20 
BULLETIN 1446, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
The advantage of a large farm as measured by the cost of farm 
machinery per tillable acre is well illustrated on these farms (fig. 8). 
The cost of general farm machinery per tillable acre was decidedly 
lower on the farms of the larger sizes. The tractor cost per tillable 
acre decreased with an increase in size of farm. The high tractor 
cost per tillable acre in the largest tillable acre group was mainly 
because of an abnormally high expense for cash repairs for some trac- 
tors in this group. The influence of the size of farm on the cost of the 
factors of production is, of course, reflected in the net cost of producing 
wheat, and here again there appears to be a distinct advantage in 
favor of the large farm. 
On the group of tractor farms having the smallest tillable acreage 
per farm (550 acres and under), the net cost of producing winter 
wheat was $34.34 per acre, which decreased to $28.68 per acre for 
the group having the largest tillable acreage (1,051 acres and over) 
per farm. A comparison of the same size groups for nontraetor 
Fig. 8. — Large fields requiring a minimum of turning at corners and at irregular places make these 
farms well adapted to the use of large-size machinery. Three 16-inch plows with packer attached 
behind hauled by 16 horses. An outfit of this size will plow and pack about 10 acres per day 
farms shows a cost of $27.15 per acre for the small farms as against 
a cost of $26.33 per acre for the large farms. 
A comparison of earnings shows that the farm income, labor income, 
percentage return to capital, and returns per farm to capital and 
unpaid labor were considerably greater on the larger farms. Though 
size of business was not the sole reason for the large earnings on the 
larger farms, the greater efficiency in the use of man labor, work 
stock and equipment, and the larger volume of sales on these farms 
were the factors mainly responsible for the increased earnings on the 
larger farms. The slightly larger yield of wheat on the farms in the 
larger tillable-acre groups for tractor farms was responsible for some 
of the increased returns on these farms, and the abnormally high ex- 
pense for hired man labor and a high capitalization on one farm in 
the lowest tillable-acre group for tractor farms (550 and under) was a 
contributing factor explaining the minus labor income for this group. 
The price received for wheat averaged about the same for all groups. 
