18 BULLETIN 1388, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Operators of the small and medium-size farms used very little 
hired labor except in harvesting. Twenty months of family and 
regular hired labor was used on the large farms. This is equivalent 
to the operator's full time for a year in addition to the use of a hired 
man for eight months. It is seen from the table that an average of 
about three months of regular hired labor in addition to a consid- 
erable amount of extra day labor was used during the year by the 
operators of the large farms. 
One of the important resources on an irrigated farm is the avail- 
able supply of irrigation water. To obtain the most economical use 
of this resource, it is necessary for a farmer to know the water re- 
quirements of the different crops and soils on his farm and when 
and how to apply the water most effectively. Applying too much 
water on a crop is, in most cases, just as much of waste of resources 
as throwing away feed or labor which could be used to advantage. 
Ability to manage and operate a farm is another important farm 
resource and varies considerably in every agricultural community. 
Farmers who apply the same industry and intelligence to their farm 
problems as do successful men to their problems in other activities 
are generally the ones who progress most rapidly. Because of the 
many variations in farmers' experiences and their theories of pro- 
duction economies, it is not probable that all farmers would attain 
the same degree of success with a certain organization, even though 
all other resources were equal. In this area there are a few farmers 
who have been generally successful with sugar beets under condi- 
tions which have caused most farmers to stop growing the crop. 
Some farmers are very successful with cows and hogs, whereas, 
others would stop farming if they were required to milk a few cows. 
Others are particularly successful with crops requiring considerable 
care and attention, such as vegetables and small fruits. The farmer's 
ability to manage and operate a farm is a resource upon which largely 
depends the successful utilization of all the other resources at his 
command. 
CROPS GROWN AND DISTRIBUTION OF CROP AREA 
The two most important crops grown are alfalfa and potatoes. 
(See Table. 10.) Alfalfa occupies, on the average, a little over half 
of the total crop area; about one-fifth of the area is devoted to pota- 
toes. Normally, the potato acreage is considerably less than that 
indicated in 1921 and 1922. 
The importance of the various crops in the organization of the 
farms studied is indicated in Table 1 1 . The number of farmers grow- 
ing each crop, the average number of acres devoted to each crop by 
the farmers growing it, the average total yield produced, and the 
quantity sold and value received are given for the various-sized farms. 
Nearly all of the farmers produced the two important cash crops, 
alfalfa and potatoes. 
Considerably over half of the alfalfa hay produced on the medium 
and large farms was sold. Even on the small farms nearly half of 
the hay was sold, indicating the possibility of considerable livestock 
expansion on farms of less than 30 acres. 
