36 BULLETIN 341, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
total crop area, was found to be less than 10 per cent, which means 
less than 6 acres per farm. On only 7 farms was the percentage 
of potato acreage found to exceed 20 (or 12 acres). The farmers of 
this area do not generally regard potatoes as a profitable crop, 
though they grow at least enough for home use and usually some for 
sale. The yield is low, the average being only about 79 bushels. The 
principal difficulty is in the character of the soil, which is rather 
too heavy for best results with this crop. The price also fluctuates — 
greatly, and on the average is little more than sufficient to cover the 
cost of production. Yet the crop helps to fill the labor schedule, and 
when kept within proper acreage limits probably adds somewhat 
to the profits of the farm business in the average year. During the — 
_year to which this survey relates the average price at which the 
farmers sold their potatoes was $1.04, which is much above the 
normal. With prices like this the tabulated figures show that the 
farm profits increase both with increase in acreage of potatoes and 
in proportion of receipts derived from their sale. It is certain, how- 
ever, that this does not represent normal conditions for this area, 
and hence the tabulations are omitted. 
One of the defects inherent in the survey method of studying 
farm-management problems les in the fact that unless conditions 
are normal at the time of the survey the results may be misleading. 
This difficulty can be overcome in a number of ways, one of which 
is to repeat the survey in the same locality for a sufficient number of 
years to establish a normal for each enterprise. Fortunately, how- 
ever, conditions were approximately normal in this area at the time 
these data were obtained except in the matter mentioned, and in the 
fact that the price of hay was somewhat above normal. In the main, 
therefore, the results are reliable. 
Wheat.—Wheat occupied 18.2 per cent of the total area of crops 
on the 378 owner farms. This crop occurred on 356 farms. In 
most cases the percentage of wheat acreage fell between 15 and 25 
per cent, but on several farms it was greater or less than these 
limits. The average proportion of income from the sale of wheat 
was 8.5 per cent of the total farm income, as shown in Table VIII. 
In relatively few cases did a farm receive more than 20 per cent of 
its income from this source. | 
The most profitable acreage of this crop is shown in Table XII. 
The labor incomes of the 28 farms having less than 10 per cent of 
wheat acreage was much lower than the average of all farms. 
TABLE XII.—Percentage of crop area in wheat as related to labor income. 
Percentioleropiarea: ins whedie---ss-e ees eeeee = eee ee eee O0to9. | 10to0 19. | 20 to 29. 30+. 
Namiber of farrigs cet 07 beet Beige a Pe en ee 28 213 121 162 | 
63 107 97 96 | 
