60 BULLETIN 341, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
stated, the price of farm land has risen materially in this locality 
since the survey was made. Unless there has been a corresponding 
increase in the price of farm products, which is very doubtful, a 
repetition of this survey would therefore show a decrease in labor 
incomes, because a larger proportion of the profits would be absorbed 
by interest on the investment. 
RELATION OF SIZE OF FARM TO EFFICIENCY. 
In Table X XVII some of the reasons are given why it is easier to 
make a satisfactory income on a large farm than on a small one. Let 
us consider first the number of productive work units per farm. On 
many farms a great deal of the work is devoted to things which add 
little or nothing to the profits of the business. By productive work 
we mean work applied to an enterprise which constitutes a source of 
income, and by a work unit we mean an average day’s work of a man. 
or a beast. 
TABLE XXVII.—Relation of size of farm to efficient use of labor and working 
capital, Chester County owners. 
Productive Ratio of cost of 
work units Value Value | puildings to 
Num-| pPerfarm. | Crop |Manla- 1 ae Crop | work genes farm income. 
Sizes offarms, | ber acres | bor per 2 aa yee horses ae 
in acres. of per crop aie ee per = 
farms man. | acre man. 2 Other 
Arancliroime per | horse. crop | Dwell- Waites 
man. acre ing ings 
131) {Oe oe eoeose 54 | 184 82 | 13.7 | $20.74 | $23.93 9.0 Thay GTS, TL 3.41 2.78 
ASE OLOO eres 61 | 299 140 | 20.2] 15.78] 26.60 11.9 17% |= A2. 57, 2.19 1.91 
GTO EO. Saecoges 60 | 372 VC 235271) 1389832 fete 13.9 ETE A ole 1. 88 1.89 
Stol00f =e 68 | 475 226 | 25.2] 13.46] 28.30 14.5 Se EOS 7 1.76 2. 03 
10 toL20=5-2222 OZ Ook 259 | 25.6] 13.64 | 29,22 15.0 1.6] 11.80 1.83 1.92 
12 COMGOR aeons 61 | 582 286 | 29.0] 11.80] 28.50 16.8 7 9. 20 1.62 1. 83 
1G0-Pis sess 22) 856 444] 31.1] 13.05] 33.77 17.4 1.8 8.94 1. 68 1.91 
Allsizes..| 378 | 439 2A 24ST 13569) | 928527 14.7 1.7 | 10.88 1. 88 1.96 
The 54 farms of 40 acres or less furnish their owners on the 
average 184 productive man-work units and 82 productive horse- 
work units a year. A man who works at profitable employment only 
184 days in the year does not get a good income unless he is a man 
of unusual ability. These farms are too small to give a sufficient 
amount of labor with the style of organization which prevails on 
them. If the region were one which permitted still more intensive 
farming, these farms might permit a satisfactory business. The 
third and fourth columns of Table X XVII show that as the farms 
increase in size the amount of labor the farm provides increases 
markedly. In the case of the 22 farms of more than 160 acres we 
have an average of 856 man-work units and 444 horse-work units. 
Tt will be noticed that in all the groups the number of productive 
horse-work units is about half those of the productive man units. 
On the average for the whole number of farms there are 439 man 
and 211 horse work units. This increase in the number of produc- 
