44 BULLETIN 1295, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
TABLE 21.—Average farm capital at time of survey, classified by years since 
settlement, Wisconsin projects 
| 
| he yee 
verage : arm 
| Number farm me seg capital, 
Years since settlement of capital Sine less 
settlers | at time r farm | WZcrease 
ofsurvey | P® inland ~ 
value 
(ERG STE GES ERs EID cea Reena AOR Shale ipa PV Eeiboen ey a I 144 $3, 317 $574 $2, 743 
MAH GHOGT 2 YEARS 2 ety sR A Oa ee A ea 117 3, 634 911 2, 723 
PLATIGR ET GEES VCAES = 6s 0 Rees 2 Sys EE BE ee ee 54 4,016 1212 2, 804 
wandunder 41yearc. Wins Ae EOE) ele owte a ee tee AE 34 4, 545 1, 451 38, 094 
BranGstenGer: GiyeCars: # jee og he lee a As Se 57 5, 974 1, 852 4,122 
Panechunders4syears } BRAS. La Ree ER ee oe a EE 45 5, 172 1, 971 3, 201 
All years.__.__i se | Ree Dat eS: upon i ey 451 4, 097 1,105 | 2, 992 
BEGINNING NET WORTH 
The settlers’ beginning net worth in these 15 projects averaged 
$1,237, or 48 per cent of the total farm capital, including cash on hand 
at time of settlement. This means that the lend companies had to 
provide 52 per cent of the initial capital. The percentages of initial 
net worth to total farm capital, including cash for the land settle- 
ment companies, range from 17.8 per cent for Project XIII to 71 
per cent for Project VI. (Table 20.) It should be noted that these 
extremes are largely the outgrowth of the policies of the land com- 
panies themselves in the selection of settlers and adoption of a credit 
policy. For instance, Project XIII is the one which went to an ex- 
treme in financing settlers with a minimum oi capitaltoinvest. Proj- 
ect VI pursued a policy at the other extreme, seeking only settlers 
with considerable capital and ability to finance the development of 
their farms. The problem of obtaining requisite capital was neces- 
sarily very difficult for, say, the 36.7 per cent of the settlers in this 
project who started with an initial net worth of less than $600, and 
probably also for the additional 28 per cent who had from $600 to 
$1,200. . 
RECEIPTS 
It would normally be expected that the capital requirements of a 
farming enterprise after the first year would be met, to a consider- 
able extent, out of current receipts. Table 22 makes it clear that not 
much can be expected from this source for a new farm in the cut- 
over region. The average receipts for the settlers who had completed 
only one full year were only $556, of which amount 69 per cent was 
from outside labor and 10 per cent from timber products. The only 
reason that more was not earned working out was that some of the 
settlers still had a part of their original cash on hand. The average 
for the settlers who had just completed 2, 3, or 4 years is $674, of 
which 50 per cent was outside labor and 11 per cent timber products, 
The slowly increasing crop and livestock receipts had reduced the 
proportion from outside work by a little, as compared with the set- 
tlers who had been on their farms less than two years. 
