 097 
Worlanecapitalle seer ia ease ee Sere ON Om ae 7, 874 
Motaltreceipts2 7 = Set AME Reh Ce AO Rae 11, 824 
Receipts from dairyiicert 4c <b pee A ee eee eae 7, 416 
Bixpenses: $6 ose sch. L ater tet Breve ula ceniae. Man maw Ree eae 7, 854 
ParmINCome 5 ie oe fae helenae cs de a 3, 970 
Palbor 1mcomie Syria) ae ete ete cas At eee 1, 466 
This is the largest farm of the ten in question and is valued at $125 
per acre. It is well situated near a market point. While it is some- 
what rolling, the soil is of good quality and about all of it tillable. 
If properly organized, this farm should have made the largest labor 
income of the group. Instead, it is among the lowest, those which 
were only fairly successful. In the first place, the dairy business 
shows up poor in quality, receipts per cow being low as compared 
with those of the more successful farms. The operator has 75 cows, 
about as many as he can give proper attention to. Half his acreage 
easily could be made to support this herd. Thus, this area of land 
(400 acres) might be supporting two successful dairy farms instead 
of one (see farm No. 4). If there were an additional farm superin- 
tendent, however, the farm might be so organized that the dairy 
business could be conducted as one department, while the greater 
part of the land could be cropped in accordance with the best practice 
in the section. With a higher degree of diversity and by handling 
other live stock, the gross income of this farm, even with its present 
management, should be increased considerably without much more 
expense. The average expenses of the ten farms are about 45 
per cent of receipts, while on this farm they are about 75 per cent, 
showing that the business was too expensive for the income received. 
This farmer housed his cows in a $7,000 dairy barn, an invest- 
ment of nearly $100 per cow, while his nearest competitor, one of 
the most successful farmers of the group, had but one-third of this 
amount invested. Although this was a large farm and showed a 
relatively small proportion of its receipts from other sources than 
dairying, it failed to produce as much feed for dairy stock as the 
average farm ($18) and expended for purchased feeds $20 per cow. 
1See footnote, p. 4. 
2 Total capital includes investment in land, buildings, machinery, live stock, feed, supplies, and cash 
to run the business. 
8 Working capital includes all items of capital except land, buildings, and other improvements usually 
included in real estate. 
4 Expenses include a charge for unpaid family labor, depreciation, and 5 per cent interest on total capital 
besides money actually paid out in conducting the farm business. 
5 Farm income is the total receipts less expenses. 
6 Labor income is farm income less 5 per cent interest on invested capital. 
