36 BULLETIN 994, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGBICTJLTUKB. 
FIELD 3IAP. 
It is essential in all cost-accounting work on the farm to have 
measured acreages of the various fields on which records are being 
kept. From the organization standpoint a carefully drawn map of 
the fields and the farmstead also aids the farmer by emphasizing any 
change in farmstead and field arrangement that will make for the 
more economical operation of the farm. This is one of the first steps 
toward the reorganization of a farm business, as the layout of the 
farm is one of the important features of its organization. If the 
map is made on a reasonably large scale it may be found possible to 
note on it the rotation and the yield of the crop in eacjh field, together 
with the amount of fertilizer and manure applied, the amount of 
seed and twine used, and other items of value for each particular 
field. 
THE ROUTE METHOD OF ENTERPRISE STUDY. 
For certain types of farm production the route method, when 
applied to a single enterprise, has proved successful. Studies con- 
ducted by this method are usually a combination of the survey and 
accounting methods, inasmuch as a record of the entire year's busi- 
ness for the farm is obtained at the end of the year by the survey, 
while the accounting method is applied intensively to the special 
enterprise studied. Good examples of this combination of the two 
methods are found in the cooperative tobacco cost study conducted 
in Kentucky, and in the cooperative studies of the cost of fattening 
cattle in the corn-belt States. 
In the tobacco project each route consisted of 75 farms, a route 
man taking care of the tobacco project by the accounting method, 
while a survey was made on each farm at the end of the farm year 
to cover the other activities of the farm business. These studies are 
most sucessful on specialized farms where the enterprise studied is 
the most important item of production. Detailed labor records are 
kept for the special crop, and the acreage of this particular crop is 
measured carefully by the route agent. All financial records pertain- 
ing to this crop are carefully made, and at the same time an attempt 
is made to get a complete financial record of the entire farm business 
through the year. In the case of tobacco it is practically a year's 
study, inasmuch as the marketing operation on the tobacco crop 
occupies a long period of time and often a part of the crop is held 
over after the succeeding crop is planted. 
In the case of the beef-cattle studies, a survey of the previous 
year's business on 75 to 100 farms was made in each locality, and 
25 to 30 of these farms were formed into a group to be visited by 
the route agent throughout the cattle-feeding season. This season 
usually lasts from five to seven or eight months. During that time 
the enterprise record covers in detail the feed, labor, and cash require- 
