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FARM MANAGEMENT
THE FARM LIBRARY
SOILS By S.W. Fletcher
FARM ANIMALS . . , ByE.V. Wilcox
COTTON . By C. W. Bwrkett and Clarence H. Poe
FARM MANAGEMENT . . By F. W. Card
Cbe jFatm iUbtatp
FARM V
MANAGEMENT
Including business accounts, suggestions for
watching markets, time to market various
products, adaptation to local conditions, etc.
By FRED W. CARD
Professor of Agriculture
Garden City New York
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1911
COPYMGHT, 1907. BY DOUBLEDAY, PaOE & CCMIFANT
Published, March, igo7
All Rights Reserved
Xmcxuding that of Translation into Forsign LANGUAtas
Including the Scandinavian
S54.\
c n-f
PREFACE
The production of good crops and animals
constitutes one phase of successful agriculture.
It is the phase upon which most emphasis has
been laid in the movements for agricultural
betterment which have been so prominent in
recent times. But higher crop and animal
production does not represent all there is to
good farming. An article which has been pro-
duced at too great cost or marketed unwisely
may bring no financial gain. Executive ability
and the proper adjustment of cog to cog in the
business venture count for more than soil fertility
or intelligent crop management. To market a
product advantageously is as essential as to
produce it economically. In short, business
methods are as important as production methods,
and far more likely to be neglected.
To bring to the attention of students some of
these problems of the farm has been the object
of the course of lectures of which the present
writing is the outgrowth. They are problems
which should appeal to the farmer with even
greater force than to the student. The aim has
been to awaken interest and suggest methods
of studying these problems rather than to present
PREFACE
solutions of them, for the solution will differ with
nearly every individual case. In the system
of records and accounts outlined, simplicity has
been kept uppermost, for to prove useful a
system must be adopted, and to be adopted it
must be simple.
Agricultural teaching and agricultural prac-
tice will both give greater heed to the business
management of the farm in the years to come
than in those gone by. Farm Administration,
rather than farm production, is likely to receive
special emphasis in the next forward movement
for agriculture. It is the hope of the author
that this book may help to stimulate that
movement.
Fred W. Card.
Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Me-
chanic Arts,
Kingston, R. I., February 23, 1907.
CONTENTS
VAOI
Preface ......... v
Chapter I. THE EVOLUTION OF FARMING . 3
Economic changes.
Chapter II. CAPITAL 10
The proper adjustment between the various fonns of
"fixed" and "circulating" capital.
Chapter III. LABOUR 19
Winter labour; manual labour; the labour problem;
time-cards; the average cost of labour; contract labour;
profit sharing; reducing cost of maintenance; reducing
cost per unit of work; three and four-horse teams.
Chapter IV. IMPLEMENTS AND EQUIPMENT 40
Elements of cost in the farm implement problem; size of
machinery; depreciation.
Chapter V. OWNERSHIP OR RENTAL .48
The element of risk.
Chapter VI. THE CHOICE OF A FARM . 56
Location; surroundings; market facilities; character of
the farm; nature of the land; proportion of waste land;
buildings; water supply; woodland; orchards; fences;
attractiveness of location.
Chapter VTI. SYSTEMS OF FARMING . 70
Special vs. mixed farming; extensive vs. intensive farm>
iug; syndicate farming; favourable factors; full
vii
Tiii FARM MANAGEMENT
FAOS
equipment warranted; full use of equipment possible;
opportunity for skilled oversight; advantages in market-
ing; unfavourable factors; loss of time in working large
areas; difficulty of dose oversight by manager; lack of
personal oversight on the part of the investor.
Chapter VIII. FARMING COMPARED WITH
OTHER LINES OF BUSINESS ... 91
The investment demanded; safety of the investment;
prospect of a continued livelihood; financial returns;
opportunities for the active investor; opportunities for
the man without capital; opportunities for women;
attractiveness of surroundings; home making; family
employment; indep>endence and service.
Chapter IX. MARKETING PROBLEMS — THE
IMPORTANCE OF PRICE .109
Transportation; wholesale vs. retaU market; general vs,
special market; home vs. a distant market; direct sale
vs. commission; division of shipments; a city salesman;
cooperative marketing; varieties; packing and grading.
Chapter X. ADVERTISING IM
The appearance of the farm and the crops; the appear-
ance of the farmer and his team; the farm name; letter- t
heads; printed envelopes; shipping cards; the farm
bulletin board; fair exhibits; printed circulars; news-
paper or magazine advertising.
Chapter XI. RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS —
BUSINESS ACCOUNTS 146
Reasons for keeping accounts; systems of accounts; a
single entry system; the inventory; the inventory valua-
tion; rates of depreciation; inventory records; the cash
CONTENTS «
rxax
book; the bank account; personal accounts; the ex-
tended ledger; separate slips; merits of the system;
double entry; the cash book; the daybook and journal;
the ledger; farm records; dairy records; milk records;
swine records; poultry records; crop records; family
consmnption records; the method; general advice.
Chapter XII. MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS —
FENCING 1»8
Economy of time.
Chapter XIH. COOPERATION .... £08
Production; the ownership of large implements; the
ownership of improved sires and breeding stock; co-
operative labour; manufacture; buying; selling; fire in-
surance; telephone systems.
Chapter XIV. SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING . 222
A representative mixed farm in New York; a woman's
farm; dairy farming; a typical dairy farm in Penn-
sylvania; sheep farming; a New England farm on which
sheep find a place, Massachusetts; beef farming; a
profitable beef farm, Missouri; poultry farming; a
modest poultry farm, Rhode Island; grass farming; a
successful fruit farm in New York managed by a father
and son; truck farming; a typical truck farm near
Boston.
INDEX 2ff7
ILLUSTRATIONS
A cominercial apple orchard in Nebraska
Frontispiect
1. The old-time loom and spinning wheels
2. The modern loom
5. Old-time dairy methods
4. Where the cost of land improvement is heavy
6. The dairy room ....
6. Insufficient labour and equipment .
7. Over-capitalisation in buildings
8. Under-capitalisation in buildings .
9. A good farm woodlot .
10. The sugar-bush ....
11. Poultry helps to solve the winter labour problem
12. Winter is the time for putting all implements in repair
13. A neat farm tenement house .
14. The way the city business man economises team
labour ......
15. Harvesting corn by hand
16. The corn harvester at work ,
17. Where efficiency is the determining factor
18. The potato digger ....
19. Waiting for a tenant ....
20. A type of country school to be avoided .
21. Neighbours signify much more in farm life than
or village life .....
22. A farmers' gathering ....
23. A highway lined with maple trees .
24. A farm where the surface contour is bad
25. Where surface contour is good
26. Too large a proportion of waste land
VACata VAGE
4
4
5
12
13
16
17
18
19
30
31
32
33
in city
38
39
42
43
48
49
54
55
58
59
64
64
65
xii FARM MANAGEMENT
27. A modest but attractive farm home ... 68
28. An unattractive farm house ..... 69
29. The haying equipment on an ordinaiy mixed farm . 76
30. Additional haying equipment which special farming
will warrant ....... 77
SI. Extensive and intensive methods with the hay crop . 86
32. Making the potato crop a specialty ... 87
33. A full equipment is warranted .... 90
34. A small investment 91
35. The farmer's old age 100
36. Farming as a business investment directly financed
by the owner ....... 101
37. Farming as a business investment on the share-rental
system ........ 102
38. The farmer's place of work ..... 103
30. The business man's place of work . . . .106
40. A neat farm home built from materials furnished by
the farm 107
41. Each child can be given an opportunity for some
enterprise of his own ..... 108
42. A long hill but easy grades and a good macadam road
make it easily climbed ..... 109
43. A steep hill 128
44. Marketing at retail 129
45. Marketing at wholesale. ..... 144
46. An apple tree in fruit ...... 145
47. Where appreciation takes the place of depreciation . 148
48. Students considering the depreciation on a silage
cutter exposed to the weather .... 149
49. Where depreciation is heavy . . , . .156
50. Inventory cards ....... 157
51. One cow's record. ...... 196
62. One cow's record. 197
53. SmaU fields 204
54. Diagram of small fidds ..... 204
ILLUSTRATIONS xiii
S6. Diagram of fencing problem for a 100-acre farm 204
56. Inconvenient location of buildings and well . . 205
57. Cooperative ownership ...... SOS
58. Filling the silo 209
59. A cooperative cheese factory . . . . .212
00. A profitable cooperative creamery . .213
61. Marketing cheese from the cooperative factory . 220
62. The chief factor on the dairy farm . 221
63. Grain growing ....... 224
64. Poultry farming at Little Compton, R. I. . . 225
65. A profitable hay field kept continuously in grass 254
66. Modem implements 255
FARM MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER I
2. ^ 3 2. 5"
THE EVOLUTION OF FARMING
WITHIN a half-century business methods
have undergone vast changes. The
village blacksmith is no longer the me-
chanic in toto for the whole countryside. It is
not so long ago that he was expected to stand
ready to furnish anything needed, from a pound
of nails to a hammer or a harrow. Gradually
the making of nails, of hammers, and of harrows
passed into the hands of some one blacksmith
who learned to make them better or cheaper
than others. He then found more people in
want of them. In time he could not make them
fast enough himself and hired another smith to
help. This, in its simplest terms, is the history
of modern manufacturing.
Along with this specialisation in business has
gone specialisation among the workmen. The
old-time shoemaker cut his pegs from the birch
log, made his own ** waxed-end," and fashioned
the shoe throughout. Sometimes he tanned the
leather from which it was made. The modern
shoemaker stands by a machine which cuts one
of the pieces that go to make up a present-day
shoe, with swift n^achine-like movement puts
s
4 FARM MANAGEMENT
one of these pieces in place, or builds a factory
in which to make the eyelets, or the hooks, or
the laces. This specialisation has brought both
gain and loss to the workman. It has brought
gain, in that he must no longer serve a long
apprenticeship in order to take an accredited
place among his fellows. It has brought loss
in that it has reduced his chances of becoming
a skilled workman whose services are at a pre-
mium. His place can be quickly jBlled and he
is of less consequence to his employer than
formerly. He is not such a well-trained, all-
round man as he used to be. If he leaves his
place he is less able to adapt himself to new con-
ditions than formerly. Whether his condition
is on the whole better or worse is useless to ask.
The change has come and no power can turn
back the tide. The workman, like the manu-
facturer, must abide by the result.
The merchant, too, has been carried on by
the same current. His customers demand a
better assortment than they did. His capital
is insufficient to meet this increased demand in
all lines. One line is strengthened and another
dropped. Unless he organises a company to
develop a department store, he no longer carries
hardware, groceries, drygoods, confectionery, and
drugs. As the line of goods contracts the cir-
cle of customers must widen. Special efforts
are made to bring sales, the windows dazzle with
1. THE OLD-TIME LOOM AND SPIXXLNG WHEELS
2. THE MODERN' LOOM
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THE EVOLUTION OF FARMING 5
the display, the columns of the daily enlarge
upon the value of the wares, and salesmen are
trained in every art of exchanging goods for
money.
The farm has in part, but only in part, escaped
this trend of the times. The pioneer farm which
supported a half-dozen sheep, a cow, and a calf
must needs furnish all they ate. If the hay ran
short they must take to the woods and "browse."
Buying grain to supplement the farm supply
was unknown. The wool from the back of the
sheep, if taken to a carding mill, was soon
returned, to pass over the spinning wheel and
through the loom or over the knitting needle to
the wearer. The shiftless or unfortunate farmer
who failed to grow wheat enough to supply bread
for the family, ate rye or corn. Sugar came from
the maple tree and spice from the herb garden.
The farm of those days was a self-centred
community. The members of the family fur-
nished the labour employed and in emergencies
"changed works" with a neighbour. The farm
supplied, directly, most of the needs of its
occupants. The test of good farming lay largely
in the ability to satisfy these needs to the fullest
extent. There was little business dealing with
the outside world, and that largely by way of ex-
change. The tailor, the shoemaker, the doctor,
and the minister each used some surplus product
in return for services rendered. The leading
6 FARM MANAGEMENT
business transactions of the year were the cash
sales needed to secure enough actual money to
meet the demands of the tax-gatherer.
The progressive modern farm has entered into
the commercial life of the day. It recognises the
law of advantage in production. It discerns
the futility of attempting to compete with all the
world in the production of every commodity.
Every farm cannot grow celery, peaches, corn,
and cauliflower equally well. Some farms can
produce one of them better. Every farm ought
to be able to produce some one thing better than
most other farms can produce it. If this ad-
vantage more than offsets the expenses of ex-
change, it is the part of good business policy to
find out what that one thing is and to produce it.
This change means that farming becomes a
business rather than an employment. It means
the adoption of business methods in every phase
of activity. It means the proper adjustment of
the capital involved. There should be no more
land than the money, tools, and equipment will
handle to its full capacity. There must be no
more money invested in implements than can
be used with profit upon the land available.
It means that the line of crops chosen must be
adjusted to the demands of the market, to a
rotation consistent with the demands of good
farming, and to a system of labour which
will permit full employment and business-like
THE EVOLUTION OF FARMING 7
manipulation of the labour available. Team-
work must be adjusted so as to secure the maxi-
mum number of hours of service from the number
of animals kept. The farmer must endeavour to
cheapen production and to increase quality of
product at every possible point. He must try
to discover the point at which increased labour
and fertility applied fails to yield a more than
corresponding increase in crop return; then must
endeavour to reach it but not to pass it. He
must know the market in which he is to com-
pete, what it demands and how it demands it.
He must know how to advertise his goods and
in what shape they will be most attractive to
customers. He should know something of the
regions against which he has to compete and of
what his competitors are doing.
ECONOMIC CHANGES
In 1850 there was one farm for each sixteen
persons within the limits of the United States.
In 1900 there was one farm for each 13.3 persons.
To put it in another and better way, there were
4.87+ acres of improved land in cultivation in
the United States in 1850 for each individual of
population. In 1900 there were 5.44 -acres in
cultivation for each member of the population.
The average size of farms decreased from 1850
to 1880 but has increased since that time. From
8 FARM MANAGEMENT
1890 to 1900 the increase in acreage of improved
land was 16 per cent.; the increase in population
was 21 per cent. During the greater part of
the last half-century the acreage of improved
land in cultivation has therefore been increasing
faster than the population. This has meant
keener competition for the farmer, competition
which has been only in part averted by lessening
yields due to wasteful and careless methods of
farming. Indeed export statistics show that
the production per acre has increased rather
than decreased, owing to the occupation of more
fertile land. Combined with this increase in
production, as compared with home consum-
tion, has gone a marvellous development in
transportation facilities, which has brought the
American farmer face to face with the farmers
of every country on the globe. The farmer who
is to succeed to-day needs to know something
of the progress of the world.
During the period since 1850 the proportionate
production between agriculture and manufac-
tures in the United States has greatly changed.
At that time the value of manufactures was
about one billion dollars, while the value of
agricultural products was something like one
and one-quarter billions. In 1900 the value of
manufactures had reached the sum of thirteen
billions, while agriculture aggregated less than
five billions.
THE EVOLUTION OF FARMING 9
In 1820, of the total number of persons en-
gaged in the three great industries, agriculture,
commerce, and manufactures, about five-sixths
were found in agriculture. In 1900 agriculture
claimed less than one-half of those engaged in
these industries.
In 1870, for each 1000 persons over ten years
old engaged in agriculture there were 1,112
persons engaged in other gainful pursuits. In
1900, there were 1,806 persons in other pursuits
for each 1,000 in agriculture.
Taken together these economic changes af-
ford much encouragement to the American
farmer. While the increase in area of improved
land under cultivation outran population during
the greater proportion of the last century, that
condition has now passed. From henceforth
the number of persons to be supplied with food
from each acre of land must increase, not de-
crease, at least so far as the United States itself
is concerned. The statistics concerning the num-
ber of persons engaged in the different occu-
pations of life show that the proportionate
number of customers for the farmer's products
in the home market has constantly increasei'
and will doubtless continue to increase in the
future.
CHAPTER II
CAPITAL
THE three primary or economic agencies
which agriculture demands are land,
labour, and capital. The adjustment of
these agencies in the right proportion is an im-
portant phase of successful farm management.
Capital in its turn demands the proper adjust-
ment between the various forms of "fixed" and
"circulating" capital. Fixed capital, as the
term is used by economists, properly includes all
forms of permanent equipment which are used
in the conduct of the business, whether land,
buildings, implements, teams, or other things
which are used continuously or at different times.
Circulating capital is a term limited to those
forms which are used up in the process of pro-
duction, the same portion never being used but
once, but being continually replaced by other
material of the same kind.* The accom-
panying table will serve to illustrate the
classification of farm capital under these two
heads.
*Some economists restrict the meaning of the word capital to the money
vahic of tlie commodities included and use the term "capital goods" to
designate the objects themselves, such as buildings, live-stock, and implements.
10
CAPITAL 11
CLASSIFICATION OF FARM CAPITAIi
A. — ^" Fixed," or Invested Capital
1. Land
Natural value
Land improvement
Wells, drains, roads, fences, orchards, etc
S. Buildings
Dwelling
Farm buildings
Building equipment
Silos, stalls, shafting, etc.
Windmills
3. EgtriPMENT
Teams
Implements
Live stock used in production
B. — " Circulating," or Working Capital
Seed, feed, fertiliser, and supplies
Market crops and market live stock growing or unsold
Money required to pay labour and carry on the business
Land represents a special form of capital in
that it is a natural agent limited in amount.
But the natural value of land is often far ex-
ceeded by the improvements which have been
put upon it in its development. Few of our
Eastern farms would to-day sell for enough to
pay for the labour which has been expended upon
them in clearing the land, removing the rocks and
stones, and in other work of improvement which
has been expended upon the mere land itself.
The dwelling does not properly represent a
12 FARM MANAGEMENT
part of the farm capital, except in so far as some
portion of it may be devoted to strictly farming
operations, such as a dairyroom connected with
the dwelling. The dwelling represents the home
element and is a personal expense, as much as is the
home of the merchant or manufacturer which is
entirely apart from his business. Its cost may be
much or little without in any way affecting the
financial status of the farm business. Yet since
the farm and the home are generally combined in
a single investment it is not always easy to sep-
arate the two in making a study of farm capital.
While the success of a farming venture is
greatly dependent upon the proportionate ad-
justment between land, labour, and other forms
of capital, no rule can be laid down as to what
the proportions should be. This will vary
greatly with the type of business, the character
of the market available, the tastes and ability
of the farmer, and other factors of the individual
problem. One fact, however, should be kept
clearly in mind, which is that production is
limited by the minimum amount of the one factor
which is deficient, whichever that may be. With
too little land, production cannot be large, no
matter how much labour and capital may be
available. With a deficient labour supply, land
and equipment avail little. Land and labour
together, with insufficient equipment, are like-
wise ineffective.
^8
si F
CAPITAL
13
One law appears to hold in this matter of ad-
justment. As the business grows more suc-
cessful, or as competition forces a more careful
study of the problem, there is a general increase
of the proportionate investment toward the
circulating end, a general movement, so to speak,
of capital down the line from the more stable
forms of fixed capital toward the most flexible
forms of circulating capital. Land improve-
ments increase; better buildings appear, and
especially the equipment connected with these
buildings, such as silos, improved fixtures, and
conveniences increase. The equipment repre-
sented in teams, implements, and live stock is
brought up to the full needs of the business.
More labour is employed and more money is
expended in the conduct of the business.
Census statistics do not show the proportion-
ate adjustment between these different elements
of production as they actually exist on the farms
of the United States, although they do throw
some light upon the problem. The following
figures are taken from the census of 1900:
AVERAGE FARM
VALUES
United States
Northeastern
Section
Total value
Land and improvements other
than buildings
Buildings, including dwelling
Implements and machinery
Live stock
$3,574.00
2,285.00
620.00
133.00
536.00
$4,355.00
2,219.00
1,437.00
226.00
473.00
14
FARM MANAGEMENT
The amount expended for labour per farm is
given as $64 for the United States and $105 for
the northeastern section. This is merely the
amount employed in addition to that of the
farmer and his family.
Arranged on the basis of each $1,000 invested
these figures show the following ratios :
United States
Northeastern
Section
Land and improvements other
than buildings
Buildings, including dwelling .
Implements and machinery.
Live stock
$ 640.00
173.00
37.00
150.00
$1,000.00
$ 510.00
330.00
52.00
108.00
$1,000.00
Compared in another way the figures show
that for each $1,000 invested in land and its
improvements other than buildings the follow-
ing amounts are invested in other ways :
United States
Northeastero
Section
Buildings, including dwelling
Implements and machinery
Live stock
$271.33
58.20
234.57
$564.10
$647.58
101.94
213.16
$962.68
The figures for buildings here include the
value of the dwelling as well as that of other farm
buildings. They show the investment in build-
ings to be much larger in the northeastern sec-
tion, which includes New England, New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, than
CAPITAL 15
in the United States as a whole. The invest-
ment in implements and machinery and the
amount paid for labour are also noticeably larger
in this region, though the amount invested in
live stock is smaller. This is the region in which
intensive methods prevail to a greater extent
than in other parts of the country.
Let it not be forgotten that the above figures
represent the average investment found on the
farms of the country, including those of the poor
farmers as well as the good ones. It should be
further remembered that the common mistake
is to place too large a proportion of the total
investment in land, to become "land poor,'* and
the rare mistake is to invest too much in equip-
ment. It is safe to assume, therefore, that one
who is to embark in farming in any region where
fairly intensive methods prevail should, for every
dollar invested in bare land, withhold at least
another dollar for buildings and equipment.
Or for each $1,000 invested in improved land
with buildings he should reserve at least $250
for implements and other equipment.
Figures obtained from successful farmers in
different parts of the country in answer to in-
quiries sent out asking for information in regard
to investments, operating expenses, etc., may be
cited as bearing upon this question. The average
figures for mixed farms are based upon twenty-
three replies, those for stock and dairy farms
16
FARM MANAGEMENT
upon fourteen replies. The figures show that
for each $1,000 invested in land and improve-
ments other than buildings, there are invested in
other ways the following amounts:
Mixed Farms
Stock and
Dairy Farms
Dwelling
Farm buildings
Live stock, other than teams .
Teams and tools ....
Operating expenses ....
$221.00
263.00
169.00
128.00
$781.00
$217.00
$139.00
192.00
342.00
71.00
$744.00
$144.00
On these farms, therefore, which are managed
by successful, wide-awake men for the most
part, for each $1,000 invested in land there is
an investment of over $500 in equipment and
farm buildings, exclusive of the dwelling. For
each $1,000 invested in land and buildings as a
whole, including the dwelling, about $200 is
invested in equipment on the mixed farms and
about $300 on the stock and dairy farms. The
annual operating expenses amount to about
$140 for each $1,000 of the total investment on
the mixed farms and about $100 on the stock
and dairy farms.
Among these mixed farms were a few which
did not show a profit after adding to the operat-
ing expenses a charge of 5 per cent, for interest
on the capital invested, 5 per cent, for deprecia-
tion, repairs and insurance on buildings and^lO
per cent, for depreciation on teams and tools.
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CAPITAL 17
These farms showed a relatively smaller invest-
ment in farm buildings and live stock, with a
relatively higher one in teams and tools, and
relatively lower operating expenses. The most
profitable farms did not vary greatly from the
average, but showed a slightly higher relative in-
vestment in farm buildings, with a slightly lower
one in live stock and teams and tools, and
slightly higher operating expenses.
While the relative investment in buildings and
equipment on the stock and dairy farms is less than
on the mixed farms the actual amount is larger.
The total investment on the stock and dairy
farms averages $23,903.43, as against $12,393.92
on the mixed farms. The above figures simply
mean that on the stock and dairy farms a relative-
ly larger amount is invested in land than on the
mixed farms.
Perhaps no phase of agriculture has received
less careful study than this one of the proper
adjustment and manipulation of the capital
involved, yet none demands it more. One ad-
vantage of agriculture as a business is that it
may be begun with limited capital, as compared
with many other lines, even with limited capital
as compared with the needs of the business
itself. Yet the man who so begins is seriously
hampered, more so oftentimes than he himself
may think. On the other hand the man with
unlimited wealth often makes the mistake of
18 FARM MANAGEMENT
investing more in improvements and equipment
than the business will warrant. The poor young
man is at least saved from this error. A study
of figures such as the preceeding should serve a
useful purpose to those who are contemplating
agricultural investments. Some of the more
common mistakes, at least, might thereby be
avoided.
A farmer once said to me that he believed no
other line of business requires so much capital
in proportion to the returns received as farming.
He doubtless voiced the view of many farmers
in this remark. While it is doubtful if statistics
would prove this statement true on well-managed
farms, it is true that many a farm yields a much
smaller return on the invested capital than it
should, because that capital is not well appor-
tioned and well utilised.
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CHAPTER ni
LABOUR
THE proper adjustment of the labour in-
volved is one of the most difficult prob-
lems in farm management. Experience
and careful study alone can tell how much labour
can be profitably expended with a given
amount of capital invested. In facing this
problem it is well to bear in mind that certain
expenses must first be met regardless of the
amount of labour involved. It then follows
that so long as an increase in labour can bring an
approximate increase in return, so long should
it be profitable to increase the expenditure in
this line.
To illustrate, let us assume a farm and equip-
ment worth $6,000, with $1,000 of this in build-
ings and $1,000 in team and tools. Allowing
interest at 5% the following fixed charges are to
be met: Interest on total investment, $300; de-
preciation, repairs and insurance on buildings,
at 5%, $50; depreciation on team and tools, at
10%, $100. To be added to these may be esti-
mated the following: Taxes and insurance, $50;
help $200; supplies and incidentals $200, or
an aggregate expense of $900. Supposing the
19
«0 FARM MANAGEMENT
total sales to amount to $1,000 there would be a
net profit of $100, or 1|% on the invested capital.
If now by the addition of $300 more in labour the
total sales can be increased to $1,500, there is a
net profit of $300, or 5% on the original invested
capital. In other words the extra $300 has paid
a return of 66f % on this particular part of the
investment.
While these are only imaginary figures I ven-
ture the belief that they are figures which could
be closely duplicated on many a farm. Let no
one assume, however, that because his own
operations resemble the first case, the expenditure
of $300 more for labour v/ill make them like
the second case. That depends upon himself
and the conditions which he must meet. Labour
poorly employed is a worse investment than too
little labour.
WINTER LABOUR
Another problem, both important and difficult,
is the adjustment of the system of operations
in such a way as to employ as nearly as possible
a uniform amount of labour throughout the
season or throughout the year. Rarely are
conditions such that labour can be taken on and
dropped at the convenience of the person hiring.
Even when possible to do this it will usually be
at the expense of quality. The man who can
LABOUR 21
assure the workman a steady place throughout
the year is sure to attract the better class of men,
other things being equal.
In this lies one of the chief advantages of a
well-chosen rotation or combination of special-
ties. Few single Unes can be made to furnish a
uniform, continuous demand for labour. If a
system can be devised which will call for in-
creased labour from one line when another
ceases to demand it the gain will be great. The
hardest problem in ordinary lines of farming
is to provide for work during winter. There is
little trouble to arrange matters during eight
months, or two- thirds of the year; the difficulty
comes with the other third, during the dead of
winter.
No one plan will fit all cases. On many
farms, especially in New England and other
parts of the East where much rough land exists,
the farm woodlot, properly managed, offers one
of the simplest but best solutions of the wintef
labour problem. If much of the land which
now yields scant return with heavy expense for
tillage were turned over to systematic forest
management the gain would be great both to
the owners and to the community. Let the
woodland be treated as any other part of the
farm is treated, as a crop which should yield an
average annual return; then let the management
be such as to increase this return. So managed
«2 FARM MANAGEMENT
many a piece of forest land will make good use
of the surplus winter labour and easily foot all
bills.
Firewood need not be the only product of
such management. Few forests will fail to yield
more valuable forms of timber if properly aided.
Even if the quality of lumber obtained be not
of the best it may be made available for many
farm uses, including fencing, repairs for imple-
ments, homemade devices, potato crates, egg
cases, etc. If of fair quality, apple boxes may
form one of the products. I yet expect to meet
the ingenious man who has developed from the
farm woodlot a winter factory for some toy,
article of wooden ware, rustic furniture, or
similar product which will yield as profitable a
return as the summer's operations in the field.
Where sugar maple trees form a part of the
forest the making of sugar and syrup affords a
profitable employment for a time at the close of
winter.
Upon the basis of data gathered by the study
of different tracts the Forest Service of the
United States Department of Agriculture esti-
mates that white pine in New England should
yield a net annual return of $1.15 per acre, paid
at the expiration of forty years, in addition to
4% compound interest on the money invested.*
This estimate contemplates planting the seed.
* Bureau of Forestry, Bulletin No. 45, p. 40,
LABOUR 23
growing the young trees in the nursery and trans-
planting them to the tract to be used. One
experiment on wornout pasture land, reported
from Smithfield, R. I., seemed to show a gain of
over 6% on the original investment, during a
period of fifty-seven years.*
The winter dairy does much to solve the
winter- work problem. Stock always demands
more attention in winter than in summer. If
this variation is augmented by producing most
of the milk in winter, the care and manufacture
of it, particularly if butter is made on the farm,
will utilise much of the time. The care of the
manure adds another not inconsiderable item to
the work demanded, for in general agricultural
practice there is no better way to store the manure
than by spreading it on the field where it is to be
wanted. None should accumulate about the
barns.
Added to the regular work of the dairy it may
be possible to carry on the feeding of calves, cows,
or steers for beef. This will sometimes employ
labour, yield some profit, and add greatly to the
fertility of the farm.
Winter lambs offer another field of endeavour
for those properly situated. All such lines of
work which require extra labour in winter are
of value in solving this problem, not all in any
one place but each in the place best suited to it
*Rbode Island State Board of Agriculture Report 1800, p. 150.
24 FARM MANAGEMENT
If to the winter dairy can be added the pro-
duction of winter eggs, perhaps utilising in part
the skim-milk to stimulate the egg production,
this will prove in many cases the most feasible
and a most satisfactory solution of the problem.
These are lines which require little change from
the general operations of the farm. The pro-
ducts, both of the dairy and of the hennery,
bring much better prices at this season of the
year, and while they must be produced at an
increased cost, the returns and the advantages in
other ways fully repay the increase. If made a
specialty in winter there is less to interfere and
they are less likely to be neglected than in sum-
mer when many kinds of work are crowding for
attention at the same time.
To some the forcing of rhubarb in the cellar
may afford a line of work demanding a fraction
of the time and yielding a modest return. If
cellar room is available and a market is at hand
the roots may be easily grown in the open field
during summer, turned out at the approach of
freezing weather and allowed to freeze, then
transferred to the cellar for winter growth. I
know of no more attractive product within the
possibilities of farm production than this.
A few may find it advisable to go still further
in this line and attempt the forcing of vegetables
or the growing of flowers under glass. On one
such farm which I know, the work is confined
LABOUR 25
largely to the growing of vegetable plants, such
as tomato and cabbage, to be sold for trans-
planting in spring, and common flowering plants,
like geranium, to be sold for bedding-out. These
are sold through grocers at moderate prices but
the aggregate income from the business is far
larger than many farms yield from their entire
output. Not all have the taste, the capital or
the market for this line of work, but the capital
and the market are oftentimes forthcoming if
there exists the inclination, followed by the at-
tempt to find them. The business just referred
to was established at a point some fifteen miles
from the principal market, with no means of
communication other than by team. The young
man who started it was told that he could find
no sale for his products if he should grow them.
Yet at the present time the sales from these
simple things amount to some three thousand
dollars each year. The business is run as a
department of the larger farming operations and
is in charge of one son, while others have charge
of other departments. During the winter it
requires the work of himself and one other man.
In a few localities the growing of violets has
become a prominent industry. This however,
is a more diflBicult undertaking and is not to be
generally recommended.
Aside from these main lines of business which
demand a greater amount of labour in winter
26 FARM MANAGEMENT
than in summer there are many things connected
with the ordinary management of the farm
which can or must be attended to in winter.
Where ice forms a prominent part of the yearly
supplies the harvesting of this crop calls for
busy work during a short portion of the time.
In localities where fall plowing is advisable this
calls for steady work of men and teams up to the
very day when Nature locks her workshop and
carries away the key. Although not a practice
to be everywhere recommended, where the
ground is likely to remain frozen throughout the
winter and to be protected by a covering of snow,
fall plowing will greatly forward the work of
spring, while at the same time leaving the soil
in excellent tilth for the early seeding.
Often there is needed work upon farm roads,
bridges, and fences, which can be done wholly
or in part during winter. Whatever must be
done at some time and can be done in winter is
doubly important because of the saving at a
time when every hour is of the utmost value.
When the corn crop is husked in part, the work
of husking often runs well into the winter, though
modern methods are more and more doing away
with this long and tedious process. Where
fruits form any considerable part of the business
of the farm, much of the pruning can be done
during mild weather in winter. While some
pruning is best delayed until hard freezing
LABOUR 27
weather is past much of it can be done as well
at one time as at another.
Whatever the line of farming, there are always
tools to be put in repair and painted; winter
affords the best time for doing this. A coat of
paint or oil at intervals will do much to prolong
the life of many farm implements. Buildings
may also be painted during mild weather. At
that season there are no flies and little dust.
But the final word regarding winter work
has not been said. I deem it an advantage, at
least to the farmer himself, that work is less
pressing in winter. Summer days are long and
summer work is fatiguing. There is then little
time or inclination for recreation or study. A
business resting upon such intricate foundations
as this surely needs careful thought and study
for its successful prosecution. Winter should
be a time of study. Well improved hours so
spent yield the greatest profit of any. Above
all it should ever be remembered that the farm
is for the family, not the family for the farm,
a condition too often true. The farm should
be made to contribute to the higher life of its occu-
pants as well as to their material needs. It can
best do that during the leisure hours of winter.
MANUAL LABOUR
From a business standpoint labour separates
itself into manual and team labour. Manual
28 FARM MANAGEMENT
labour may be again divided into monthly and
day labour, each of which possesses certain
advantages. The chief advantages of monthly
labour are (1) The less cost per hour. (2) Avail-
ability when needed. (3) A better class of
workmen.
The chief advantage of day labour is that
it need be employed only when wanted, against
which should be sharply contrasted the dis-
advantage that it cannot always be had when
wanted. Mixing the two types is likely to cause
dissatisfaction. The man working at monthly
wages receives a lower wage per hour, and when
doing the same work as his fellow workman he is
inclined to feel himself aggrieved at receiving this
smaller stipend. It is hard for him to properly
weigh the advantage of continuous employment,
which the other does not have. He may lose
sight of the fact that much of his time may
scarcely return cost to his employer. In general,
the best workmen go where they can be assured
of steady work. It is, therefore, good business
policy to plan the farm operations in such a way
as to furnish steady work to the main force
required. Emergency help will always be needed,
but if employed only in emergencies will seldom
cause dissatisfaction.
Another factor which enters into the employ-
ment of labour is the comparative advantage
of employing married men or single men. As
LABOUR 29
a rule married men are more faithful, contented
and regular; perhaps also more persevering.
They cannot move so easily, hence are less likely
to leave unexpectedly, or at a time when their
services can least be spared. As a disadvantage
they commonly demand more wages, if not in
actual money wage, then in perquisites of one
kind or another. In many cases the employ-
ment of married men will necessitate the pro-
viding of tenement houses in which they may
live. These are usually furnished rent-free to
men employed. If children are in the families
these may at times be a source of profit by fur-
nishing the opportunity to employ less expensive
labour where it can be used to advantage. On
the other hand, they often cause annoyance
about the premises.
Perquisites will cause dissatisfaction, especi-
ally if many men are employed. It seldom
happens in that case that all will want the same
things, or at least the same amount of different
things. It is then but human nature for each
to feel that the other is receiving more than his
share. Furthermore, in all cases, unless per-
quisites are definitely limited in amount, they
tend to cause waste. It is often the part of
good business management to do away with
perquisites of all sorts, unless perhaps in the
matter of house-rent. It is just as easy to
make the labourer's wages sufficient to pay for
30 FARM MANAGEMENT
these things, then sell them to him, at a reduced
price if preferred, as to give them in part payment
of wages. He will then use only what he needs.
THE LABOUR PROBLEM
A word should be said about the labour prob-
lem itself, which is one of the most serious diffi-
culties confronting farmers at the present time.
The development of manufacturing and other
business industries has offered employment at
wages which seemed to be better, even though
in the net results to the laborour they may not
have been better. The factory has offered
definite hours, with steady employment and
regular weekly pay. The chance for an inde-
pendent home has appealed to many; the
fascination of the city or village has attracted
others. How to meet the competition induced
by these conditions is the problem which faces
the farmer. Regular employment, reasonable
hours, and a comfortable, independent home will
accomplish much. The wages paid must yield
an equivalent return to those offered by city
industries. To make the labourer understand
the difference in the ultimate value of the dollar
in the city and the dollar in the country is the
hardest problem of all.
An encouraging indication is the fact that
large farming enterprises, which demand most
pa d
LABOUR 31
labour, but which provide the above conditions,
have the least trouble in securing it, even though
farmers in the neighbourhood are crying for
help.
TIME CARDS
Time cards are discussed under the heading
of Records and Accounts, and the manner of
keeping them fully explained. It is here only
necessary to emphasise their importance as a
record for showing where the time has been
employed, thereby making it possible to deter-
mine the cost of each crop or line of effort and
the consequent profit or loss attendant upon
it. If a separate sheet is kept for each man
employed it will also serve as a record of lost
time and avoid possible disputes.
THE AVERAGE COST OF LABOUR
To determine the average cost per hour of
labour employed it is necessary to divide the whole
sum paid by the number of hours worked. To
this sum should also be added the cost of over-
sight if a manager or superintendent is employed,
or the value of the labour of the farmer if he is
his own manager. This latter case at once
presents a puzzling question. Shall the farmer
fix the value of his own labour at an arbitrary
price or shall he let that be determined by the
profit received.? If he decides upon a certain
82 FARM MANAGEMENT
figure as right for his own labour it will be the
part of good business management for him never
to do work which he can hire done for a less
sum. He may find, however, if he attempts to
put this rule into effect, that he has placed too
high a value upon his own services. In deter-
mining the profit or loss from a given line of work
it is but fair that his own time should be con-
sidered worth at least as much as that of the
regular men employed, but in summing up the
year's business he may prefer to let the net
returns of the year determine the value of his own
services.
CONTRACT LABOUR
Contract labour is a type comparatively little
in vogue in farming operations, yet it possesses
manifest advantages where applicable. It is
advantageous wherever it is possible to say just
how work should be done and know that it is
so done. The cost of oversight is then thrown
upon the one who undertakes the labour. It
also tends to increase his efficiency, because it
is to his interest to complete the work as soon as
possible. The plan is frequently employed in
reaping grain, in harvesting and husking corn,
in plowing, in digging potatoes, etc. It is also
employed at times by gardeners in weeding and
similar work. Wherever applicable the method
is worthy of consideration and might be con-
siderably extended with advantage.
5 O
w .S
<<
jlABOUR
PROFIT SHARING
The advantages of profit sharing may be
summarised as follows:
1 . The labourer is working for his own interest
as well as for that of his employer.
2. It makes labourers more careful in their
work.
3. It is a good thing for the labourer to have
some inside knowledge of the business.
4. Strikes are less likely to occur.
This latter point, while not a question of im-
minent concern in farming lines as yet, may
be in time to come. The chief disadvantage
of the plan is that it may lead to criticism of the
owner's estimate of profits or manner of doing
business. When introduced the system should
carry an obligation of the same percentage of loss
if loss occurs, as the percentage of profit to be
received in case there are profits to be distrib-
uted. The percentage should be large enough
to be an object to the workman but not large
enough to embarrass the owner in conducting the
business. If the percentage is so great as to
take on something of the character of a partner-
ship the labourer may feel like dictating the
policy of the management. The system is
satisfactorily employed in many manufacturing
establishments and there is apparently no reason
why it should not be employed with equal
84 FARM MANAGEMENT
satisfaction in farming operations. A limited
personal experience with the method has thus far
developed no serious objection.*
TEAM LABOUR
The total cost of team labour is made up of
the following items:
1.
Feed.
5. Interest.
2.
Bedding.
6. Depreciation.
3.
Shoeing.
'3'. Stable rental.
4.
Care.
The last three of these items are likely to be
overlooked. Care is an important item. It will
average about one hour per day for a pair of
horses, and should be charged at the actual cost
per hour of the man employed. Depreciation
cannot be escaped. The greater the value
of the team, the greater the charge for depre-
ciation must be. The sixth item will seem to
many an unwarranted charge, but if a barn
costing $500 is given up to the use of the teams
the interest and depreciation on this building can
be charged to no other source than this. Money
must be tied up in this building and money must
* An interesting: system of profit sharing: is in use in one extensive farminir
enterprise near Harrisburg, Pa. On the dairy farms a dairyman is employed who
has nothing to do with the farming operations, other than to cut what green food
may be needed for feeding ftom day today in summer. He furnishes all labour
needed in caring for the dairy and receives one cent a quart ft'om all milk sold.
This plan has been found to g:ive better satisfaction than hiring the dairyman oo
lalary, although all other farm operations are carried on by hiring outright.
LABOUR 35
be expended to keep it in repair. This is a
legitimate charge against the cost of team service.
Prices vary so much in different places that it is
impossible to estimate fairly the first four items,
but in general they will approximate $220 per
year. Adding to these, interest on the investment
at 5% and depreciation, which will generally
amount to 10% , on the team itself, will emphasise
the added cost of owning a high-priced team. If
a span of horses is valued at $400 the yearly
charge for depreciation alone is $40, while if the
team is worth but $100 the depreciation charge
is only $10. The same rule holds true with
regard to the barn and other fixtures. Off-
setting this greater depreciation charge should
be considered the question of whether the four-
hundred-dollar team is more efficient than the
two-hundred-dollar one. If so that may more
than counterbalance the added cost, though
upon general business principles it is seldom wise
to invest in high-priced horseflesh.
REDUCING COST OF MAINTENANCE
Horsemen generally agree that no ration is
better for horses than timothy hay and oats.
Yet comparisons with this have generally been
made with some ration differing entirely in com-
position. As a general rule nutrients in oats
cost more than in other forms of feed. It may
36
FARM MANAGEMENT
well be asked, therefore, whether it is not possible
to substitute other feeds which will furnish the
same amount of nutrients with satisfactory
results and at a saving of expense. The follow-
ing rations, some of which have been tried with
good results, are suggested:
RATIONS FOR A 1000-POUND HORSE
I,
Standard Ration
Protein
Carbohydrates
10 lbs. hay (timothy)
12 lbs. oats
.290
1,100
1.390
4.690
6.384
11.074
2. Ration Without Oats
8 lbs. hay
.232
3.752
4 lbs. oat straw
.056
1.836
6 lbs. wheat bran ....
.600
2.270
4 lbs. corn meal
.220
2.844
1 lb. gluten meal (28%) . .
.280
.569
1.388
11.271
J
. Ration Onk-third Oats
8 lbs. hay . .
.232
3.752
4 lbs. oat straw .
.056
1.836
4 lbs. oats.
.368
2.128
3 lbs. bran
.360
1.400
2 lbs. corn meal .
.110
1.422
1 lb. gluten
.280
.569
1.406
11.107
A, Ration Withodt
Gluten
10 lbs. hay
.290
4.690
4 lbs. oats
.368
2.128
S lbs. bran
.360
1.400
2 lbs. wheat middlings .
.256
1.218
2 lbs. corn meal
.110
1.422
1.384
10.858
LABOUR 37
The amount saved by these rations will de-
pend much upon the prices prevailing at the time.
If hay were worth $10 per ton, oat straw $5 and
all the grains $20, rations Nos. 2 and 3 would/'
effect a saving of two cents per day and ration
Noc 4 one cent. With oats above thirty-two
cents per bushel and the other grains at $20 per
ton the saving would be proportionately greater.
If thought desirable to feed some silage, five
pounds of silage can replace one pound of corn
meal or two pounds of hay in any of these
rations. They are suggested rather than recom-
mended, but they serve to show that it is possible
to combine other grains in such a way as to
secure approximately the same proportion of
nutrients as are found in the horseman's favourite
ration of timothy hay and oats.
REDUCING COST PER UNIT OF WORK
While something can be done to reduce the
cost of maintenance this will affect only a minor
saving. The vital point is to reduce the cost
per hour of work done. To determine this it is
necessary to divide the cost of maintenance,
which includes all the items above mentioned, by
the number of hours worked. If it costs $20 a
month to own a team and that team works 250
hours during the month, the cost per hour is
eight cents. If, on the other hand, the team
works but 125 hours, the cost is sixteen cents per
88 FARM MANAGEMENT
hour; yet there are many teams upon the farms
of the United States which doubtless fail to
average 100 hours per month for the entire year.
It is never possible to obtain 100 per cent, of
efficiency. Various causes will prevent a team
being kept constantly at work, but it is possible
to reach 75 per cent, or even 85 per cent. Before
me is the time worked by three teams during the
month of May 1901, a month when farm teams
are likely to be employed at their best. One of
these teams worked 189 hours, another 230 and
the third 163. During August two of these
teams worked 149 and 137 hours respectively.
Here the best record shows a little more than 88
per cent, of efficiency, the poorest one slightly
more than 52 per cent. If the farmer is so
located that it is possible for him to hire extra
team work when needed it may pay him to hire
a considerable amount during the busy season,
even at a liberal price, rather than maintain an
extra team for the year to provide for this needed
work. This, like many of the other problems
in farm management, demands careful study
and planning in order to insure a satisfactory
solution.
THREE- AND FOUR-HORSE TEAMS
In many kinds of work an extra horse will
greatly cheapen the cost of doing the work.
Under ordinary conditions an average team wiU
a
<
03 •£
■Z S
81
OS o
LABOUR 39
haul a ton and a half or 3,000 pounds of load.
To this must be added at least 1,000 pounds to
cover the weight of wagon and driver, making
the actual weight pulled by each horse 2,000
pounds. If now a third horse can be added, with
the same rig, another ton may be added to the
load without increasing the work to be done by
each horse, for the strength of the extra horse
can all be expended in drawing the load. Where
a two-horse team draws 3,000 pounds a three-
horse team would then draw 5,000 pounds.
Reckoning the cost per hour at thirty cents, fifteen
cents for the man and fifteen cents for the team,
the cost per ton with two horses is twenty cents
per hour, but the third horse works without
additional cost for driver so that this extra ton is
hauled at a cost of seven and a half cents per
hour. The same principle will apply in plowing
or harrowing, where the addition of an extra
horse will often add at least 50 per cent, to the
work done without increased cost for driver.
Under some conditions four horses may be used
in the same manner with proportionately still
greater advantage.
CHAPTER TV
IMPLEMENTS AND EQUIPMENT
NO EXPENSIVE implement or costly
equipment should be introduced with-
out first carefully putting the probabilities
to a test to determine whether or not the
investment will pay. To do this, first determine
how much labour will be saved by the improve-
ment. If the implement will do better or poorer
work than can be done without it, that must be
taken into consideration. Then against the
cost of doing the work without the equipment
set the cost of work with it, to which must be
added interest on the investment, depreciation,
care, and sometimes storage and risk or insur-
ance. With this should be considered also the
needs of capital elsewhere. Will it yield a better
return in some other place ?
Another most important item may sometimes
be the determining factor, namely, the possibility
of securing hand labour to do the work without
the implement. Even though ordinary labour
may be cheaper it cannot always be had. This
is particularly true with operations requiring an
unusual amount of labour at some particular
time. The time element alone is sufficient to
40
IMPLEMENTS AND EQUIPMENT 41
decide the matter in many cases. When frost
is imminent or has already occurred the silage
corn must be harvested with the least possible
delay. A slight delay at seeding time may lead
into a rain-storm and thereby call for the added
expense of refitting the ground, with possible re-
duction in yield due to a belated crop. An
implement which will hasten the work at such
times may prove highly profitable, even though
the cost of the work itself be increased.
The charges for interest, depreciation, repairs,
etc., are to be apportioned to the amount of work
done, so that this is really most often the deter-
mining factor. The following tabular statements
will illustrate the manner of solving the problem.
The particular figures, especially those with
reference to cost of work, will vary with the
locality. Emphasis should not be placed
upon them in studying the illustrations but
upon the business method of determining
whether or not an implement will prove
profitable.
ELEMENTS OF COST IN THE
FARM IMPLEMENT PROBLEM
With the Machine
Without the Machine
Labour-cost
Fixed annual charges:
Interest on capital,
depreciation, repairs,
care, storage and risk
KfficiencY
Labour-cost
EflBciency
42 FARM MANAGEMENT
(Applied to a particular implement, the problem may work out somewhat
as follows)
Corn Harvester— Price, $135.00
With the Machine
Labour, per acre, $.50
to $.75 (Man and
team $3 per day)
Twine, j>er acre, $.50
Total $1. to $1.25
Fixed annual charges
Interest at 5% $ 6.25
Depreciation, 10% 12.50
Repairs 2,00
Storage and risk 1.00
$21.75
Without the Machine
Labour per acre, $1.50
to $2.00
These figures represent approximately the
problem as applied to a corn harvester under
present conditions of price and efficiency. Six
acres per day is a liberal estimate for the amount
of work done, though it may be exceeded under
very favourable conditions. One recent writer
claims that the most that a machine can do is
to equal the work of four men cutting by hand
and that to do this requires two or three horses
and two men. This, however, is probably less
than average working results. The cost of twine
will vary with price and the yield of corn.
I have added one dollar to the fixed annual
charges for storage and risk. This may seem
to many a needless charge, but the com har-
vester is a somewhat bulky implement and re-
quires a certain portion of a building in which
it shall be housed. That proportion of the
17. WHERE EFFICIEN'CY IS THE DETERMINING FACTOR
For each quart of cream left in the milk by a good separator, shallow
setting leaves ten
IMPLEMENTS AND EQUIPMENT 43
interest on the investment and the depreciation
on the building must be borne unless the imple-
ment is allowed to stand out of doors, when the
charge would be much greater for depreciation.
The amount of these fixed charges, which here
aggregate $21.75, must be apportioned to the
number of acres of com harvested. If only ten
acres are cut there must be $2.17 per acre added
to the one dollar or more of actual cost in doing
the work. If twenty acres are harvested but
half of this amount is charged to each acre.
The problem will differ from this point on,
owing to whether the corn is to be shocked and
husked, or put into the silo. If to be taken to
the silo the cost of cutting by hand will fall to
perhaps one dollar per acre but the cost of hand-
ling the unbound stalks will be much greater than
handling it in bundles as left by the harvester.
It is generally believed that the charge for twine
may be recouped in the cost of handling. This
question can be easily put to a test under the
conditions prevailing, by simply allowing the
harvester to work for a time without binding.
If the corn is to be shocked there must be added
to the one dollar charge with the machine the
cost of shocking, which will bring the first cost
of work very near if not equal to that by hand,
leaving all fixed charges as an additional expense.
These figures indicate that the young farmer who
still lacks capital need not feel himself greatly
44 4 FARM MANAGEMENT
handicapped from inability to purchase a corn
harvester, provided he can obtain the labour
when wanted to do the work by hand.
It is sometimes possible to hire a machine, or
the owner and the machine, to do such work.
This is often the cheapest and wisest thing to do.
It relieves the party who hires from all fixed
charges and may not greatly increase the labour
cost. It may also benefit the owner of the ma-
chine, reducing the apportionment of his own
fixed charges by increasing the amount of work
done. This practice is most common in thresh-
ing grain and filling silos but is applicable to
many other kinds of work.
A somewhat different problem is presented in
figuring upon a cream separator. Here the cost
of creaming with a separator probably differs
little from that under improved systems of deep
setting. In this case it is wholly a problem of
efficiency. This difference in efficiency cannot
be reduced to an absolutely accurate basis but
estimates generally place it at 10 to 20% greater
with the separator than with other methods,
manufacturers claiming five to ten dollars per
cow increase in cream products. If then a
separator cost $125 the fixed charges would
amount to $6.25 for interest and $12.50 for
depreciation, at the same rates allowed on the
corn harvester. Repairs will probably be slight
if well handled, while the matter of care comes
IMPLEMENTS AND EQUIPMENT 45
in connection with the labour-cost of doing the
work. Owing to the small size of the implement
the question of storage may practically be neg-
lected. We have then an annual charge of less
than twenty dollars as the cost of owning a ma-
chine. Perhaps the actual depreciation would
be less than 10 per cent but thus far prices have
been falling so rapidly that the market depre-
ciation on machines, regardless of wear, has been
nearly or quite equal to this amount. If inquiry
now shows that the lowest estimate of the manu-
facturer, $5 per cow increase, is likely to be
realised, the additional return from four cows
will pay the cost of owning the machine and the
return from any greater number will be clear
profit.
SIZE OF MACHINERY
Another problem in connection with the pur-
chase of machinery has often to be met. This
is determining upon the size of machine to be
bought. Here it is only necessary to place
against the extra cost of doing work with the
smaller size, the interest and depreciation on
the added cost of a larger size. Take the prob-
lem of a cream separator on a farm carrying ten
cows. Assuming that the cows will average
5,000 pounds of milk per year there will be 10
times 5,000 or 50,000 pounds of milk to separate
during that time. If upon inquiry one is satis-
46 FARM MANAGEMENT
fied that the machines can be expected, under
average conditions, to do the work which they
are rated to do and if it should be found that a
machine separating 450 pounds of milk per hour
will cost $100, and one separating 600 pounds
per hour will cost $125, the problem will work
out like this. 50,000 pounds divided by 450
equals 111, the number of hours of work demand-
ed by the smaller machine. If this work costs
ten cents per hour the labour charge for actually
running the milk through will be $11.10. 50,000
divided by 600 gives 83 hours of work or
$8.30 for the larger machine. The cost of care
and cleaning will be practically the same in
either case, so that the additional cost of doing
the work with the smaller machine will be $2.80.
Against this should be set the interest and de-
preciation on $25, the additional cost of the
larger machine. These items at 10% and 5%
respectively, would amount to $3.75, thus show-
ing the advantage to be with the smaller machine.
J[f the problem considers twenty cows, the result
would lead to the opposite conclusion. In a
similar way it is possible to test the question of
size on different classes of machines.
DEPRECIATION
In this connection a word of emphasis should
be placed upon the matter of depreciation. It is
IMPLEMENTS AND EQUIPMENT 47
a charge from which none can escape, but it
can be very greatly lessened by judicious manage-
ment. In the problems here considered 10%
is taken as an average estimate, but this
will vary greatly with the tool and the care. A
crowbar or a post-maul may be as good at the
end of twenty-five years as when bought, while a
harness may be worse than useless in less than
ten years. Care in use, in cleaning, and in
housing, will do much to extend the life of an
implement, which means less reduction in the
inventory value, therefore an increase in profits,
just as surely as does an added sale of products.
As an illustration, I know a farm upon which
there was a good farm wagon, rather light but
adequate for the work of the farm. It was a good
wagon when I first remember; it was agood wagon
many years after, when burned with the bam
in which it stood. Yet that wagon was bought
second-hand. It was in the hands of a man who
knew how to care for things and it was still in
good condition when his life-work was done.
CHAPTER V
OWNERSHIP OR RENTAL
A PROBLEM which must often be met
by the young man who wishes to start
in farming is that of ownership or rental.
Shall he run in debt for a farm or shall he
rent one? If the latter, shall he take a farm
on shares or shall he pay money rent? The
question admits of a logical answer, on a business
basis, if he will carefully ascertain the prob-
abilities and figure out the elements involved.
To illustrate the problem let us suppose the case
to be that of an ordinary dairy farm of 100 acres,
capable of carrying twenty cows. The capital
invested is likely to be found somewhat as follows:
Land, 100 acres @ $35 $3,500.00
BuUdings 1,500,00
20 cows @ $35 700.00
Young stock, swine and pouhry. . . . 300.00
Team and tools 500.00
$6,500.00
The expenses of ownership and operation may
be estimated as follows:
Interest on capital $6,500 @ 5% . . . $325.00
Depreciation, repairs and insurance on build-
ings, 5% 75.09
48
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6
OWNERSHIP OR RENTAL 49
Depreciation on team and tools, 10%*. . 50.00
Taxes 40.00
Seed 60.00
Feed purchased 200.00
Labour, including that of farmer himself . 600.00
Supplies and incidentals 150.00
$1,500.00
If then the young man buys the place these
are the expenses which he must bear. With this
compare the other two methods. If he hires the
place without stock for a cash rental he shifts to
the shoulders of the owner the following expenses:
Interest on capital in land and buildings . $250.00
Depreciation, repairs and insurance on build-
ings 75.00
Taxes 40.00
$365.00
With these figures should be compared the
rental which must be paid. The problem will
differ slightly with varying practice and con-
ditions. In some cases a farm already stocked
with cows may be rented, in which case a still
greater portion of the interest shifts. Sometimes
the owner furnishes fencing material or even
keeps fences in repair.
By the third plan, working the place on shares,
different conditions may apply. The problem
is simply to adapt the figures to the proposed
♦Depreciation in the dairy may be provided for and offset by growth at
young stock.
50 FARM MANAGEMENT
terms of the contract. The common conditioa
is for the owner to furnish the dairy and perhaps
some young stock, the tenant to leave as much
and as good stock as he found. The tenant
usually furnishes team and tools, though in some
cases, particularly where the owner has pre-
viously occupied the place himself, many tools
are left. The expenses of taxes, seed, feed and
supplies are shared equally. In some places where
the practice of working out the road tax still pre-
vails the tenant does this and the owner pays the
money tax. All help is furnished by the tenant.
Under common conditions the running ex-
penses adjust themselves as follows:
BORNE BY THE OWNER
Interest on land, buildings and stock . . . $300.00
Depreciation, repairs and insurance on building 75,00
Taxes, one half 20.00
Seed 30.00
Feed purchased 100.00
Supplies 50.00
$575.00
BORNE BY THE TENANT
Interest on team and tools $ 25.00
Depreciation on team and tools .... 50.00
Taxes, one-half 20.00
Seed 30.00
Feed 100.00
Incidentals, one-half of supplies 100.00
Labour 600.00
$925.00
OWNERSHIP OR RENTAL
51
To answer the question intelligently it is still
necessary to make a careful estimate of probable
returns. These will vary with almost every
farm. Suppose we apply them to an ordinary
farm remote from markets, with ordinary cows
which can be trusted to average only 200 pounds
of butter per year. The conditions assumed
above suppose enough young stock coming on
so that a number of the poorer or older cows can
be each year replaced with younger ones. We
may estimate returns as follows :
4,000 lbs. butter, @ 20 cents .
Calves and cows sold
4,000 lbs. pork, @ 5 cents .
500 dozen eggs, @ 20 cents .
500 bushels potatoes, @ 40 cents
Incidentals
$800.00
250.00
200.00
100.00
200.00
100.00
$1,650.00
In making this estimate the young man should
carefully discount all probabilities. It is easy
to say that cows ought to average 250 pounds of
butter instead of 200, or that five acres of po-
tatoes ought to yield 1,000 bushels instead of
500, but will they? Untoward conditions are
sure to appear. It is better to make the esti-
mates safe.
Now see how the account stands for the three
different propositions. In the first case there
is a return of $1,650 against an outlay of $1,500,
provided he can get the necessary capital at 5%.
52 FARM MANAGEMENT
In the system of money rental there is the same
return against an outlay of $1,135, plus the
rental to be paid. By working on shares there is a
return of $825 against an outlay of $925. If the
cash rental is less than $365 the advantage lies
with that system; if more, with ownership.
THE ELEMENT OP RISK
The chief argument which appeals to the
young man for working a place on shares is that
he runs less risk. This factor also admits of a
business analysis. By the system of money
rental he transfers to the owner the risk from loss
of buildings by fire or the elements, but nothing
else, except that he assumes the burden of in-
terest on capital, in the rental paid, only for the
time of his contract. The greater part of this risk
by fire, and sometimes by wind, will be assumed
by an insurance company at a cost which has
been provided for in the above estimates and
which is of small importance in the problem.
In the case of share rental the tenant transfers
to the owner, in addition to the above risks,
one-half of possible increased cost of seed, feed
and supplies and of decreased return from un-
favourable crops, also one-half the risk from ac-
cident or death to farm animals other than teams.
Let us see how the problem works out in case
of diminished returns or increased expenses.
Suppose that, owing to drought cutting down the
OWNERSHIP OR RENTAL 53
milk flow and price of stock, or other un-
favourable conditions, the returns fall to $1,200,
instead of $1,650. In case of ownership the
loss is $300. In case of money rental here and
in all other cases it is approximately the same,
depending upon whether the rental is more or
less than the interest, depreciation, taxes, etc.,
as outlined above. In case of share rental the
tenant receives a return of $600 against an outlay
of $925, leaving a loss of $325, even greater than
in the case of ownership or money rental
If the returns advance to $2,000, the gain incase
of ownership is $500, in case of share rental $75.
Now suppose the returns remain at $1,650,
but the expenses increase to $1,800. These
may occur in increased cost of feed, seed, sup-
plies, incidentals, or labour. In the first three
items they are shared by the owner, in the others
they are borne by the tenant alone. Assuming
that $200 of this increase comes in the first class
and $100 in the second, there is to be added to the
tenant's share of the expenses $200, making the
total amount $1,125. Under these conditions,
therefore, the loss in case of ownership would be
$150, in case of share rental $300.
If expenses are reduced to $1,200 the gain in
case of ownership would be $450. Assuming
that it were possible to reduce the items of seed,
feed and supplies $200 and the items of labour
and incidentals $100, the tenant's share of
54 FARM MANAGEMENT
expense would fall to $725 and his gain would
therefore be $100.
From this analysis it appears that the item of
risk is commonly overestimated.
No special importance is to be placed upon
the particular estimates upon the different items
here given, though it is believed that they fairly
represent average conditions in the middle
states for the type of farm in mind. The point
of emphasis is the fact that these various items
can and should be ascertained for the conditions
at hand and should be worked out in the manner
indicated, subject to variation which may re-
sult from differing terms of proposed contract.
In many cases the item of fertilisers would be an
important one. It does not appear here because
on dairy farms its use is not common and with
well-managed rotations may not be necessary.
In the matter of reaping benefit from improved
conditions and increased fertility the advantage
lies clearly with ownership. As against this it
may be said that it is not easy to make a wise
selection of a farm. A young man may well
therefore forego some little advantage for a time
until he learns conditions and factors influencing
the choice. It is easy to rectify a mistake in
choosing a rented farm; it may be dijBScult to
rectify a mistake in purchasing. There are
manifest advantages in a lease which permits
purchase at a fixed price within a given time.
OWNERSHIP OR RENTAL 55
Despite the fact of the apparent disadvantage
under which the tenant works who takes a place
on shares, this plan has afforded a means by which
many a man has secured the benefits of a good
home, supported his family in comfort, and
paved the way for owning a farm of his own. He
is sure of some return for his labour and that of
his family, with the chance of considerable
additional profit on the farming operations. It
is customary for him to be allowed a generous
use of the products of the farm in supplying his
own table, and oftentimes the dwelling which the
farm provides is far superior to any which his
labour would enable him to provide under other
conditions. His expenses are far less than those
of the labouring man in city or village. The
amount of capital which he is called upon to
invest is small, and the plan affords an easy road
for the man of small means to follow in becoming
an independent operator. A definite instance
comes to mind where a man within a compara-
tively few years saved enough by working one
farm on shares to pay for one of his own. Care-
ful study and analysis of his business may show
such a man, however, that the plan is one better
adapted to use as a means to some other end
than to long adherence.
CHAPTER VI
THE CHOICE OF A FARM
UPON the wise choice of a farm much de-
pends. The young man who is deciding
upon the purchase of one can scarcely
give the matter too much thought. One great
advantage of farming as a business is that it
enables the farmer to develop a home more
completely than most other men can. As the
years go by, and improvements and embellish-
ments are added, the associations which cluster
about the farm home should be among its most
highly prized features. Particularly is this true
if the owner takes pains to provide an abundance
of fruit and flowers and ornamental plants.
These are things which take time to produce.
They cannot be commanded at will.
The two primary questions to be considered in
making the choice are — location and the charac-
ter of the farm itself.
LOCATION
Surroundings. — Under the general head of
location, several items are to be considered, first
of which may be mentioned the surroundings.
Among these, mail facilities may well rank first.
56
THE CHOICE OF A FARM 57
The advent of rural free delivery is rendering
this a question of much less importance than
formerly, but there are still many farms without
free delivery, or unfavourably located for the
best service. At times this is of the utmost im-
portance, the advantage of which may not be
appreciated until experience has shown its
need.
Railway or trolley facilities are of almost
equal importance. While the farmer and his
family are home-staying people, yet they, like
others, make frequent use, directly or indirectly*
of means of transportation. This is of even
greater importance in the matter of freight than
of passenger service. When trolley roads are
permitted to handle freight in all states, as they
should be — an end toward which every farmer
should insist upon making his vote count — trolley
service may be of equal or greater value than
railway service. The farm which can deliver
to a common carrier, at its door, the products
which it has to offer, and can in turn receive
those which it needs to purchase, possesses a
decided economic advantage.
Church facilities are also to be considered in
making a choice. Unfortunately the rural church
has, in many localities, a hard struggle. Too
often it is decadent or dead. Whether the farmer
be a church member or not, he cannot afford to
spend his days and bnng up his children in a
58 FARM MANAGEMENT -
community which does not feel the influence of
church Hfe.
School facilities are of the greatest importance
to every family with children. Even the farmer
without children should not disregard them.
An educated community affords many induce-
ments which opposite conditions do not. The
consolidation of rural schools is doing much
to better rural facilities, but the farm so located
that its children must, each day, endure a long
ride to and from school in all kinds of weather,
is at a manifest disadvantage when compared
with one in close proximity to good schools.
The rural telephone is rapidly extending its
lines throughout farming communities. Per-
haps no community will long be without it, but
many farms are so isolated that the expense of a
'phone would be much greater than the average.
The character of the line which connects the
farm is of decided importance. Many of the
mutual companies furnish admirable local ser«
vice at very small cost. Most of these com-
panies extend their lines rapidly, join with
neighbouring lines, and so furnish ready con-
nection over a wide range of territory.
The availability of medical attendance ought
also to be thought of. Many farms are so situ-
ated that it is impossible to bring a physician to
them quickly, even with the aid of the telephone
to call him. While under average conditions
OS S
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THE CHOICE OF A FARM 59
this is not a serious drawback, the time may come
when a quick response would be worth the farm
"itself. The added expense of medical attendance
in a remote location is often a serious item.
The personality of one's prospective neighbours
ought to be weighed in making the choice. Are
most of the farms in the vicinity inhabited by
Americans or foreigners ? If by the latter, what
is their nationality.^ WTiat are their habits and
customs.? Would they be pleasant people with
whom to be thrown in contact .^^ Are the ma-
jority of farms occupied by owners or by tenants ?
In the latter case it is unsafe to predict much for
the future; not only will the associations be
changeable, but the character and appearance
of the places will feel the influence of the contin-
ual shifting. Improvements will be fewer, and
the attractiveness of the locality less. Neigh-
bours signify much more in farm life than in city
or village life. This fact should be remembered.
Social opportunities should also be considered.
A farmer cares little for society, as he conceives
it to be under that name, but he can not afford
to neglect intercourse with others. In this
neglect lies one of the chief disadvantages of
farm life as it is often lived. No man can sepa-
rate himself from his fellows without becoming
provincial, and growing narrow. What oppor-
tunity does the proposed location afford for
hearing lectures, for taking part in things which
60 FARM MANAGEMENT
have to do with general progress and up-
building? Are there library facilities within
reach ? While the farmer may find time for but
little use of a public library, it may often serve
him a good turn, when in need of information, if
well managed. It may serve him a better one in
affording his children an opportunity for growth
and development. Proximity to a live grange may
add much to the advantages of a given location.
The mere friendly intercourse of the farmer
and his family with those about him ought to
be remembered. He needs this relief and
recreation. He ought, if possible, to choose his
farm where the community standards are such
as he would like. The presence of a good
institution of learning has a wonderful effect upon
the standards of the community, when that
institution has existed for a period of years.
Such a community has many advantages over
one which is isolated from educational influences.
Market Facilities. — In dealing with surround-
ings, we have considered the farm chiefly as a
home. From the business standpoint, location
is of equal importance. First to be considered is
the question of market facilities. Under this
head various items are to be remembered. The
character of the market itself will vary greatly,
according to the character of the consumers.
The man in search of a farm should endeavour
to determine whether the market will be good
THE CHOICE OF A FARM 61
for the kind of product which he wishes to
grow. A manufacturing community may afford
an excellent market for large quantities of pro-
duce, but it may be more particular about price
than about quality. If he wishes to grow
ordinary produce in large quantities, such a
community will offer him a good field. A
community in which wealth exists may offer a
more limited market and be much more ex-
acting in its demands, but may be willing to
pay a better price. Let the farmer consider
which community harmonises best with his
tastes, provided there be a choice of farms sub-
ject to the two conditions.
"Distance from market must always be
regarded. Near proximity may be over-balanced
by disadvantages, but in itself is of great value.
The cost of marketing produce five miles away,
as compared with marketing when one mile
away, will add a decided percentage to the ex-
pense account of the farm. Whether a retail
home market or a wholesale market is pre-
ferred may in itself be sufficient to determine
the choice in many cases. If the former is
desired, proximity to the consumer is absolutely
essential; if the latter, much more freedom of
choice is permissible. In this case, distance
from the shipping point becomes of greater im-
portance than does the actual distance from the
market itself.
62 FARM MANAGEMENT
Transportation facilities should be carefully
considered, if a distant market is to be reached.
With the modern fashion of mergers and com-
bines at its height, it seems useless to hope for
competition to aid in this problem, but in ex-
ceptional cases it may. Length of haul and
facilities for handling, may, however, vary
greatly. Refrigerator car service is of great
importance in many lines of production.
The character of the highways should receive
careful consideration. This is not only of im-
portance with reference to marketing facilities,
but with reference to the social advantages of
the farm as well. Good roads may add to the
tax which the farm must bear, but they will far
more than repay that tax in lessened expense of
marketing, and hauling supplies. The influence
of these factors will be discussed more in detail
under the head of " Marketing Problems."
CHARACTER OF THE FARM
Nature of the Land. — The nature of the land
itself is the all important factor so far as the
productive value of the farm is concerned.
Favourable location cannot compensate for poor
soil. The two should go together if possible to
find them. The kind of soil may vary with the
character of farming which the purchaser has in
mind. To go into the merits of different types
THE CHOICE OF A FARM 63
of soil is outside the scope of the present dis-
cussion. Suffice it to say, that while a heavy,
wet clay may yield admirable returns on a hay
farm, it would be next to valueless for market-
gardening purposes. One should weigh care-
fully the adaptability of different soils to different
ends, then choose the one best adapted to the
line of production which he wishes to follow,
unless he is willing to adapt his production to the
soil which he gets.
Fertility should receive more weight than it
commonly does. Building up a run-down farm
is a slow process, and adds much to the ultimate
cost of the place. Other things being equal, it
will generally prove a better investment to buy
fertile land at a high price rather than depleted
soil at a less figure, though in some lines of pro-
duction, so called worn-out soils will give com-
paratively better returns than in others. Under
most circumstances it is safe to assume that it will
cost more to put poor land into condition, than it
will to pay the extra price demanded for good
land.
The surface contour should also be care-
fully considered, with reference to the line
of farming it is proposed to undertake. For
fruit farming, high lands, with good soil-
and air-drainage are to be preferred, while
they are likely to be quite unsuited to market-
gardening purposes. Hillsides are decidedly
64 FARM MANAGEMENT
objectionable in the production of some
crops, while in others, if not too steep, they
offer but little disadvantage. It will aid the
purchaser greatly if he can have a definite idea
of what he wants to do before he begins to look
for a farm.
Drainage should also receive attention. While
good crops of grass may be grown upon heavy,
undrained soil, such land is wholly unsuited to
most lines of production. If land must be
drained to bring it into profitable condition, the
cost of drainage should be added to the purchase
price, for comparison with that of the farm which
is already drained.
Proportion of Waste Land. — ^The proportion of
waste land which a farm contains seldom re-
ceives due consideration in making a choice.
One should remember that waste land does
more than to discount the price paid. It is
always a dead weight upon the undertaking.
There is not only the interest charge upon its
cost, but yearly items for taxes and fencing.
Unless it can be turned to some use which will
yield a small return, such as pasturage or forest
growth, it will remain a steady burden upon the
success of the business. The purchaser ought
not to be deceived by the mere number of
acres. A farm of eighty acres all tillable
is much better than one of 100 acres, with
80 acres tillable, provided the other twenty
24. A FARM WHERE THE SURFACE CONTOUR IS BAD
25. WHERE SURFACE CONTOUR IS GOOD
THE CHOICE OF A FARM 65
acres can be turned to no profitable use. Un-
der such conditions, the first farm at $50
per acre is a better investment than the
second one at $40 per acre, for while the
first cost is the same, and the number of tillable
acres the same, there is this added burden in the
maintenance of twenty useless acres which the
second farm must bear without rendering an
equivalent.
Buildings. — It seems to be a common rule in
the sale of farm property, that improved buildings
do not increase the selling price in proportion
to their cost. This apparent loss in build-
ings might be less noticeable, if fair allowance
were made for depreciation, but even then, if
suitable buildings can be purchased with the
farm, they can nearly always be obtained at less
cost than if built by the purchaser. This fact
should be carefully considered, for it must be
remembered that in buying a farm without good
buildings it may be but half paid for when the
purchasing price is satisfied. This fact must not
be allowed to blind one to the careful consider-
ation of the adaptability of the buildings which
exist, to the purpose in mind. The first cost may
have been too great ; they may have been poorly
planned, or too much expense may have been
devoted to mere ornamental features. Or again,
they may have been planned for a different line
of farming than the purchaser anticipates. In
66 FARM MANAGEMENT
either case, while he may be obtaining them at a
low price, they may yet prove to be a poor
investment. Too much study can scarcely be
given to the planning of buildings for economy
of labour and maximum efficiency.
Water Supply. — An adequate water supply is
of paramount importance. Some farms are
always handicapped in this matter. An occa-
sional location is found where it is impossible to
get water at any reasonable depth. If then
there is no spring so situated that it can be
brought to the buildings with reasonable ex-
pense the difficulty becomes very serious. An
abundance of pure fresh water, both for the
household and for stock, is absolutely essen-
tial. The cost of taking stock even a few
rods to water amounts to a great deal in the
course of years.
Woodland. — Good woodland should never
be considered as synonymous with waste land,
for while the annual yield from woodland can
never be high, it is sure, and the expense is little.
Oftentimes the yield from the farm woodland
means more than its actual market value. Many
a time it will serve to quickly replace a broken
part, or afford material for some special need,
the expense of obtaining which, elsewhere, might
be greater than the cost of the material itself. A
supply of fuel for home use, and of lumber for
repairs and building purposes, is an item of
THE CHOICE OF A FARM 67
decided moment in the business enterprise. If
the woodland is at all extensive, it also affords
one of the best means of equalising the labour
employed throughout the year. The return
obtained from labour thus used may not be large,
but it should at least be sufficient to continue the
labour without loss, and afford a better oppor-
tunity for employing it at a profit during other
seasons of the year.
Orchards. — Bearing orchards seldom bring
their real value when sold. To produce a good
orchard takes time, and the farm which carries
one of good size carries with it a possibility of
immediate money returns, which is worthy of
careful consideration. Instances have often oc-
curred where a good orchard has yielded suffi-
cient return to pay for the farm upon which it
stood. If the purchaser means to include fruit
in his line of production, he will do well to con-
sider carefully whatever orchards have reached
bearing age. Even trees which have passed
their best stage may be given a new lease of
life and yield good returns by thoroughgoing
methods.
Fences. — The cost of fencing is a serious bur-
den upon almost any farm, but it differs greatly
with conditions. While poor fences would sel-
dom be sufficient in themselves to cause one to
refuse a farm, it should be remembered that they
will add materially to the cost of it. Then too.
68 FARM MANAGEMENT
the amount of fencing which the farm demands
may make a decided difference in the annual ex-
pense account of the place. A farm so situated
that a large amount of road fence must be
maintained, or with pasture land inconvenient to
enclose, may demand many rods, or even miles,
more fencing than one more favourably situated.
If in addition to this the farm itself will afford no
material, the disadvantage is still greater.
Attractiveness of Location. — While placed last
in the list, the attractiveness of the place itself
should not receive less attention. As before sta-
ted, the farmer should remember that he is purchas-
ing a home as well as a business. In this, the
occupation differs from that of most other men.
The manufacturer can afford to spend his days
in an unsightly location if it is better adapted to
business purposes, because he leaves it when
the hours of rest and recreation come. The
farmer may well afford to incur some possible
business disadvantage if thereby he may obtain
a more delightful home. Life should mean more
than digging for dollars. That too often it does
not, is witnessed by the number of farm homes
which stand amid unattractive surroundings.
Often there is no outlook from the dwelling, when
on the same farm, with equal convenience to the
business in hand, by a different location, it might
command a charming view. I recall one such in-
stance in which by changing the location of the
THE CHOICE OF A FARM 69
house only a few rods, a view of one of the most
beautiful valleys in the region, covering a dis-
tance of ten miles or more, might have been had.
In its present location this view is wholly shut
off.*
♦Professor Thomas F. Hunt's book, "How to Choose a Farm," which appeared
after the foregoing chapter wa& written, discusses this problem vt^ith ^reat
thoroughness.
CHAPTER VII
SYSTEMS OF FARMING
AT THIS point it may be well to consider
what may be called the rotation balance
of the farm. The term is used to include
the problems relating to the proper ad-
justment of crops to the area under cultivation.
Several considerations need to be borne in mind
in determining upon this adjustment.
First and most important is that of the type of
farming chosen. The comparative merits of
extensive and intensive farming, and of different
types of production are discussed elsewhere, and
need not be considered here. The farmer should
consult himself, most of all, in deciding these
primary and fundamental questions. Having
settled them, he may then begin to carefully study
the farm to determine what the proportionate
division for each line shall be.
The next essential is to provide for a well-
planned rotation, which will admit of the pro-
duction of the kind of crops desired and which
will at the same time maintain the humus
supply and fertility of the land. For general
farming a judicious rotation is a paramount
necessity. Special types of intensive farming
to
SYSTEMS OF FARMING 71
may hope to maintain fertility without it, but
general farming cannot.
A plan of farming may provide a good rotation
and yet fail in other essentials. One of these
is that it shall adequately provide for the farm
consumption. It should provide suflficient hay,
silage and corn to supply the stock of the farm
without an undue excess of any one of them,
unless it be hay for market, if it should be de-
sired to make that one of the direct money crops.
It must also provide for a proportionate supply
of summer and winter feed. If the amount of
pasture is too small, soiling crops must be pro-
vided to supplement it. If the pasture range is
large from necessity, every effort should be made
to make the supply of winter feed balance it so
that all the pasture may be utilized. If it seems
the best policy to depend upon farm-grown grains,
care is demanded to make the production of these
correspond. On a dairy farm with skim milk as
a by-product, proper provision should be made
for its consumption by pigs, calves or poultry.
In short a careful adjustment of cog to cog so
that the whole farm machinery may run smoothly
and without waste or friction is of as much im-
portance in a farm business as in any oth^r.
A third essential is such a farm balance as
will distribute the labour of the season so that
it can be performed as nearly as possible with
a uniform force. The chief disadvantage of a
72 FARM MANAGEMENT
pure hay farm is that it calls for a large amount
of labour at certain times of short duration, with
little at other times. It is always more difficult,
and proportionately more expensive, to secure
an excess of labour for short periods than to
secure regular labour throughout the year.
A fourth essential is that the balance be so
adjusted that it shall provide for an approxi-
mately uniform money return each year. Cer-
tain money crops or products should form a
regular part of the plan and should occur
in approximately the same proportion each
year. If potatoes enter the rotation there should
be provision for approximately the same number
of acres year by year, the same being true of
corn, clover, or other crops for home consump-
tion. It is desirable that these returns should
come in at different periods throughout the
year. A money crop which can be marketed
at a season when other things may be returning
but little is always a welcome addition. So,
too, the money value per acre may be an im-
portant consideration. Even though one crop
may yield as good a percentage of profit over
cost as another, it may not be well adapted to
the particular conditions because the profit
per acre is too small for the number of acres
available. A crop may need to be chosen which
will utilise more labour and yield more return
upon a given area.
SYSTEMS OF FARMING 73
SPECIAL VS. MIXED FARMING
One of the most important questions for the
farmer to settle is that of the type of farming in
which he is to engage. Many things must be
considered if the choice is to be a wise one.
Among these are, first of all, his own tastes, then
such things as adaptability of soil and climate,
market facilities, availability of help, amount of
capital to be invested, etc.
In discussing special vs. mixed farming it is
necessary at the outset to define the terms. In
their extreme forms special farming would
mean the growing of one crop and mixed farm-
ing the production of a very large number of
products. In the better types of each they
approach each other and there is no sharp line
of division. The best special farming does not
limit itself to one crop and the best mixed
farming does not attempt to grow everything.
In comparing the two, therefore, it is really a
consideration of the advantages of a few well-
chosen lines as compared with a larger number
of products.*
Mixed Farming. — As in nearly all such ques-
tions, not all the advantages lie on one side.
Among the points in which mixed farming has
the advantage may be named the following.
1. Fertility is more easily maintained in mixed
*For an admirable discussion of this problem the reader is referred to chap-
ters 4, 5, and 6 of Terry's "Our Farming."
74 FARM MANAGEMENT
fanning than in most types of special farming.
This is not true if the specialty is dairying. It
is emphatically true if the specialty is hay. If
the specialty is chosen with a view to a well-
managed rotation this disadvantage is in part
offset.
2. Mixed farming affords many sources of
income. The chances for return are distri-
buted throughout the year and there is always
something coming in with which to meet
expenses.
3. Failure of one source of income, or low
prices for the product, are less important.
Some crop is likely to be unsatisfactory in yield
or in price nearly every year. What is more
important, some are likely to succeed every
year, and there is little chance of an entire
failure.
4. Mixed farming may demand less skill.
Even a novice is likely to succeed with something,
and since failure of part is less important than
failure of all, he may do better on the whole than
with specialties. For the same reason, it may
be added that mixed farming offers the best
chance for the shiftless farmer. Something
may succeed even if allowed to care for itself.
5. It is easier to employ a uniform amount of
labour throughout the year. At the present
time, if not always, the labour problem is one
of the most diflScult of solution. The man who
SYSTEMS OF FARMING 75
can furnish steady employment is most likely
to get and to keep good workmen; upon doing
this much of his success will depend.
6. There is an economic advantage in the
correlation of different lines. Swine afford an
opportunity to utilise the by-products of the
dairy; fruit affords shade for the poultry, and
live stock offers a home market for the forage.
The Budlong farm at Auburn, R. I., affords
an interesting illustration of the working out of
this principle. The business was originally
established as a market garden. In connection
with that cucumbers became a prominent feat-
ure. To better utilise them the manufacture of
pickles followed. This created a large demand
for vinegar, which resulted in the building of a
vinegar factory. To utilise the refuse grain
used in the manufacture of vinegar, steers were
fed.* Hogs are also kept, which consume
refuse garden products. Large greenhouses for-
merly used for lettuce and cucumbers under
glass, now more largely for roses and carnations,
find a place in the circle of business interests.
It is interesting to consider the development
of modem commercial lines in this connection.
As villages grew to towns and towns grew to
cities, the typical country store, where could be
found anything from candy to hardware.
*More receotly molasses has oifered a cheaper material f :>r rinegar than fcrain
ao that the steers have disappeared.
76 FARM MANAGEMENT
gradually gave place to special stores which
carried a single line. Latterly, however, the
old-time country store has reappeared in the
form of the great department store, which, like
its predecessor, carries under one roof anything
from a silk collar to an automobile. It ii,
significant, too, that this type of store often
forces the special store to the wall.
Special Farming. — Among the points in which
special farming has the advantage are the
following:
1. Economy of capital. The man who at-
tempts to carry on many lines of work must
equip himself for each one. This means an
increased outlay for implements and perhaps
for buildings, types of property in which the
expenses of depreciation and cost of usage are
likely to be heavy.
2. Economy of labour. Since each line de-
mands equipment the general farmer will find
that he cannot afford the best for every line. He
cannot afford to own a potato planter and digger
for two acres of potatoes, nor a corn harvester
for five acres of corn. His work must therefore
be done at a disadvantage. The man who
makes a specialty of potatoes or corn and grows
enough to warrant the outlay for a complete
equipment can produce the crop more cheaply
as a result.
3. Special farming affords better opportun*
SYSTEMS OF FARMING 77
ities for marketing, Modern business is done on
a large scale. The man with a few bushels of
potatoes or a few pounds of butter receives little
attention. He must take what he can get for
an odd lot or hunt for chance customers in private
trade. If he has a carload to offer, railroads are
ready to make him a rate and buyers are ready
to make him a price. Furthermore, it is only
the man who adheres to some specialty year after
year whose product becomes known and who
is therefore able to command a special market.
4. Specialties lead to greater skill in their
production. The man whose income depends
on two or three things only cannot afford to let
these fail. He studies them; he learns their
needs, and is ready to give prompt battle to any
enemy which threatens. He becomes skilful
in their care and he reaps better harvests.
5. Things are less likely to be neglected.
With many crops, different ones are sure to
demand attention at the same time; some are
neglected and suffer. With special crops this
is less likely to occur, both from having fewer
irons in the fire, and from greater skill in know-
ing when to bring them to the anvil.
6. The labour may be less confining. The
farmer ought to have some time for recreation
and study, some opportunity to get away from
home. If specialties offer some difficulty in
the regular employment of labour, which is not
78 FARM MANAGEMENT
true in all cases, they may offer the counter
advantage of more freedom to the farmer and
his family.
All in all, the arguments for a well chosen line
of specialites far outweigh those for a mis-
cellaneous line of mixed farming. Yet farming
cannot be done by ironclad rules. Circum-
stances may often arise under which a crop out
of the ordinary may well be used to meet the
peculiar needs of the case. The specialties
chosen should be such as to admit of a rotation
which will maintain a good physical condition
of the soil and distribute the labour to the best
advantage. In succeeding pages different types
will be considered more in detail.
Specialties often appeal to the inexperienced
with undue force. The belief that money is
to be had from ginseng or goats may blind the
novice to the fact that as good or better returns
may be obtained from cabbage or cows.
EXTENSIVE vs. INTENSIVE FARMING
The choice between extensive and intensive
farming, aside from the question of personal
tastes, is largely a problem of the adjustment of
capital and of the relation between capital and
labour. Extensive farming demands relatively
more capital, intensive farming relatively more
labour. Extensive operations therefore involve a
SYSTEMS OF FARMING 79
heavier interest charge for fixed capital. One
thousand acres of grazing land at ten dollars per
acre calls for an investment of $10,000; fifty
acres of fertile farming land at one hundred
dollars per acre demands but $5,000. Within
reasonable bounds returns will follow more nearly
the line of labour investments than those of capi-
tal. This may be illustrated by the comparison
of cost and returns from a few typical crops.
Estimating the yield of wheat per acre at
twenty bushels, and the price at seventy-five
cents per bushel, there is a gross return of $15.
To secure $1,000, gross, it is necessary to grow
66§ acres. If this land is worth $40 per acre, there
is a fixed capital investment of $2,666.67, the
interest charge upon which at 5% is $133.33.
The labour involved in growing, harvesting and
threshing, under average farm conditions in
the Eastern states, will be about $6 per acre,
or $400 on the 66§ acres needed to secure the
$1,000 gross return. There will be forty tons
of product to deliver to market, the cost of which
will vary with conditions.
Compare this with potatoes, as representing
a fairly intensive farm crop. When grown by
successful men who make it a business the yield
will average at least 200 bushels per acre. If
the price should average forty cents per bushel
the gross return per acre would be $80. A return
of $1,000 can therefore be obtained from 12|
80 FARM MANAGEMENT
acres. Supposing the value of the land to be $50
per acre there is a fixed capital investment of
$625, the interest charge upon which at 5% is
$31.25. The labour cost of growing will amount
to about $20 per acre, or $250 for the 12^ acres
needed to yield $1,000 gross return. In this
case there will be seventy-five tons of product to
market, a serious item if the distances are long.
Onions will represent a still more intensive
gardeners' crop. With land in a high state of
fertility, as gardeners expect to keep it, the
yield should reach 500 bushels per acre. Prices
vary greatly with location ; but taking an average
farm price of fifty cents per bushel the returns
will be $250 per acre, or $1,000 from four acres,
the interest charge on land at $100 an acre being
$20. The labour cost in this case will be high,
approximating $100 per acre, or $400 for the
four acres involved. There will be 50 tons of
product to market.
None of these estimates include other expenses
than those of labour and fixed capital, the pur-
pose being to emphasise chiefly the point of
capital involved.
The element of fertility is an important con-
sideration. Extensive farming has too often
been a system of soil mining, with little regard
to the maintenance of fertility. The estimates
for wheat above are made partially on that
basis. With liberal fertilising the yield per
SYSTEMS OF FARMING 81
acre there given can be much increased. When
it comes to this problem, it will readily be seen
that intensive farming has a manifest advantage.
The cost of fertilising 12§ acres for potatoes or
4 acres for onions sufficiently to produce a
maximum yield will be much less than the cost
of fertilising 50 or 60 acres for wheat, even
moderately.
Under average conditions intensive methods
will be found to possess important economic
advantages, but they demand closer attention
and more intelligent oversight. For the man
who can better afford to invest capital than to
give such attention, extensive methods may
prove" best. Certain types of farming are, from
the very nature of the case, bound to be ex-
tensive, at least for many years to come. The
details of the problem will appear more fully
in the comparison of different types in later
pages.
In many cases the value of land will prove to
be the determining factor. It is manifestly
impossible to grow wheat at a profit on land
valued at $500 per acre, for the interest charge
and higher rate of taxation likely to prevail will
more than offset any possible profit, even by the
best of methods.
At this point it may be well to emphasise the
difference between intensive and extensive meth-
ods with the same crops and under the same
82
FARM MANAGEMENT
system of farming. Intensive farming does not
lie wholly in the number of acres tilled. Let
figures from the hay crop serve as an illustration.
The average yield per acre of hay in the state
of New York for the last ten years is a fraction
less than Ij tons. By better methods and
a liberal outlay for fertilisers it is easily possible
to bring this yield up to three or even four tons
per acre. The average farm price for hay in
the same state for the same time is $10.63. The
account per acre by the two methods would
stand about as follows:
HAT
Extensive
Method
Intensive
Method
Interest and taxes ....
Seed . • 2 ( proportionate \
Preparation 2 ( share per year )
Fertilisers
Mowing and raking ....
Hauling
$ 3.00
2.00
.50
1.00
$ 3.00
I] -00
15.00
.50
4.00
Total cost per year
Value of product
@ $10.63 per ton . . . .
$ 6.50
xH tons 11.96
$26.50
4 tons 42.52
Profit . . .
$ 5.46
$16.02
Lest some one may think an estimate of four
tons per acre too large it may be said that the
average yield per acre on the grounds of the
Rhode Island Experiment Station considerably
exceeds this amount wherever good rotations
and liberal fertilising are employed. This is
on land from which on either side the yields
SYSTEMS OF FARMING 83
scarcely reach half a ton, and on which corn will
not grow over five inches high during the whole
season, where the land has been continuously
cropped without the addition of fertiliser.
If applied to Rhode Island conditions, where
the average farm price of hay during the same
ten years has been $17.08 instead of $10.63 as
in New York, the contrast between the two
methods is even more striking, for the difference
in profit between the two methods then becomes
$29.11 instead of $10.56, as here figured. It
should be said that in the Rhode Island ex-
periments the cost of fertilisers has somewhat
exceeded $15 per acre, but it has been learned
that even here some of the items can be reduced
and farmers who have tried the formulas in
other parts of the state report that a smaller
amount would probably prove more profitable.
Outside of New England the amount may not
need to reach $15. The general impression
prevails that such liberal fertilising will only
prove profitable for the hay crop where prices
range high, as near the city markets, but an
analysis of the problem shows that the method
will apply much farther than might be sup-
posed.
Similar comparisons with the potato crop may
be of interest. The average yield per acre in
the state of New York for the ten years from
1893 to 1902 inclusive was 80.6 bushels, and
84
FARM MANAGEMENT
the average farm price, December 1, was forty-
eight cents.
In the following table the ordinary methods
in vogue, which produce this average yield,
are compared with condensed figures which
follow very closely those given by T. B. Terry
and J. S. Woodward, men who expect and get
an average of at least 200 bushels per acre. The
cost of seed is placed higher than they place it
in order to permit the purchase of seed from
seed-growing sections, a practice which, while
often desirable, is not always necessary, as these
men prove, provided the grower knows how to
handle and care for his own seed properly.
POTATOES
Extensive
Metliod
Intensive Method
Interest and taxes
Seed, 8 bu. @ 50 c. or $1
Plowing ....
Fitting ....
Fertiliser, ^ ton
Cutting and planting
Tillage
$3.00
4.00
1.50
.50
3.00
2.00
.50
5.00
$ 3.00
8.00
1.50
1.50
15.00
3.00
5.00
Applying Paris green
Spraying for bugs and bli
Digging and picking up
ght
2.00
6.00
Total,
Value of product @ 48 cents
(80.6 bu.)
$19.50
$38.65
$45.00
(200 bu.) 96.00
Profi
t
$19.15
$51.00
Rhode Island farmers in the potato growing
sections commonly apply at least one ton of
SYSTEMS OF FARMING 85
fertiliser per acre, but their average farm price for
the same time has been seventy cents per bushel,
so that their profits from intensive methods are
still greater. One successful Rhode Island
grower reports the cost at $50 per acre when
grown and in the cellar, and that their average
yield is more than 200 bushels.
It should be observed that a large proportion
of the charges are practically fixed, whether the
method be good or poor, and that aside from the
item of fertilisers the additional cost of intensive
methods is comparatively small. The fertiliser
question itself is one demanding much study.
In many cases it can be much reduced by careful
attention to other methods of maintaining
fertility.
SYNDICATE FARMING
Many believe that syndicate farming is to be
one of the features of the future. Will agricul-
ture tend toward concentration, as all other
industries seem to be doing.? It is probably
wiser not to attempt to answer this question,
but to content ourselves with considering some
of the factors which are likely to work for and
against this tendency.
FAVOURABLE FACTORS
1 . Full Equipment Warranted. — Many farmers
work at a great disadvantage from lack of equip-
ment. Indeed this is such a common occurrence
86 FARM MANAGEMENT
that at times it seems a well-nigh universal rule.
A young man starts out with limited capital.
He may rent a farm for a time, then perhaps
buy one of his own, running in debt for the
greater part of the purchase price. All the
returns are needed to meet payments and keep
up interest. Every tool which it is possible to do
without is dispensed with. Under these con-
ditions products are grown and handled at a
marked disadvantage, and cost too much. Syn-
dicate farming overcomes all this. Enough
capital can be put in to properly equip the enter-
prise at the start and capital can be added as
the business progresses. In so far, the syndicate
farm can produce more cheaply, hence at a
greater profit, than the individual farm under
these conditions.
2. Full Use of Equipment Possible. — When the
individual farmer is able to have all the equip-
ment needed in carrying on his work the extent
of his business oftentimes does not permit of a
full use of the equipment. For this reason he
may be working at as great an economic disad-
vantage as does the poor man who must do with-
out the equipment. The proportion of fixed
charges which he pays is too great. The farmer
who owns a one-hundred-dollar corn harvester
for harvesting five acres of corn annually, may
do the actual work as cheaply as his neighbour
who harvests more, but when he has added the
SYSTEMS OF FARMING 87
charges for interest, depreciation and storage,
from which he cannot escape, he will find the
cost greater than that of the man who must
harvest his corn by hand. In many cases the
latter may be able to hire the services of the
machine from his more prosperous neighbour,
with manifest advantage to both parties. Syn-
dicate farming should do away with this diffi-
culty. The syndicate farm should not only be
able to have equipment enough to do the work
but also to have work enough to properly em-
ploy the equipment. The cost of production,
so far as regards this item, should therefore be
brought to the minimum.
3. Opportunity for Skilled Oversight. — ^A small
farm will not warrant the payment of an adequate
salary to a superior manager. The owner does
not escape this fact even though he manage
the farm himself. If he is a man capable of
successfully conducting a larger enterprise he is
not receiving what his services are worth in con-
ducting a smaller one. If managed as a business
investment, without employing his own services,
the owner cannot afford to employ an expensive
man for a small undertaking. With the larger
undertaking there is abundant opportunity for
the well-trained man to make his training count,
to earn his own salary, and to return a margin
to his employer.
4. Advantages in Marketing. — Much has been
88 FARM MANAGEMENT
said about the advantages to be gained from
marketing products in large quantities. The
syndicate farm has manifestly the superior oppor-
tunity in this respect, particularly if the under-
taking is centred upon a few specialties.
UNFAVOURABLE FACTORS
1. Loss of Time in Working Large Areas, —
The first and perhaps the most important diflB-
culty in syndicate farming lies in the inherent
difference in nature between agriculture and
other industries. In manufacturing enterprises
it is possible to concentrate an immense business
within a small area. Every operation can be
quickly inspected by the superintendent and no
time need be lost in the passage of material or
workmen from one operation to another. In
agriculture the limit of concentration is quickly
reached. Increased production means increased
areas. This, except in a few special lines, means
loss of time in movement from place to place.
Each mile that a workman must travel upon his
employer's time in getting to and from his actual
place of work means a reduction of approx-
imately 3 per cent, in the efficiency ot his day's
work. This soon places a limit upon the spread-
ing out of operations from a single plant. In-
crease must be by means of separate centres from
which operations proceed, and which introduce
SYSTEMS OF FARMING 89
many of the same factors which appear with
sm^ll individual farms.
2. Difficulty of Olose Oversight by Manager. —
The same reasons which render it difficult to
carry on large farming operations successfully
from a single plant prevent close oversight on
the part of the manager. He may provide him-
self with means of transportation which will
consume less time than does the workman in
going from place to place, but it is important
tliat he do much more moving about than
the latter. Not only will he lose a great deal of
time between points, but while he is directing
operations at one place something may be
suffering at another.
3. Lack of Personal Oversight on the Part
of the Investor. — Experience shows that farms
not managed by their owners seldom pay.
Exceptions occur, to be sure. A particularly
conscientious manager of ability may present
good returns to his employer but very many
fail to do so. A financial interest in the under-
taking on the part of the manager will aid, but
even this is not always effective in producing
good results. Careful attention to many de-
tails is needed to make farming a success. Such
attention can best be secured when the owner
himself is managing the business.
To generalise upon these factors for and
against syndicate farming would be to prophesy.
90 FARM MANAGEMENT
which is always unsafe. Yet it may be safely
predicted that the ease with which new ventures
in farming may be begun, upon small capital, will
long prevent any such centralisation in agri-
culture as occurs in other lines of business. The
most promising lines of concentration appear to
be those in which the elements of cooperation
or profit-sharing enter to a considerable extent.
It is probable that the syndicate farm can be
more successfully obtained by coordinating
the operations of a number of individual farms
than by combining them into one; if upon each
of these farms there is a foreman who is finan-
cially interested in its outcome the chance for
success should be good.
The Boyd farms near Harrisburg, Pa., offer
a good illustration of a successful business
enterprise in farming. A number of individual
farms, aggregating 1,800 acres, are grouped
together under one management. A farmer
and helpers, are employed on each farm, with a
manager to direct the whole.
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CHAPTER VIII
FARMING COMPARED WITH OTHER LINES
OF BUSINESS
TIS AN illusive fancy to which men are heir,
that the vale of delight lies always be-
yond the next hilltop. A more delight-
ful time is coming, when we shall have more
leisure, more enjoyment, more happiness. In
like manner we are prone to think other callings
better than our own. No one is more ready to
decry the business of farming than the farmer
himself. He believes that men in other callings
do less work and receive more pay than he. He
instils into the mind of his son the teaching that
the son must prepare himself for some calling
in which he can get his living easier than on the
farm. The son, as a result, is found in the liter-
ary, the classical, or the engineering course, when
he reaches college, instead of the agricultural
course, only to learn, oftentimes, after college
days are over, that the farm after all offers him
better opportunities than his chosen field, and
to go back to it trained for some other work
instead of that.
It is not easy to make comparisons which will
be just and which will throw light on the
91
92 FARM MANAGEMENT
comparative advantages of one calling with
another. A few points may be considered.
THE INVESTMENT DEMANDED
The constantly increasing scale on which
business is done renders it each year more
diflBcult for the man with limited capital
to build up a business for himself, a business in
which he shall be the master and not the servant.
The small retail stores, or those which we used
to think the large ones, have more and more
frequently been absorbed by the big department
store. What was an independent business in
stationery, in wall-paper, in boots and shoes,
becomes a department in one of the big concerns,
and the one-time independent owner becomes
the department manager and an employee.
The chance to again become an independent
cJealer has passed, not to return again. The
man with a capital of $5,000 knows well that he
cannot establish an independent business and
hope to compete with the large concern, even
in a single line.
Farming too, calls for capital. The want of
it is one of the most frequent causes of poor
returns. Yet it is far easier for the man with
a limited amount to establish an independent
business than in mercantile or manufacturing
lines. While he cannot reach the best market
FARMING VS. OTHER BUSINESS 93
or place his products on the market to the best
advantage, if he has only a limited amount to
offer, he can reach some market and nearly
always one which will yield a profit above cost
of production if the production has been well
managed. This market, too, will generally take
all he can produce, very different from the
market of the merchant, whose great problem
is to know how much he can sell.
The man with $5,000 can become at once an
independent business man, an employer in-
stead of an employee, if he decides to put that
money into agriculture- True it is that he will
wish for more capital and will see many ways
in which the man who has it will possess an ad-
vantage over him, but he can enter the contest
with perfect assurance of winning reasonable
success, provided he possess the other re-
quisites of success. The young man with no
one dependent upon him may even become an
independent operator in some lines with one-
tenth this amount of capital. In either case,
with every dollar of increase in the capital will
come the opportunity to place it where the
effectiveness of the business will be increased.
Coupled with this opportunity to begin with
small capital goes the opposite advantage, that
it is possible to advantageously invest a very
considerable amount in a single business.
Indeed by dividing the investment and
94 FARM MANAGEMENT
establishing different centres of operation it is
possible to invest almost any amount. Lack
of opportunity to place his capital to advantage
is not one of the farmer's troubles.
SAFETY OF THE INVESTMENT
The safety of the principal is of prime im-
portance in the investment of capital. The
president of a large banking firm, when asked
what percentage of ventures in mercantile and
manufacturing lines fail in so far that the capital
put in is lost to the investor, replied that he had
no figures, but judging from his observation it
would be about 90 per cent, in mercantile lines,
but much less in manufacturing, perhaps not
over 15 per cent, though his] first estimate was
higher. Compared with this, agriculture makes
a very favourable showing. I have no statistics to
offer but I am sure that universal experience will
bear me out in the statement that very few
men lose the capital invested in farming, as a
result of legitimate business effort in that
line. Farm mortgages are foreclosed, to be
sure, sometimes as a result of ill health or other
unusual misfortune, but oftener as a result of
bad management, expensive habits, outside
ventures, or to secure capital which the investor
never really possessed, he having assumed a
debt nearly or quite equal to the capital involved.
FARMING VS. OTHER BUSINESS 95
Capital invested in a farm and its equipment
is likely to be less readily available than in many
other lines, but there are few ways in which it
can be invested with less danger of ultimate
loss.
PROSPECT OF A CONTINUED LIVELIHOOD
In answer to the question — What percentage
of ventures yield a comfortable livelihood dur-
ing the lifetime of the investor? this same
bank president placed the figures for mercantile
lines at 50 per cent, and for manufacturing lines
at 80 per cent. He qualified these by saying
that the business was often absorbed by a larger
firm, or failed, and the former proprietor finished
as a clerk. Under those conditions the business
fails to yield a livelihood in the sense in which it
should, for his livelihood is dependent upon the
will of others and he must face the dead line
which all employees must face, and which is
very likely to come early in life.
In the absence of this dead line lies one of the
chief advantages of farming as a business. The
intelligent, industrious farmer need look upon the
future with no apprehension. Except as the
result of some unusual misfortune his support
is secured to the end of his days. Even when
he is no longer able to work himself his farm will
continue to yield him the comforts of life. His
wants are simple and natural and are supplied
96 FARM MANAGEMENT
at minimum cost, because obtained at the source
instead of at the mouth of the stream of
distribution.
A. P. Grinnell, M.D., Dean of the Medical
Department of The University of Vermont, is
authority for the statement that 80 per cent, of all
men living at the age of forty-five are prosperous,
contented, and more or less successful in business,
well established in whatever pursuit they are
following; are receiving an income in excess of
their expenditures and are, therefore, laying up
money and are independent. He then calls
attention to a well-established fact that of all
men living at the age of forty-five 50 per cent
live to be sixty-five. At that age he finds that
only 3 per cent, of these persons are independent
or self-sustaining. In other words about ninety-
seven out of every 100 at the age of sixty-
five are dependent upon relatives, friends,
the town, or some charitable institution or
society for a part, at least, of their daily sub-
sistence.
Let the farmer who is inclined to bemoan his
lot ponder these figures. Let him sit down and
compute the percentage of his farmer acquaint-
ances who, at the age of sixty-five, are dependent
upon others for sustenance. In doing so he
should be careful not to count among the num-
ber those who have left the farm and embarked
in some other business.
FARMING VS. OTHER BUSINESS 97
FINANCIAL RETURNS
Perhaps in no other business will returns vary
more widely. Many farms do not even pay
reasonable wages for the labour expended upon
them. It must be granted at once that agri-
culture offers little opportunity to amass immense
wealth. It is not the calling for the man who
makes that his goal in life, although present ten-
dencies toward large aggregations of capital in
agriculture, as in other lines, offer better oppor-
tunities in this field than is generally believed.
The great advantage of agriculture lies in the
certainty which it offers of reasonable returns,
sufficient for the needs and comforts of a simple
life. Few men of average ability and health
fail to secure this much. Many are able to
provide themselves comfortable and attractive
homes and to possess about all the good things
of life which it is possible for any man to enjoy.
Not long ago lists were secured of typical,
representative farmers engaged in different lines
of work and located in various parts of the United
States. Questions were sent to these men, asking
them for a business statement regarding the
management and returns from their farms.
Figures were tabulated from forty-seven farms.
Among these were some managed by firms, in-
cluding brothers, or father and son. Taking
these into consideration made fifty-six persons
98 FARM MANAGEMENT
to share in the returns which these farms yielded.
The average salary received by these fifty-six
persons, after deducting all running expenses,
5 per cent, interest on the capital invested, 5 per
cent, for depreciation and insurance on buildings,
and 10 per cent, for depreciation on teams and
tools, was $1,800.40. These, it must be granted,
were picked farmers, men known to be success-
ful men. The returns are therefore doubtless
considerably above average returns, yet they are
by no means exceptional. It was not always
the largest enterprises which showed the greatest
profits.
With these farms it may be fair to compare the
exceptional man in other lines. The man who
has had the advantage of a thorough college
training which has fitted him for a definite line
of work must certainly rank above the average
man in his earning ability, and may be fairly
compared with these successful farmers. Pres-
ident Prichett of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology is authority for the statement, made
about the same time these figures were gathered,
that the average salary of the graduates of that in-
stitution is about $650. The average salary of
teachers in Massachusetts is given as about
$600.
These comparisons have to do with the
exceptional man. In the report of the Penn-
sylvania Department of Agriculture for 1899,
FARMING VS. OTHER BUSINESS 99
John Hamilton, then Secretary of Agriculture for
Pennsylvania, makes a careful comparison be-
tween the returns secured by the average farmer's
family in that state and those secured by the
average worker in other lines. He first refers
to a substantial agreement among satisticians
that 93% of the people in this country live
upon incomes of less than $400 per year, which
income must support a family of three persons.
He finds this to agree very closely with the aver-
age returns of the wage-earners in the manu-
facturing industries in Pennsylvania. He then
compares these figures with the average returns
from Pennsylvania farms, as shown by census
statistics. His figures lead him to the con-
clusion that while each person in the average
family in 93% of our homes has $133.33 per
year upon which to live, each member of the
average Pennsylvania farmer's family receives
$198.26. Deducting similar living expenses in
each case leaves a surplus of $73.50 for each
member of the farmer's family and a surplus of
$38.94 for each member of the family engaged
in other pursuits. These figures assume the
same cost of living in each case, while as a mat-
ter of fact the cost is always much less upon the
farm than in the city or village. These results
show that the condition of the average worker
in agriculture compares as favourably with that
of the average worker in other lines as does that
100 FARM MANAGEMENT
of the exceptional farmer, referred to before,
with that of the exceptional man in other lines.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE ACTIVE INVESTOR
For the man with small capital, who wishes to
manage it himself, agriculture offers a promising
field. He may begin small and add to his in-
vestment as rapidly as his capital will permit.
Upon this point I wish to quote the words of
Hon. Charles A. Garfield, a Michigan banker,
well known in agricultural as well as business
lines. He says :
** My personal view with regard to comparative
successes and failures in the various vocations of
life is that there are fewer failures in connection
with soil culture than in almost any other line
of business activity. I think the promises to-
day for the young man who has some taste for
agriculture are better in that realm than in any
other. In our own state I am impressed with
the strong advantages of agriculture over mer-
cantile or manufacturing enterprises.
In the various fields of agriculture, it seems to
me there is not the necessity for increased capital-
isation to cope with modern factors which are
involved. For instance, in glass farming, a
man can start out with a little greenhouse, and
can gradually grow, if he puts the right ability
into the enterprise, into a tremendous establish-
ment in the course of a quarter of a century. In
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FARMING VS. OTHER BUSINESS 101
the same way in out-of-door market gardening,
I know of men who have started with five acres
of land, and by manuring heavily with brains,
have within twelve or fifteen years developed a
great agricultural enterprise. I think along the
various lines of agriculture the opportunities
have increased with the years, while in many
other avenues of activity it seems to me the
reverse has been true. In our own state, for
instance, with the advent of the great department
stores, the man of small means does not know
where to dip in, even if he has a taste for trade,
and the same is true in manufacturing enter-
prises. But I know of so many successful men
who have started in a small way with only a
small branch of agriculture or horticulture and
made a success of it, that I feel quite safe in
advising young men to enter this kind of career,
providing first and always they have a natural
taste for dealing with the soil. Young men have
made a pronounced success within my range of
vision in growing rhubarb or cauliflower or
celery, or feeding lambs or raising poultry or
growing roses or violets, and I am inclined more
and more to think there is no limit to endeavour
along these lines."
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PASSIVE INVESTOR
While agriculture offers an excellent field for
the man who wishes to manage his capital him-
102 FARM MANAGEMENT
self, the case is different with the man who wishes
to invest capital without giving it his personal
attention. Agriculture is not the place for him.
So few farms succeed without the owner's close
attention and oversight that one is almost
warranted in saying that they cannot be made to
succeed in this way. To buy and equip a farm
and expect to secure profit from it by means of
hired labour and management will almost surely
bring disappointment.
Yet for the man with sufficient knowledge of
agriculture to know how farming operations
should be carried on, and with sufficient knowl-
edge of men to secure good tenants, investment
in land for rent may yield satisfactory returns.
Instances can be cited of men who choose this
line of investment in preference to any other. In
some cases the system of share rental is followed,
in other cases the system of money rental. With-
out good tenants, carefully drawn leases, and close
attention on the part of the owner, however, farms
will rapidly deteriorate under this system of man-
agement with a losing investment as the result.*
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE MAN WITHOUT CAPITAL
Agriculture offers a good field for the young
man who has tastes in that direction, even though
♦The farms owned by the McCormick estate of Harrisburg;. Pa., afford a good
illustration of a passive business investment in agriculture. These are primarily
grain farms and are worked on a system of share rental somewhat peculiar to
the region but with liberal terms to the tenant. The valley farms yield a very
Batisfactory return upon the investment, the mountain farms a somewhat lowel
rate.
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FARMING VS, OTHER BUSINESS 103
he may have no capital to invest. There is a
growing demand for men in all lines of agri-
cultural work. Not only do the United States
Department of Agriculture, the agricultural
colleges and experiment stations call for large
numbers of educated young men, but the cream-
eries and cheese factories, the farms and the
private estates call for many more.
Every wealthy man who buys a farm for a
summer home must have a manager for it. He
will usually pay well for the services of a man of
ability.
Any young man who can prove his ability to
make an investment in farm lands pay, will soon
find capital ready to provide the investment and
employ his services. In few other ways can a
young man of limited means secure a better home
than by becoming the manager of a private
estate or a successful commercial farm. In
many cases the home is furnished throughout
by the employer.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN
The success of many women who have en-
gaged in agriculture either from choice or
necessity, proves that the business offers oppor-
tunities for women as well as for men. The
lighter branches of agriculture afford a good
field for women who have a taste in this direction.
104 FARM MANAGEMENT
Many a woman has found profit, health and in-
dependence in poultry, bees, or fruit, with no
greater demands upon her physical strength
than are made by the factory, the counter or the
office. Floriculture offers excellent inducements
for the woman with some capital to invest.
There have been notable successes also in dairy-
ing and stock-breeding. The outcome of the
venture depends far more upon the management
than upon the physical strength employed. A
good brain at the head will bring success,
whether in man or woman. Many a farm has
yielded better returns when its control has fallen
into the hands of the wife or daughter than it
did before.
ATTRACTIVENESS OF SURROUNDINGS
The attractiveness of one calling as compared
with another depends much upon personal tastes,
yet few lines afford the opportunity for work
among so attractive surroundings as are offered
to the farmer. The man who works in the open
fields, 'neath the bright blue skies, with the sum-
mer clouds at play above his head, has nothing
to covet from the man who must spend his days in
the dust and din of a factory, within the narrow
confines of a store, or the stuffy walls of an office.
Not all his days can be spent 'neath sunny skies,
to be sure; he must meet winter's cold and
summer's heat, Nature's frown as well as her
FARMING VS. OTHER BUSINESS 105
smile; but in every mood she offers something
worthy of his interest, admiration or courage.
Furthermore his immediate surroundings are
much more within his own control than are those
of men in most other callings. He has more
room to express his individuality. Even the
disagreeable tasks, and they are many, are laden
with a personal interest, for their performance
gives promise of some direct gain or betterment
as a result of their doing. Let the farmer who
belittles his commonplace tasks and his sur-
roundings spend a single week within the dingy
walls of an office or factory and he will come back
to his fields a happier and a wiser man.
HOME MAKING
The farmer's location is generally permanent.
Every beauty or convenience which he adds to
his home are for him and his. Home comes to
mean something to him and to his children.
Each improvement in buildings or equip-
ment means far more than the possible profit
which the change may afford. He may plant
a tree and hope to gather the fruit, a shrub and
expect to enjoy its bloom, adorn his home with
plantings and watch the development of the
picture. All these things, and they mean much,
many a man never knows. His home is his
only so long as the monthly payment for rent is
106 FARM MANAGEMENT
forthcoming. Improvements are rare and only
as a result of persuasive interviews with the land-
lord. If he plants so much as a strawberry
plant another may eat the fruit. His children
know no home ; they know only the house where
they live. They never know the joy of gathering
fruit and flowers from their own plants, the free-
dom of their own fields, the sense of ownership in
the realities of life.
FAMILY EMPLOYMENT
The farm offers something for each member
of the family to do. It is the ideal home for
children. Not only can the child cooperate in
the affairs of the home but he can be given
opportunity for enterprises of his own. A
swarm of bees, a setting of eggs, a pig, or a patch
of ground in strawberries or potatoes, with a
little judicious advice from the parent, will
afford the opportunity for self-earned money,
which every child so much covets, and a begin-
ing in business training as well. With the com-
ing of years and experience such a beginning
may readily develop into an important
branch of the farm economy. With its
development has come, too, an interest in
the home and the business and a freedom
from temptation which few other callings
can offer.
FARMING VS. OTHER BUSINESS 107
INDEPENDENCE AND SERVICE
Interdependence, not independence, is the
rule of life. No man is wholly independent, nor
should he care to be. Yet no man enjoys more
of the independence which is worth enjoying than
the farmer. He is tied to no whistle string; he
runs at the beck and call of no man; he yields
his views and his vote to none. The fact that
it is easier to become an independent business
man in farming than in other lines of business
renders the opportunity for independence greater
in this calling than in others.
No calling can claim a monopoly of the oppor-
tunities for service. Men need help and en-
couragement in every walk of life and in every
corner of the globe. He who will may lend help
wherever he goes. Let no one feel that his
opportunities for usefulness will be diminished by
answering the call of the farm. Farmers are
often better informed, more thoughtful, and
possessed of better judgment than men of similar
advantages in other lines. The farmer has more
time for thought than many other men have.
The obstacles which he meets develop resource-
fulness and judgment. His isolation may de-
velop a trace of suspicion in his nature and his
habit of solving his own problems may make it
difficult for him readily to cooperate with others
in an undertaking, but his opinions, if he be an
108 FARM MANAGEMENT
educated and intelligent man, are worthy of
attention and generally carry weight. The prob-
lems which confront American agriculture to-day
are weighty ones; they demand the best intelli-
gence available for their solution. The educated
man possessed of the quality of leadership will
find ample scope for his activities in the farm
community which he may chance to make his
home.
CHAPTER IX
MARKETING PROBLEMS — THE IMPORTANCE OF
PRICE
THE importance of marketing can scarcely
be overestimated. It is easy to over-
look the significance of apparently slight
variations in the price of products. The chief
reason for this is the fact that the item of
cost is so obscured that it never stands out as it
should in the comparison. The addition of
10% to the price of an article sold means an
increase of 10% in the cost to the buyer; it
means a very different thing to the farmer. Let
us illustrate the problem with an acre of potatoes.
Under skilful methods, with good potato soil, an
acre can be made to produce 200 bushels and
the product be marketed near at hand for $50.
This means twenty-five cents per bushel. If
now the product is sold at thirty cents per bushel
there is a profit of five cents, or 20% on the
investment, the profit on the acre being $10. If
the price is thirty-five cents the profit is ten cents
per bushel or 40% on the investment. The
profit on the acre in one case is $10, in the other
it is $20. One acre under the latter condition
therefore yields just as much return as two acres
109
110 FARM MANAGEMENT
under the former, with a much smaller in-
vestment, but the farmer may be blinded to the
fact because in the one case he receives $120,
while in the other he receives only $70. Unless
he is accustomed to carefully count the cost it
will be diflScult for him to realise that the smaller
amount yields him as large a return as the larger.
One may well afford to spend time, thought and
expense, if thereby the selling price of products
can be legitimately increased. I am not in
sympathy with any movement to extort unjust
prices from the consumer, particularly upon
staple articles of necessity, but it is most im-
portant to secure full value for products sold.
TRANSPORTATION
Population is unevenly distributed, likewise
production, but the distribution of production
bears little or no relation to that of population.
Price is determined by the demand at those
centres where consumption most exceeds pro-
duction. The price to a given producer is there-
fore scaled down in proportion to the cost of
bringing his product to this centre of demand.
It matters not that so far as personal needs are
concerned the product may be worth as much in
the one place as in the other. The price is
determined by what the surplus over and above
vhome consumption will bring. In so far as it
MARKETING PROBLEMS 111
costs the distant producer more to freight his
product to market than it does the nearby
producer in just so far is location a bar to the
one and a protection to the other. This differ-
ence, it should be noted, is never proportionate
to the distance.
The long haul always costs proportionately
less than the short haul, for reasons which apply
to the farmer in hauling his product to the station
as well as to the railroad in hauling it from the
station to the market. The heaviest items of
expense to the railroad are not in paying the
engineer, the conductor and the brakemen,
and furnishing the coal needed to carry the
farmer's load to market, but in supplying the
road, the engine and the cars, in keeping them in
order and in paying the interest on the money
invested. The farmer must be allowed time to
load his product and the merchant must be
allowed time to unload it. \Vhen the car is started
the additional cost of running it another hundred
miles is very little compared to the cost of the
first hundred. Further than this, there may be
good reasons of business policy, which we need
not stop to determine, but which make it ad-
visable for the railroad to give the long shipper
an advantage.
The average difference in the farm price of
corn in Nebraska and New York on December
1st for ten years previous to and including 1902
112 FARM MANAGEMENT
was 22.8 cents. While this may not be the exact
cost of shipping a bushel of corn from one
state to the other it represents the practical
result of this cost. It means that the Nebraska
grower must be able to produce corn that much
cheaper in order to compete with the New
York grower. Thus far he has been able to do
it by mining out the fertility stored in the soil
during long periods of growth and decay of
vegetable matter. When that process begins to
fail, as it surely will, and indeed is already doing,
he must seek other advantages, or depend upon
the chance that his eastern competitor may
find other lines still more profitable than corn
growing and so leave the field in part free to
him. So long as the cost of transportation
remains unchanged the New York grower can
rest assured of approximately that difference in
price and the Nebraska grower must accept the
handicap. If each decides to transform his corn
into beef or pork before shipping, the problem
becomes a different one.
Transportation is an important factor in deter-
mining the type of farming to be followed, or in
determining the choice of a location if the kind
of farming has already been decided. If distant
markets must be depended upon, products must
be chosen upon which the cost of transportation
is not excessive and which will bear transp)orta-
tion well and reach the market in good condition.
MARKETING PROBLEMS US
Wheat and small fruits are good examples of
products well and ill adapted to reaching distant
markets. It should be said however that modern
methods have made great strides in doing away
with these difficulties in marketing, wherever the
product of an individual or a community is
sufficiently large to warrant special effort in
caring for it.
Where public transportation must be de-
pended upon there is great advantage in choosing
a location which gives access to competing lines.
This is particularly true if there is competition
between rail and water service. Water service
has distinct advantages in the matter of injury in
transit for some perishable products. The
trolley freight should offer the best means of
transportation in many cases.
More important than all else in the matter of
public transportation is the size of the shipments,
secured by large production or by cooperative
marketing and shipment. With carload ship-
ments and a business which is worth the
consideration of the transportation companies,
refrigerator service, concessions in freight rates or
other privileges may be had which are entirely
out of the question with the small shipper. This
is well illustrated by the cooperative fruit
shipping associations of the far West. For
this reason there is a decided advantage in loca-
ting where others are engaged in the same line
114 FARM MANAGEMENT
of business or in inducing others to adopt the
line which one is following. Not only does this
secure advantages in transportation but likewise
attracts the attention of buyers so that oftentimes
it may be possible to sell the product on track,
thereby avoiding the uncertainties of shipment
and commission.
The greatest deficiency in American methods
of transportation, a deficiency which bears with
particular force upon the farmer, is the lack of a
parcels post which will enable him to send or
receive small parcels at reasonable cost. Should
he wish to furnish to a customer in the city a ten
pound package of butter the least possible charge
for the service in twenty-five cents. Two and
one-half cents per pound standing between him
and his customer is very likely prohibitive. Were
he so fortunate as to hve in a free country Hke
Germany, instead of one governed by monopoly,
like the United States, he could take his package
to the post oflSce and send it anywhere within a
distance of forty-six English miles for six cents,
or a greater distance for twelve cents. Should
he chance to Hve in Switzerland he could send his
ten-pound package (not exceeding eleven pounds
in gross weight, as in Germany) anywhere within
the republic for eight cents. This price in
Switzerland also includes an indenmi^ of $3 in
case there should be a delay of over twenty-
four hours beyond the proper time of delivery
MARKETING PROBLEMS 115
and a furtlLer msurance against loss or damage.
A like advantage exists in aideiiiig small sop-
l^ies from the city. Rather strangelj the postal
service in those countries is ccmducted in a waj
to benefit the people rather than to benefit
the express companies. Ex-Postmaster-General
Wanamaker has well said that the only reasons
why we should not have a sumlar service in the
United States are the great aq^nss companies.
If the Am^can farmer feds that those reasons are
adequate to overbalance the advantages to him-
self and other members of the community he
should take care to see that they prevail; if he
feds that they are not he should make his T<Moe
and his vote felt with a force and a tn<»aTiifig which
shall not be misunderstood.
The question of private transportation in
reaching the market or the shi|^Hng pcMnt is
one of no less importance than the <Mie of public
transportation. Assuming hay to be worth $15
per ton, wheat seventy-five cents per bushel, poik
five cents per pound and butter twenty cents per
pound, a ton ci hay is worth $15, a ton of wheat
$25, a ton of pork $100 and a ton of butter $400.
If it costs a farmer, fifteen miles from market,
$2.50 per ton to haul his products that distance
this amount from each of the above sums must
be chargeable to marketing. In the case of hay
tile amount is 16f per cent. <^ the selling price,
with wheat it is 10 p»- cent, poik 2) per cent, and
116 FARM MANAGEMENT
butter I of one per cent. It will be readily seen,
therefore, that the farmer so located is at a
decided disadvantage in competing with one a
mile from market in the growing of hay, or even
wheat, but that the disadvantage is largely
removed when it comes to pork and butter, as-
suming that it is possible to market a large
amount of the latter at once. Under present
conditions this is seldom done from the farms,
though it ^ used to be the common custom, and
by means of cold storage is still possible. The
cost is not in direct proportion to the distance,
to be sure, for loading and unloading are the
same in either case. Granting that a team and
driver capable of handling a ton and a half on
ordinary roads can average two and one-half
miles per hour, that the team must travel one
way unloaded, and that the cost is thirty cents
per hour, the cost of the hauling itself will be
sixteen cents per ton for each mile, an important
item for consideration in the marketing of prod-
ucts which have a low value per ton.
Certain products, particularly berries, are
injured by long distances over rough country
roads. This too should be considered in de-
termining upon the type of farming to be fol-
lowed or the location to be chosen.
In wagon transportation, as in railway trans-
portation, the quantity of product is an important
consideration. Many a man doing a small
MARKETING PROBLEMS 117
business spends nearly the value of his product
in the time consumed in getting it to market.
If our farmer located fifteen miles from market
makes a trip costing $2.50 in time to deliver
fifty pounds of butter at twenty cents per pound,
25 per cent, of what he receives has been con-
sumed in the marketing. If he delivers 200
pounds instead, the cost of marketing has been
6i per cent., while if he can make it possible to
deliver a ton at once the cost is but f of one per
cent., as before noted. If the small fruit grower
five miles from market makes a trip costing fifty
cents in time to deliver a single crate of berries
for which he receives $3 he has consumed 16§ per
cent, of the value in delivering it. If he delivers
five crates the cost has been but 3^ per cent.
The reader may say that it does not cost him
this amount. He goes himself, so there is no
labour charge and he drives his own team for
which he has nothing to pay. He receives the
full amount of his sales and there is nothing to
deduct for marketing. It were perhaps for-
tunate for him if there were. He is misled by
this very fact. The cost is obscured and he
therefore does not perceive it. But let him
analyse the matter carefully and he will surely
find it. A fair value for his own time, if he is
such a farmer as he should be, plus the items of
feed, depreciation andt maintenance on team,
harness and wagon, will aggregate a sum much
118
FARM MANAGEMENT
larger than he may think. His own time is
most important; it should be made to count for
the most possible. His mere presence and
oversight where work is going on may often
amount to more than the labour of any two other
men. One of the chief disadvantages of growing
a large number of miscellaneous crops lies in
this fact of increased cost of marketing.
The condition of the roads and the size of the
load are other very important factors in the cost
of marketing many products. One phase of
the problem is well illustrated in the following
table based upon figures of draft taken from the
Experiment Station Handbook. Assuming that
an ordinary team will draw a load of 3,000
pounds on good earth roads on which the grade
does not exceed three feet rise in one hundred,
the same force will handle loads of the amounts
indicated under the different conditions.
Size of load equivalent to 3,000 pounds and
wagon on earth road with three feet grade in
one hundred.
GRADE
S Feet Rise in 100
9 Feet Rise in 100
Load and
Wagon
Net Weight
of Load
Load and
Wagon
Net Weight
of Load
Earth road ....
Macadam road.
4000
8000
3000
•/ooo
2600
3900
1600
2900
Let the reader make his own comparison as
to the cost of marketing a heavy product like
MARKETING PROBLEMS 119
potatoes under the two conditions of a hilly
earth road and a macadam road of easy even
grade. Suffice it to say that under the con-
ditions illustrated above the same load means
26§ bushels in the one case and 116 J in the
other. Much steeper grades than nine feet in
100 are often found. The above figures assume
both to be in good condition. The influence
of mud and ruts is no less important than that
of grade, though less easily determined.
Although a team may put forth extra exertion
in climbing a hill, the size of load is limited, in the
main, by the steepest or poorest spot in the road
to be travelled, not by the condition of the greater
portion of it. If a single steep hill or swampy
strip occurs in the ten miles of road between the
farmer and the market each load during his
lifetime must be reduced, perhaps one-half,
by reason of that one place. Yet it may be that
a comparatively small outlay would change the
location of the road to avoid the hill in the one
case or drain it to avoid the swamp in the other.
No better argument for good roads need be ad-
vanced than a careful study of the cost of market-
ing farm products. In choosing a farm the
condition of the roads should be carefully
considered.
Another important factor is to be considered
with reference to the size of load to be handled.
The farmer as an individual cannot determine
120
FARM MANAGEMENT
what the nature of the roads shall be and he may
not care to change his location for the purpose of
securing better ones, but he can control the
character of the outfit with which he handles his
loads. The above table considers simply what
load a given force will draw under different con-
ditions. Grant, as before, that an ordinary
team of two horses will handle without difficulty
a load of 3,000 pounds on a wagon weighing
1,000 pounds under the prevailing conditions.
Supposing the distance to be such that it takes
a whole day to market a load of produce, and
allowing $1.50 per day for the man and $1,50
for the team, the cost of marketing the load is
$3, or $2 per ton. Now let the farmer provide
a third horse able to do the same amount as the
others. The comparative cost will then be as
follows.
Two horses.
Three horses
Load and
Wagon
Net Weight
of Load
Cost per
Load
4000
6000
3000
5000
$3.00
3.75
Coat per
Ton
$2.00
1.50
It should be observed that while the third
horse entails no additional cost for driver it
makes a much more than corresponding increase
of load possible. Each horse draws 2,000 pounds,
but in the first case 500 pounds of this is repre-
sented by the wagon, while the addition of the
third horse is equivalent to providing for 2,000
MARKETING PROBLEMS 121
pounds more of load alone. With bulky prod-
ucts the question of wagon capacity may be
the determining factor but the outcome may be
equally important.
Another point which enters into the problem
of transportation in many cases is that of the
comparative cost of marketing by team or by
rail. An extensive farmer whom I know markets
nearly all his produce, including milk, potatoes
and vegetables, in a city fifteen miles away.
Three miles from the farm is a wharf from which
a steamer plies to another city but none to the
city where the marketing is done. When asked
if he would use it if there were one running to
this city he said no, that when the products were
once loaded and carried that far it was cheaper
to take them the remainder of the way and
deliver them wherever wanted than to unload
them at the wharf, pay freight, and provide for
cartage at the other end.
The problem is one which admits of easy
solution for a given case. If the actual cost of
hauling is determined in the manner before
suggested and reduced to the lowest limit by pro-
viding for large loads, this can be readily com-
pared with the cost of delivering to the railway
station plus freight charges and extra cartage,
if any, at the other end. With three horses and
a load of two and one-half tons the cost per mile
aside from loading and unloading, may not exceed
122 FARM MANAGEMENT
twelve cents per ton, as against sixteen cents
with two horses handling one and one-half tons.
Much depends upon the speed at which the team
moves. This again can often be further reduced
by developing some side line which will provide
for a load in the opposite direction. The farmer
above mentioned makes a business of bringing
back grain, and sometimes coal, which he sells
to his neighbours at a price which affords good
pay for the hauling. If he carts hay or other
products to the city for others he expects to get
about four dollars per ton, but for carting grain
back he gets two and one-half to three dollars
per ton. In this problem distance is the all-
important factor up to the point where transpor-
tation by team begins to equal that by rail.
Beyond that point it matters less, for cost
of freight varies but little whether the dis-
ance be ten, twenty-five, or one hundred
miles.
WHOLESALE VS. RETAIL MARKET
The choice between a wholesale and a retail
trade is one which it is often hard to make.
Retail trade has the advantage of better price,
and sometimes the advance seems to be much
more than the conditions warrant. The higher
price lends a peculiar fascination to this phase
of the business and the farmer who is selling at
MARKETING PROBLEMS 123
wholesale is always tempted to try to secure the
prices prevailing at retail. In general he must
decide which he will choose, for the two do not
work well together. The man who makes a
business of selling at retail is at a decided dis-
advantage in the market if he comes to it with a
surplus which he has been unable to dispose
of to his retail trade. Even if he ships his sur-
plus to another market than that in which he
retails, he is but an occasional shipper, sending
an irregular amount, and therefore receives less
attention than the regular shipper.
Against the higher price obtainable at retail
must be placed several disadvantages, first of
which is the increased cost of marketing. If a
man spends half a day with his team at a cost of
$1.50 in selling $10 worth of produce he might
have allowed the grocer to make nearly 18%
on his purchase price and still be as well off
himself. Furthermore, there is likely to be
a much larger percentage of waste in a retail
business. There will be irregularities of trade;
one can never provide exactly for the wants of
his customers. If he has too much there is
waste, if too little someone is dissatisfied and
may seek another source of supply. One family
which uses a regular supply may have suddenly
left town. Some customers may want string
beans when he has only peas; others have a
complaint to enter regarding what he has to
124 FARM MANAGEMENT
offer or what they bought before. There are
many petty annoyances from which a wholesale
trade is free. More important still, there is
likely to be a demand for credit, either as a
regular condition of trade, or on one pretext or
another. This means additional trouble in
keeping accounts and some percentage of in-
evitable loss.
Retail sales offer an advantage in working
up a special trade which caters to customers
able and willing to pay a fancy price for a fancy
article. It is easier to make a name for one's
products in dealing directly with the customer,
but this can also be done through the regular
channels of trade. As against this advantage
of a special trade it should be remembered that
it costs money to advertise and secure such a
trade. This advertising may be equally costly
if it takes the form of personal solicitation and
exhibition or presentation of samples rather
than printed matter in circulars or newspaper
columns. It is further important that such a
trade be managed by a good salesman, which
not all farmers are. To be a successful salesman
demands many things; very few men can fulfil
all the requiremnents.
The most important difference between the
two systems is that of influence upon the size of
the business. A retail business is almost from
necessity self-limiting. If the farmer depends
MARKETING PROBLEMS 125
upon his own efforts and a single team to do the
marketing his business can never become large.
The only way to expand is to put on more teams
in charge of different persons, when his business
assumes in some degree the nature of a wholesale
trade. If a large business is desired it will be
found much easier to develop it along wholesale
lines. A careful analysis of the problem under
existing conditions will very often show that the
time and expense bestowed upon the marketing
in a retail business will yield larger returns if
devoted to an increase in the amount of the busi-
ness with a wholesale trade. Larger production
generally means cheaper production. Larger
production, cheaper production, less expense in
marketing, with lower prices, may mean more
profit than smaller and more expensive pro-
duction with higher prices. One fact in con-
nection with this problem is significant. It is
a common occurrence to see men changing from
a retail to a wholesale business as their experience
and business develop. They are seldom seen
changing from a wholesale to a retail business.
As an instance of this I call to mind the case
of a bright young farmer who had developed
a good family trade for fine butter but who
states that he has let that trade drift away
without regret, finding it much more satis-
factory to let the grocer stand between him
and the customer.
126 FARM MANAGEMENT
GENERAL VS. A SPECIAL MARKET
Another problem of importance in connection
with marketing is that of determining whether
to cater to the general market or to a special
market — ^in other words whether to produce as
much as possible of ordinary grades, or to strive
for a superior product in the hope of securing a
higher price. The question is one not easily
answered, and the answer may differ much with
the problem in hand. Poor products seldom
pay; this much may be accepted without debate.
It further holds true that in general, the better
the product the better the price. Within cer-
tain limits it also holds true that the better the
product the greater the profit. Beyond these
limits it does not hold true and the limits may be
reached much sooner under some conditions
than others. A market made up largely of
wealthy people, with whom quality and
appearance are paramount and price secondary,
will pay well for extra care to produce a fancy
product. A manufacturing town, made up of
labouring people, with whom price is all impor-
tant, will not return the extra outlay. It should
not be forgotten that fancy products cost more
than ordinary ones. No man, no matter how
great his skill, can make every fruit grow perfect.
A larger percentage must be thrown out to make
it grade high. A case in point is that of a
MARKETING PROBLEMS 127
producer of fancy milk who found that the price
of ten cents per quart which he was getting did
not pay expenses; he was therefore obliged to
raise the price to twelve cents, a move which
not every producer can make.
WTien circumstances permit, it may be found
better to place the fancy article in one market and
the ordinary one in another. The ordinary
product may bring more in an ordinary market
than in the fancy market, and even more in
proportion than the fancy one does in the fancy
market. An illustration known to the author
is that of a farmer living within reach of both
Fall River and Newport. While depending
upon Fall River as his principal market he
sometimes finds it advantageous to place a
superior article in Newport. If we remonstrate
with the Western apple grower for planting Ben
Davis apple trees he answers with the cold logic
that this apple yields him more money than
would any apple of higher quality which he
might grow. He is perfectly right in this, for
the reason that most people are content with
an apple; they do not insist that it shall be a
good apple. The Western grower caters to the
great general markets of the country. A New
England grower, with a select family trade to
supply, would be very unwise to grow Ben
Davis.
Every writer considers it proper to advise the
128 FARM MANAGEMENT
fanner to grow a better product and put it upon
the market in better shape. He may well heed
this advice in so far that he shall always try to
produce a product fully up to the average grade
to which the market is accustomed. Whether
he shall heed it beyond this point he should
determine for himself, by a careful study of all
the points which the problem involves. As a
consumer of moderate means I do not insist that
every peach in the basket shall be of maximum
size and colour. I am more concerned that the
basket shall be offered at a price which I can
afford. I will be content with the proportion
of the finest specimens which the tree produced
if the rest are only good. My neighbour across
the bay may want all selected fruits and be
willing to pay the price. The farmer will do
well to learn which basket to offer to each. He
can learn by studying the men and the markets,
not by asking advice of the Professor.
HOME vs. A DISTANT MARKET
The question of home markets as compared
with markets at a distance is closely involved
with those preceding. The common advice to
first look well to the home market is particularly
good for a retail trade. It often happens that
even in a farming community there may be
found ready sale for special products like fruit
w ?
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Pi .2
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MARKETING PROBLEMS 129
or honey. Freight, commission and injury or
loss in transportation are heavy items of expense
in dealing with a distant market. If the home
market will care for the output it is more than
likely to be the best market available. Yet
there are plenty of exceptions to the rule. If the
farm is located where retail prices are low it may
pay well to put the better products, at least, into
a market which will pay higher prices. With a
product like peaches, which admit of careful
selection and grading, the general market may
be at home, the special market at a distance, or
vice versa. It is well to learn as much as pos-
sible of general market conditions in other
localities. It may often be possible to place
products which stand shipment well in a distant
market with advantage.
In selling at retail in the home market the
question arises whether it is better for the farmer
himself to do the selling or delegate it to another.
It is not so much a question of whether he can
do the marketing as well or better than some one
else as it is a question of whether his time is
better spent there than on the farm. Among the
large market gardeners about Boston it is the
common custom for the farmer himself to remain
on the farm, to superintend that end of the
business, and to employ some one else to sell the
produce when it reaches the city. These gar-
deners are good business men and their solution
130 FARM MANAGEMENT
of the problem is likely to be a good one. On one
large farm I know, managed by a father and
four sons, two of the sons remained in the city
to attend to the marketing, while the father and
the two other sons remained on the farm to push
things there. In this case a retail milk route
forms one of the lines. One of these men when
asked about this problem gave it as his opinion
that selling at retail can best be done by a boy,
preferably the farmer*s own son, if he has one,
otherwise by a boy hired for the purpose. He
believes that people generally prefer to trade
with a boy and that they are less exacting with
him than with a man.
DIRECT SALE VS. COMMISSION
Another important marketing problem with
a wholesale trade is that of whether to attempt
direct sales or to sell on commission. The
first point to be recognised in this connection is
that the commission man knows the markets
better. He is not to be deceived by the customer
as to the value of products. He may, therefore,
get a better price for the same article than the
shipper would be able to get himself unless the
latter is constantly in the market. The com-
mission man also knows his customers better.
He is less likely to be caught with bad accounts,
being responsible himself for the amount for
MARKETING PROBLEMS 131
which the goods sell. On the other hand» he
may be more interested in some other man's
products. He is receiving things from a large
number of people and must sell them all. He
must take care of his regular customers first,
unless, perchance, he may hope to win a good
customer by special attention to a small ship-
ment. All in all we must depend much upon
his sense of honour and his reputation for fair
dealing. If he is honest and energetic he will
be able to sell our products at less cost than we
can do it ourselves and make the transaction
profitable both to us and to him. He may even
be able to work up a special trade for us better
than we could do it ourselves. If he does this
and treats us fairly we should be careful not to
cut off our shipments and give them to some
other firm or city. He may not then care to
build up another special trade if we wish to come
back.
If production is large and it is possible to put
the right man in the market and keep him there,
so that he may become as familiar with the mar-
ket as is the commission man himself, it may be
more profitable for the producer to do his own
selling. Particularly is this true if the market
is near enough to be reached directly by team
from the farm. The amount of business to be
done is the all important factor. With small
and irregular shipments from distant points
132 FARM MANAGEMENT
it is safer to let the commission man handle
them.
Direct sales may possess an advantage in
working off the lower grade products. Com-
mission houses like to handle a uniform grade,
so far as possible, and may not care to bother
with that part of the product which falls into
lower grades. With direct sales it is often
possible to find customers who are willing to
handle these at prices corresponding to their
quality. I was recently impressed with this fact
in seeing early potatoes dug for market. All the
small ones went into boxes by themselves to go
to the bakers. I was further surprised to learn
that the price received reached well up toward
that obtained for the larger size, being at that
time eighty-five to ninety cents per bushel. The
grower said that a commission firm would not
want to bother with them.
DIVISION OF SHIPMENTS
Division of shipments to the same market is
generally condemned, on the ground that it
places one in competition with his own goods.
It is better to select one commission firm and
stand by that firm. Yet there may be exceptions
even to this rule. Not only do different cities
differ in their market demands, but likewise
different localities in the same city and different
MARKETING PROBLEMS 133
firms in the same locality. A study of the
market may reveal the fact that one firm may
handle the fancy grades with success but
^ive little attention to poorer products. An-
other may have a trade which will consume
ordinary grades at a fair price but will not pay
proportionately for fancy products. In such
a case division of shipments for products which
naturally separate into different grades is as
clearly indicated for different firms of the
same city as for different cities under similar
conditions.
A CITY SALESMAN
Many of the market gardeners about Boston
employ a city salesman, a man who is paid a
good salary and whose business it is to look out
for the market end of the problem, to see that
things go and that the money for them is forth-
<?oming. As before suggested, where the pro-
duction is large, and especially where the market
can be quickly reached by team this method of
selling has manifest advantages. The salesman
keeps in close touch with the farm by wire and
the products sent are varied as the condition of
the market may indicate. Probably in no
other way can a large wholesale business be
made to return so much for the amount of prod-
ucts sold.
134 FARM MANAGEMENT
A CITY STORE
A fascinating idea in this connection is that
of running a city store in which to market the
products of the farm. It seems that one should
be able to fit up an attractive store where it
would be easy to work up a special trade for
high-class products direct from the farm. The
plan is in vogue but little and has several serious
objections. To warrant the expense of main-
taining such a store and attract an adequate
trade it would be necessary to carry a large
variety of products. If these were all produced
on the farm it would entail the extreme disad-
vantages of mixed farming in the matter of pro-
duction. One store cannot handle enough of
most products to permit of economical produc-
tion. The man who grows cabbages, potatoes,
or strawberries extensively will readily supply
a number of stores with all they can handle. To
hold custom in such a store it would be necessary
to maintain a complete assortment of the various
products which are handled. This would neces-
sitate more or less purchase of products, for
production cannot be accurately adjusted to the
demands of the market. When products come
to be purchased there is less certainty of quality
and the business begins to lose its character of
furnishing products from a particular farm,
which is its chief argument for existing and
MARKETING PROBLEMS 135
seeking trade. It really develops into an attempt
to manage two lines of business at the same time^
and few men can do that with success. Con-
ditions may exist where the undertaking would
be warranted, but the problem should be care-
fully studied before such a venture is made.
These objections do not apply with the same
jforce to the rent of a stall in a public market
where it is the custom for farmers to bring their
products for sale.
A MAIL ORDER BUSINESS
For a farmer distant from market who wishes
to develop a retail trade or even a grocery trade
there would seem to be possibilities in a mail
order business. Here and there a man has done
this by letting his goods themselves find addi-
tional purchasers. By choosing a few things
which will bear shipment well, and upon which
the cost of transportation is not too great in
proportion to their value, such a line of marketing
might offer good inducements. The plan would
demand judicious advertising, preferably in the
form of neatly printed circulars, and thorough
business methods of correspondence. Many
people would be glad to purchase products
directly from the farm if they knew where to do
so. By getting names in various ways and
using circulars judiciously it should be possible
136 FARM MANAGEMENT
to work up such a trade without great expense.
It would not be free from the disadvantages of a
retail trade of other sorts but would be possible
in many cases where a direct trade would not
be. For many products it is far less feasible
than it should be owing to the want of a parcels
post system, v
COOPERATIVE MARKETING
Cooperation has added greatly to the success
of modern marketing. By this means it is
possible for the small shipper to secure the ad-
vantage in rates, car service and marketing
facilities which otherwise are only available to
the large shipper. The cooperative fruit-
shipping associations of the West, the co-
operative creameries throughout the Eastern
states and other organisations of si mi liar nature
have proved the wisdom of this method of
attacking the marketing problem for certain
conditions. Time is likely to witness a great
extension of the system. The method is
particularly feasible where distant markets must
be reached and is only practicable where num-
bers of men are engaged in the same line of
production.
VARIETIES, PACKING AND GRADING
Much might be written upon grading and
packing products for market, but a day in the
MARKETING PROBLEMS 137
market itself will be worth more than a whole
book upon the subject. Different markets are
accustomed to different packages, different sizes
and different methods. The farmer must famil-
iarise himself with the one in which he expects to
compete. This much can be said, that for the
general market it is always best to put things up
in the manner to which the market is accustomed.
It is not a question of which is the best package,
perhaps not even of what is strictly an honest
package, in some cases. It is a question of
what kind of package the buyers in that market
are accustomed to expect. For the general
trade that is the package to use. The man who
seeks a special trade and has the ability to push
it may find a special package admissible, or even
advisable, but the general producer will not.
What has been said in regard to packages
applies with equal force to varieties. For a
wholesale market, and nearly always for a retail
one, it is far better to grow well-known varieties.
It matters little that another variety may be
better, it will not go like the one which people
are accustomed to buy. This is a lesson which
each man has to learn for himself, but it is one
which must be learned. This does not apply
to varieties so similar that they may pass under
the name of the old, a common practice in all
large markets.
A word may be said as to grading. It is easy
138 FARM MANAGEMENT
to lose money by not properly grading the
products to be sold. It takes but a small pro-
portion of poor specimens in a package to
materially reduce the selling price. When well-
sorted apples are selling at $2 per barrel it would
take very few culls in each barrel to reduce the
price to $1.50 per barrel. The problem might
work out something as follows : Ten barrels, un-
sorted, would bring $15. If by sorting these
would make eight barrels of standard grade
worth $2 per barrel and two barrels of culls
worth $1 per barrel the value would be increased
to $18. The differences will often be much
greater than this. The problem is so variable
that it is not easy to illustrate, but it is one which
demands careful study by every one who has
products to market.
CHAPTER X
ADVERTISING
BUSINESS men long ago learned that ad-
vertising pays if done in the right way
and through the right channels. Farm-
ers have scarcely come to realise that their busi-
ness needs advertising; yet if judiciously done it
may prove of as much advantage in farm-
ing operations as in commercial lines. A
number of different methods may be employed
with advantage, among which may be mentioned
the following:
1. The Appearance of the Farm and the
Crops. — People are constantly passing and sel-
dom pass a place without forming some impres-
sion of the farmer who lives upon it. If the farm
has a good word for the owner the impression will
stay with the passer-by. No one can fail to
carry away a better impression from a farm on
which the buildings are kept in repair, the sur-
roundings neat and the crops show good
husbandry. When such a man has products to
sell the farm itself will help to dispose of them
wherever it is known to the purchaser.
2. The Appearance of the Farmer and his
Team. — Farmers are too apt to take pride in
199
140 FARM MANAGEMENT
appearing slovenly, rather than in appearing well-
dressed and businesslike; yet all that has been
said with reference to the farm applies with equal
or greater force to the farmer himself. A man
who carries with him a businesslike air and ap-
pearance possesses a manifest advantage over his
careless neighbour. He may not be able to
measure this advantage in dollars and cents for
he may never know just where and how it brings
dollars and cents, but that it will bring them
there can be no doubt, provided he endeavours to
make his business what it is possible to make it.
Like many other essential things this alone can-
not insure success, but it may greatly contribute
to success in combination with other things.
3. The Farm Name. — This in itself may not be
an important factor. The name of the farmer will
carry greater weight than the name of the farm,
but the two together will carry more than either.
A well-chosen, attractive name will help to
intensify the favourable impression made by the
appearance of a well-ordered farm itself. If
this name is used constantly in business trans-
actions it will come to serve as a trade-mark
which will help to sell goods.
4. Letterheads. — ^Business men no longer carry
on correspondence on plain paper. They make
every letter carry an advertisement. The cost
of printing a neat aad attractive letterhead is
only a trifle. If you have never inquired, go to
ADVERTISING 141
the local printer and he will surprise you at the
small figure named for doing such a job. Give
careful attention to what shall go on this head
and to the type which is used. Do not attempt
to put on too much nor to use too fancy figures or
characters. A neat, tasty make-up is much to
be preferred. It can be printed in coloured ink
if you wish.
5. Printed Envelopes. — The letter carries an
advertisement only to the person to whom it is
written. The envelope may carry one through
many hands. Therefore, by all means, use
printed envelopes. These need cost nothing
extra except the payment of some postage in ad-
vance. The post office department will print the
name of the farm and post office address on the
upper corner of stamped envelopes, without
extra cost, whenever five hundred are ordered
at once. These may be obtained either with
one-cent or two-cent stamps, the former requir-
ing less outlay at once, as a one-cent stamp can
be added whenever letter postage is required and
the envelopes be used if circulars or other matter
requiring but one-cent postage are at any time
to be sent out.
6. Shipping Cards. — The shipping card will
do in business shipments what the envelope does
in business correspondence, carry the farm ad-
vertisement wherever it goes. Its appearance
on any commodity in itself tends to give character
142 FARM MANAGEMENT
to the article. Many uses for the cards will
appear which will far more than repay the cost.
7. The Farm Bulletin Board. — ^The bulletin
board is a method of advertising now coming
into use. It offers an excellent means of telling
the passers-by that you have certain products
for sale or are in want of others. It alone may
be the means of making many a sale or saving
much time in seeking some article wanted. It
should be neat and not too conspicuous, yet
where all passing may see it. It is simply a
blackboard upon which may be written what-
ever should appear at the time.
8. Fair Exhibits. — Exhibiting at neighbouring
fairs offers another way of adding to the prestige of
the business. The man who, year after year,
shows a given line of products comes to be recog-
nised as a producer of that product, whether it
be cattle, swine, poultry or some farm product.
People know that to him they should go for this
particular article when they need it. If his
products are good they rightly expect to obtain
a good article from him and as rightly expect
to pay a good price for it. This phase of ad-
vertising will emphasise the importance of
holding to one line of effort. The man who
exhibits Jersey cattle this year, Shorthorns next
year and Ayrshires another year loses the prestige
which a man who exhibits either one contin-
uously is sure to gain.
ADVERTISING 143
9. Printed Circulars. — ^The man who de-
velops fixed and definite lines of farming can
afford to advertise those lines in other ways than
those mentioned. One of the least expensive
methods is to put before prospective customers a
plain businesslike statement of the products
offered for sale and the prices asked. The cost
of a single page circular in sufficient quantities
for the purpose is slight and a one-cent envelope
will carry it anywhere. With this phase of
advertising it is only a question of getting the
names of the people whom it is desired to reach.
If that can be done, no better nor cheaper method
can be found. A farmer who makes a specialty
of fine dairy butter could easily place such a
circular in the hands of people who might want
it. It need not be dated and should be as appli-
cable at one time of the year as another. If it is
desired to quote prices, blanks may be left for
the date and price which it is allowable to add
in writing and still send the circular with one-
cent postage.
1 0 . Newspaper or Magazine Advertising. — Last
in the category of possible advertising I mention
the columns of the agricultural and other papers.
It is placed last because it is the most expensive
method, and if the other plans suggested are well
followed up this one may seldom be necessary.
Yet those who have learned how to advertise
in this way generally report a good profit from so
144 FARM MANAGEMENT
doing. The chief advantage of the method is
that it reaches unknown customers and places
the statement before many readers at once.
Having used the advertising column to catch
the buyer, the printed circular should follow to
enforce and explain what is there said. Words
in the advertising column are expensive but cost
little in the circular. The other methods entail
but little expense; this one requires more care
and judgment in its use, but may be so handled
as to well repay the outlay involved.
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CHAPTER XI
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS — BUSINESS ACCOUNTS
IS IT worth while for the farmer to keep
business accounts ? By his failure to do so
he generally answers in the negative. His
work is often heavy and tiresome and its
character does not contribute to facility with
the pen. He dreads writing and frequently
thinks it not worth the while. Yet there are
reasons why business accounts are important,
and why it is worth while for the farmer, like
other men, to keep them.
REASONS FOR KEEPING ACCOUNTS
1. To avoid disputes, misunderstandings and
loss. Mistakes will occur and men will forget.
A clear-cut record of the transaction is the
shortest, surest and simplest method of correcting
those mistakes and supplying the deficiencies of
memory. A well-kept set of business accounts
would have saved bitter loss to many a farmer
of our land.
2. To enable the farmer to know his business.
Business men in other lines realise the impor-
tance of this. Why should it be less important to
145
146 FARM MANAGEMENT
the business farmer ? In such a complex under-
taking as farming some Hues must pay better
than others. The successful farmer is the one
who studies his business and finds out these
things. Much of this information may best
be obtained by separate farm records, which are
wholly distinct from the business accounts, but
which form part of the general system.
3. For the satisfaction and value of having an
available record and history of the business.
Not only is there satisfaction in being able to
examine receipts and expenditures of past years,
but there may be profit as well. Carefully
studied, such records may prove reliable guides
in planning future undertakings or enlargements.
SYSTEMS OF ACCOUNTS
Bookkeeping permits of endless modifications.
To be fully satisfactory there are five requisites
which any system should supply.
1. It should be simple.
2. It should show the amount of gain or loss in
the business.
S. It should show where the gain or loss occurs.
4. It should furnish a record of transactions.
5. It should guard against mistakes.
The reasons for these requisites are evident.
The system must be simple because the farmer
has neither time nor inclination for elaborate
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 147
methods. He should be able to complete his
daily records with the minimum of effort, in a
way which will at the same time make them of
most value and most easily summarised for
future use. The records should show the gain
or loss at the end of the year, for one of the prim-
ary objects of bookkeeping is to enable the
owner to know what his business is doing. That
he should know in what part of the business the
gains or losses occur is essential because it is
the only way in which it is possible for him to
correct errors and improve returns. The im-
portance of a record of transactions has already
been mentioned.
The first and last of these essentials are to
some extent antagonistic. It is impossible to
take many precautions against mistakes and at
the same time preserve the greatest simplicity.
A system is here outlined which will answer the
first four of these requisites. An endeavour will
then be made to point out ways of securing the
fifth.
A SINGLE ENTRY SYSTEM
The greatest simplicity may be had with a
single entry system. Single entry merely means
that when we sell a load of hay to John Smith
for $10 we charge to his account on our books
this amount if he does not pay for it at the time,
or enter the amount received in our cash book
148 FARM MANAGEMENT
if he does pay for it. With double entry we
should also, in either case credit some account
with the amount. This might be a separate
account with hay or it might be a general account
for farm crops, depending upon how much we
had decided to separate different lines of work
in our bookkeeping. In other words, double
entry bookkeeping requires an equal credit for
every debit and vice versa.
THE INVENTORY
An inventory of all property on hand, taken
every year, is of the greatest importance, though
often overlooked. Without this, requirement
No. 2 cannot be met. It is upon the inventory
that the answer to this question depends. The
receipts and expenditures of the year afford
little evidence of the profit or loss of the year's
business; they may often be altogether mis-
leading. By reason of the purchase of implements
or other improved equipment the difference be-
tween the receipts and expenditures of the year
may be little with a substantial gain to the credit
of the farm. Likewise a reduction in the amount
of live stock or produce on hand may show a
good balance in the cash account with no real
profit from the farm.
Matters will be simplified if the farm inventory
is made to include all property, of whatever
description, which the farmer may possess.
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RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 149
This will embrace money, personal accounts and
other assets which may not commonly appear
in an inventory proper. Under this plan the
following classes of property will be included.
ASSETS
1. Beal estate
(a) Land
(b) Improvements
Wells, water facilities, (windmills)
Drains
Roads (?)
Fences (?)
Orchards (?)
Growing crops ( ?)
Himius and fertility (?)
(c) Buildings
Dwelling (?)
Tenant houses
Barns
Other farm buildings
Silos or other building equipment
2. Live stock
(a) Other than teams
(b) Teams
3. Implements
4. Farm Products
5. Notes, shares of stock, etc
6. Personal accounts
7. Money in bank
8. Cash on hand
UABIIilTIES
1. Mortgages
2. Notes
3. Store-bills and personal accounts
150 FARM MANAGEMENT
Some of these items call for comment. Rea-
sons will appear later why a better record of the
business situation can be obtained by keeping
the inventory of the land itself separate from
that of the buildings and other improvements.
In considering these improvements the point is
quickly reached where it becomes a question
what to consider as investment and what to
look upon as an operating expense. Farm roads
are seldom of suflficient importance to be con-
sidered as an asset increasing the value of the
farm, yet they may in some instances materially
add to the effectiveness of the business by ex-
pediting and cheapening many of the farm
operations. If conditions have warranted a
heavy outlay for this purpose it is unfair to charge
that outlay to the business of any single year.
Fencing is properly a farm expense, and under
average running conditions may as well be so
considered at once. Yet in taking hold of a
run down farm where a heavy outlay for fencing
may be needed all at once a portion of the cost
may well appear in the inventory, to be charged
off gradually, thereby giving a more just account
of the operations of each year.
Orchards afford a puzzling problem. There
can be no questioning the fact that a well-grown
apple orchard adds materially to the value of
a farm. The same applies to a peach orchard
in much less degree, for the peach tree is
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 151
short-lived and uncertain. Carrying the consid-
eration down through the Hne of bush fruits,
strawberries, etc., to a growing crop Hke a field of
grass or winter rye, it is hard to draw the line
where assets shall leave oflF and mere expense
begin. Then, too, it is diflScult to know what
value to place upon a young, growing orchard.
Probably the wisest plan is to add the yearly
cost of care to the original cost of trees and
planting. It is doubtless safer to take the con-
servative ground of treating all growing crops
as an expense. It may be preferred to carry this
even to the orchard, aiming to utilise the land
as it grows in such a way as to pay the expense
of care and management. This is surely better
than an over-valuation, though not entirely fair
to the farm, for a good orchard will add ma-
terially to its income-producing power and
hence to its value.
To place a value upon increased fertility and
productiveness of soil is likewise a very diflScult
thing to do. A farmer may easily deceive himself
by over-estimating this factor. Yet while seem-
ingly too intangible to find a place in the inven-
tory it is one of the most important factors in
the income-producing power of the farm. With
two farms of similar contour and equipment, one
may be worth double the other as a business in-
vestment, owing to difference in fertility of the
land, and this difference may exist on land
152 FARM MANAGEMENT
originally the same in character. The fertility
factor is one which is more likely to be under-
estimated than overestimated in the consideration
of land values, and especially in business
transactions.
The farm dwelling offers a somewhat peculiar
problem, since as noted in the discussion of
capital, except in so far as portions of it may be
used for some farm operation like dairy work, it
is not a part of the farm business. Conditions
bring the farmer's home and his business to-
gether under one investment. With other busi-
ness men this is seldom true. The merchant or
manufacturer does not think of including his
home in his business inventory and asking the
business to bear the interest and depreciation
upon it. The maintenance of his home is a
personal, expense, which may be heavy or light
as he chooses, and which has nothing whatever
to do with the conduct of his business. The
same holds true of the farmer's dwelling. If,
therefore, the farmer is keeping a set of farm
accounts, only, which do not include personal
accounts, the dwelling itself should not appear
in the inventory, neither should expenses con-
nected therewith appear among the farm ex-
penses. Whether he lives in a house worth one
thousand dollars or one worth ten thousand
dollars need have nothing to do with the outcome
of the farm business itself but will materially
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 153
affect the showing if the expense of maintenance
be charged to the farm improperly.
Few farmers will care to keep two sets of books,
one for personal accounts and one for farm
accounts; yet both are important. Most men
will prefer to separate personal expenses from
farm expenses in the same set of books. It
may, therefore, be desirable to include the
dwelling in the inventory as well as sfll other
forms of property which the owner possesses, even
though they may have no connection with the
farm business. If repairs and other expenses
connected with the dwelling are charged to' the
farm an allowance for rental is likewise due if
a proper showing is to be made. What has
been said regarding the farm dwelling does not
apply to tenant houses provided for farm
labourers, for they form a part of the regular
farm equipment directly used in the conduct of
the business.
The chief reason for a distinction between
teams and other forms of live stock is that in
a general estimate of the business outcome the
latter, such as cattle, swine and poultry, may
be expected to make good the decrease in value
of older animals by the addition and increase in
value of young and growing ones. With teams
this is seldom true. In estimating probable
expenses of management teams naturally fall
into the same category with implements, upon
154 FARM MANAGEMENT
which both interest and depreciation must be
borne.
In connection with the inventory of implements
it should be remembered that pleasure carriages
are not a farm investment, neither is a horse
which may be kept merely for family driving.
It should not be forgotten that the farm deserves
credit for the charges connected therewith, in
estimating the financial outcome.
The last four items mentioned include forms
of property which, strictly speaking, may not
belong to the inventory, since they are neither
stock nor equipment, but for the sake of sim-
plicity it is well to include all assets, of what-
ever description.
Deducting the total liabilities from the total
assets gives the "net worth." This is the im-
portant item to secure. A comparison of this
net worth from year to year shows the financial
outcome of the business and satisfies the demand
of requisite No. 2 heretofore suggested.
THE INVENTORY VALUATION
Fixing the inventory values is a matter of great
importance, requiring good judgment and careful
thought. Three general methods of estimating
values present themselves. The implement may
be inventoried at cost, at its selling value, or at
its value for service. To value an article at
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 155
cost is misleading, As time goes on the business
becomes bolstered up with fictitious values
which make it appear to have paid much better
than it really has.
To inventory at the selling value of an article
may be equally unfair, particularly with im-
plements. As soon as a tool is put to use its
value for sale drops far out of proportion to its
value for service. It is unfair to charge the farm
with this large decrease, for the tool is not mer-
chandise; it was not bought to be sold again.
If it were worth the price paid it is still worth
approximately the same amount, lessened by
actual wear or injury, provided the cost of
replacing it remains the same. If it were not
worth the cost it should not have been bought.
Value for service is the chief factor in de-
termining the inventory value, though neither
the cost nor the selling value can be entirely dis-
regarded. In determining this value several
factors need to be considered. First among
these is the probable length of service of the
article. If it may be reasonably expected to
last for ten years, under the conditions in which
it is used, its value will decrease 10 per cent,
each year. The efficiency of the tool toward the
end of its term of service needs also to be con-
sidered. The service rendered in the tenth
year of its use may be much less efficient than in
the first year. If so, its value at the beginning
156 FARM MANAGEMENT
of that year is less than one-tenth of the original
cost.
The cost of replacing the article at the time
may be an important factor in determining value.
With recently invented machines the decrease in
selling price from year to year is often more than
10 per cent, of the cost. This in itself may
entail a heavy depreciation. It is manifestly
unfair to place a value upon an article greater
than the cost of replacing it. It is equally unfair
to inventory an article at less than its selling
value. In the case of young and growing animals
the selling value will often exceed the cost.
The invention of a better tool for doing the
same work may greatly affect the value of one
already in use. Manufacturers often find this
a serious cause of loss. Machinery valued at
thousands of dollars, still in excellent condition
and doing perfect work, is often thrown out
because some new improvement enables a com-
petitor to produce a yard of cloth at a fraction
of a cent less than is possible by the old method.
A similar condition may at times, though less
frequently, make a farm implement worthless.
RATES OP DEPRECIATION
Rates of depreciation vary greatly with the
character and use of the article, as will be readily
seen from the foregoing discussion. The rate
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RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 157
upon buildings will be greater with those of
cheap construction than with those which are
well built of durable material. As a general
guide in making estimates of the probable returns
from a business, 5 per cent, may be allowed for
the items of depreciation, repairs and insurance.
This is a liberal allowance for well-constructed
buildings, where repairs are made promptly
when needed. With cheaper buildings, such as
hen houses, built of cheap material and not well
roofed, depreciation alone may amount to more
than 5 per cent. I am told that investors in city
property are accustomed to allow about 1^ per
cent, for depreciation, and an equal amount for
repairs, while insurance under city conditions
is a very small item.
Depreciation upon teams is a heavy item; the
more valuable the team, the heavier is the charge.
Considering a horse at his best at five years of
age, he may reasonably be expected to render
good service until fifteen. In that case the de-
preciation will be at least one-tenth of his value
at the former age. It may be more, owing to
the fact that at fifteen he may be less efficient
than at five. He may render good service until
twenty or he may be worthless at ten. Each
animal must be inventoried upon its merits,
but for general estimates 10 per cent, may be
taken as a fair average.
With other forms of live stock, depreciation is
158 FARM MANAGEMENT
modified by the fact that the animal has a value
for meat when no longer of service in other ways.
With ordinary stock this is an important factor,
while with high-priced animals it may be com-
paratively unimportant. The cost of extra feed
demanded for fattening must be deducted from
the ultimate beef value in estimating this factor.
Ten per cent, is a safe average to allow for
depreciation upon tools and machinery, but the
rate upon different implements will vary greatly.
Factors which influence this are the character of
the implement itself, the amount of use, the in-
telligence displayed in its handling, especially il
at all complicated in its mechanism, the care it
receives when idle, the attention given to repairs
when needed, etc. A post maul may be worth
as much at the end of twenty-five years as the
day it was bought. A harness in constant use
may be worn out at the end of five years. As
already suggested, the decrease in selling price,
or improvements in manufacture, may greatly
affect the rate of depreciation. The man who
stores his farm implements in a fence corner or
under an apple tree, accepts a heavy charge for
depreciation upon them instead of a lighter charge
upon a building in which they might be housed.
These depreciation charges cannot be escaped.
That the farmer may keep no accounts and
make no estimate of them does not alter the fact
that he must foot the bill. The charges may be
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 159
reduced by careful management but they cannot
be avoided. Neglecting to take account of the
items of interest and depreciation may lead
many a man to think that he is doing a profitable
business when he is not.
The inventory should be taken once each year.
The time chosen for doing it may be the one most
convenient under the circumstances, but should
be the same each year. January 1st is a logical
time to close up the business of the year and has
the advantage that there is likely to be less rush
of other work at that time, thus giving better
opportunity for this. On tenant farms where a
change of tenants is likely to occur on the first
of March or April, that will naturally prove the
most convenient time. Some prefer July 1st as
the date of inventory, for the reason that at that
time the farmer is poorest, so to speak, and the
inventory represents his real property, while on
January 1st there is much hay and grain on hand,
which will be consumed before the winter is over
without giving an adequate return. The chief
difficulty with this season is that it is such a busy
time that the farmer cannot then well afford the
time for much bookkeeping.
INVENTORY RECORDS
The labour of recording the inventory may be
lessened by giving some thought to the method
160 FARM MANAGEMENT
followed. One of the simplest plans is by the
use of sheets, or better a blank book, having wide
pages, permitting the use of several columns, using
each column for a year. This obviates writing the
name of the article each year. With five columns
the record for five years is thus brought together
for comparison. A sample page, illustrating
this method is shown on the next page.
Another convenient method is by the use of
cards or slips of stiff paper. These may be used
plain but are better printed with lines, which
may be arranged to allow for ten years' record
on each card. The regular library or business
card size of three by five inches will be found
convenient for the purpose. A card is used for
each article of the inventory, the date and the
value being added from year to year. These
cards are less convenient in making footings but
they have the advantage that all articles of a
given class, such as live stock, implements, etc.,
can be kept together and arranged in alphabetical
order at all times. New cards are added when-
ever an article appears for the first time, and
whenever an article disappears by sale or other-
wise the card for it is simply dropped out. A
summary card, showing the total amounts for
different classes and the total footing for the
year, is convenient for reference. Sample in-
ventory cards are shown at Fig. 50.
Turning to the specimen sheet, herewith.
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 161
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162 FARM MANAGEMENT
which for the sake of illustration is made to in-
clude different classes of items, a few comments
may be made. The value placed upon the
water system shows a gradual depreciation
throughout the whole time represented. The
dairy barn shows a depreciation until the year
1905, when repairs bring the value higher than
the year before. The cow Rhoda appears as
a young animal, increasing in value until 1904,
then begins to decrease. Daisy drops out in
1904, having been sold. The mowing machine
met with an accident in 1903 which reduced its
value more than the regular depreciation. The
farm wagon is given a regular 10 per cent, de-
preciation upon the previous year's inventory.
A depreciation of about twenty per cent, is
allowed upon the harness. Upon the post maul
there is no depreciation. The hay loader ap-
pears for the first time in 1904, the year it was
bought. Adding at the left the date of birth of
an animal or the date of purchase of an imple-
ment, and its cost, affords a convenient reference
for showing age or length of service and total
depreciation.
THE CASH BOOK
Next to the inventory in importance comes
the cash book. This will furnish a record of
transactions. Modifications may be introduced
which will make it fairly convenient for reference.
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 163
All cash transactions go into the cash book.
Doing a cash business is one of the most im-
portant ways of simplifying the bookkeeping.
The moment the time element is introduced the
problem becomes complicated, for then there
must be a different record made in another
place.
The primary object of the cash book is to
show the money paid out and the money taken
in. It also helps to guard against mistakes.
The difference, or balance, between the cash
received and the cash paid side should always
agree with the actual cash on hand. By fre-
quently finding this balance without entering it
in the book, anything which has been forgotten
is likely to be brought to mind. If there is more
money than the book calls for, something which
has been received has not been entered. If there
is too little money something paid out has been
forgotten.
In its simplest form the cash book consists of
but two columns, one for cash received, or
"Cash Dr.," as it is called, the other for cash
paid, or "Cash Cr.,'* together with the items
for which the cash was received or paid. These
columns and entries may both be on one page
or on opposite pages, as preferred. While these
two primary columns serve the main purpose
and are the important elements, future reference
may be simpHfied and the record made more
164 FARM MANAGEMENT
complete by making the cash book a little more
complex. It is desirable to be able to know
quickly the amount paid out or taken in from^^
different lines of the business. The cash book
can be made to show this readily by the addition
of other columns. These extra columns have
no effect whatever on the main columns which
show the whole amount of money taken in and
paid out. They are merely extras, devoted to
special parts of the business, and into them are
dropped items belonging to the particular class,
for convenience in footing or reference. The
columns can be given any heading desired,
according to the nature of the business or the
lines which the owner wishes especially to watch.
On a general farm it may be desirable to know
how much money has been received for dairy
products, for swine, poultry, fruit or potatoes.
A column may therefore be devoted to any one
or each of these. In the same way the farmer
may wish to know how much he has paid out
for labour, feed, or fertiliser, and so make a
column on the cash paid side for these. These
items can all be obtained from the two main
columns, to be sure, by looking these columns
through and singling them out. The special
columns merely serve to throw all items of a
given class together, where they may be quickly
seen and their totals known. The specimen
pages shown herewith will make clear the idea.
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 165
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10 doz. Eggs @ 25c.
2 bu. Potatoes @ 50c.
50 lbs. Butter @ 25c.
50 bbls. Apples @ $2
20 doz. Eggs @ 25c., 5 hens ® $1
100 lbs. Butter @ 25c.
1 Grade Calf
400 bu. Potatoes @ 45c.
Hauling grain for Smith
12 doz. Eggs @ 28c.
SO lbs. Butter @ 25c.
150 lbs. Pork @ 5c.
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166
FARM MANAGEMENT
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RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 167
In this case it is assumed that the owner de-
sires to know how much is received from the
dairy, from poultry and from money crops which
are sold directly from the farm. Columns are
therefore allowed for these classes. A miscel-
laneous column is needed for the unclassified
items which are sure to appear. Under cash
paid it is decided to provide a column for living
or family expenses and another for farm ex-
penses. This latter column includes all out and
out expenses. The column headed investment
is merely for convenience in making up the in-
ventory at the end of the year. Items which
should be added to the inventory are thus where
they will not be overlooked. On other farms a
column devoted to fruit, potatoes, hay, or swine
might be desirable. If swine are kept chiefly as
an adjunct to the dairy, to consume the skim
milk, the item for pork might appear in the dairy
column rather than in the miscellaneous column.
The balance is obtained from the columns of
totals, in the same way as though the other col-
umns were not there. These main columns are
exactly the same as in the ordinary cash book.
They should be added up often to determine if
the balance between them agrees with the money
on hand, but the footings need only be entered
at the end of the month. The sum of the footings
of these incidental columns should then equal
the footing of the main column of each page.
168 FARM MANAGEMENT
This serves as a check to show that everything
which ought to appear in the different columns
has gone into them.
On the cash paid side, columns for help, feed
and fertiliser might be desired in many cases.
In others it may be preferred to make these
columns correspond to those on the cash received
page, giving a column to the dairy, poultry,
swine, etc. The miscellaneous column may
be omitted in both cases, but in that event the
sum of the footings of these incidental columns
will not equal the footing of the last column and
mistakes in entering are not so easily detected.
By inserting the name of the party of whom
the article was bought, in connection with the
entry, the record is made more complete,
affording better evidence of payment in case a
second bill should be presented. Following the
entry of one ton of wheat bran, bought October
15th, by the name R. G. White, makes the record
much more valuable in case of future dispute.
A check is always preferable in paying such items
for that serves as a receipt when cancelled and
returned to the party who drew it. In that case,
however, the record does not appear in the cash
book, unless money in the bank is treated as
•cash, which is less convenient than to treat it as
an account. The check book stub then fur-
nishes the record as well as the cancelled check
itself.
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 169
THE BANK ACCOUNT
Maintaining a bank account affords im-
portant advantages, among which are the
following.
1. Convenience and lack of expense in making
payments. With a check, payment at a dis-
tance is as easily made as in person, and usually
without expense. In a few cities exchange is
charged on checks from other places, particularly
from local banks in small places, but usually any
business firm will accept a check at its face value.
In this respect an account with a bank in a city
of some size is of advantage. There is nothing
to prevent this, for banking can be easily done
by mail. Another point of convenience in pay-
ment by check is that all trouble in making
change is avoided, a difficulty which frequently
occurs in personal money transactions.
2. Safety of remittance by mail. A check
being drawn in favour of the party for whom it is
intended must bear his endorsement before it
can be collected, hence if lost or stolen in transit
it is valueless to anyone else and the money still
remains in the bank to the credit of the sender.
3. Payment by check insures a receipt for the
money. The indorsement of the receiver is an
acknowledgement of the receipt of the amount
and is sufficient evidence of the fact in the
absence of any other receipt.
170 FARM MANAGEMENT
4. The check book stub furnishes a record of
the transaction. These stubs should be care-
fully kept and will be found very convenient in
showing whether and when a bill has been paid,
the cost of an article, etc.
5. Payment by check is a businesslike way
of doing things. It shows that the party is
accustomed to business methods and thereby
creates a favourable impression.
6. Doing business with a bank gives one a
commercial standing, and affords a convenient
source of reference to parties with whom he is
dealing.
A ledger account with the bank is not needed
in this simple system of single entry book-
keeping. The check book stubs furnish a suflS-
cient record. A ledger account serves as a check
against mistakes on these stubs, but such a
check is also furnished by the pass book kept
by the bank.
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
The cash book and check book are sufficient
for all cash transactions in single entry book-
keeping, but personal accounts add trouble.
Neither of these books affords a place for trans-
actions in which time is involved. The best way
to simplify bookkeeping is to do a cash business.
Just so soon as an account becomes necessary
the bookkeeping problem is complicated. The
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 171
business man keeps a day book and ledger for
these accounts. The transactions as they occur
are entered in the day book and from there they
are posted to their respective accounts in the
ledger.
THE EXTENDED LEDGER
The farmer can simplify things in his method
of bookkeeping. Two ways are open in which
this can be conveniently done. The first plan
is by what may be termed an extended ledger.
In this way one book is made to serve the pur-
pose of both a day book and ledger. Make
the ledger a book of original entry and include
with the entry all items and necessary facts.
This makes the ledger more complex than when
a separate day book is kept but the one entry is
simpler than the two needed in that case. Give
a separate page to each account. For accounts
which are likely to be merely temporary, part of
a page will answer, and for those which are likely
to be large several blank pages may be left.
To the business man, with long and numerous
accounts this plan would be objectionable because
occupying too much room and making the ledger
too bulky, but with the farmer this objection does
not hold. The advantage of this plan is that
a single entry completes the record, except when
cash is paid or received, and there is no chance
for accounts to remain unposted, as they often
172 FARM MANAGEMENT
do in the other system. Every account is ready
for quick inspection, and for balance or settle-
ment at any time, and the entries are all together.
The sample page 173 will make the plan clear.
SEPARATE SLIPS
A second plan of simplifying personal accounts
is to adopt the same plan of entry but keep them
on separate cards or slips instead of on separate
pages in the ledger. This possesses the same
advantages as the other method, with the ad-
ditional one that whenever an account is closed
those slips are laid aside and only the accounts
which are actually open need be kept in hand.
Additional slips or cards will extend the account
as much as needed and all the items are thus
kept together. There is no waste of ledger
space nor trouble in estimating how many pages
a given account is likely to need, with transfers to
another part of the book when those pages are
filled. Practically these same advantages may
be secured by means of the loose leaf ledger
now in common use; this may be more con-
venient and avoids the danger of loss or mis-
placement of a loose slip.
MERITS OF THE SYSTEM
The single entry system outlined in the fore-
going pages is believed to be as simple and
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 173
WALDO & SOPER
1«05
Ds.
Cb.
October
10
15
19
21
27
31
By 2 Plow-points @ 40c.
" 1 Scythe and snath
" 200 lbs. Oil-meal @ $150
To 20 lbs Butter @ 25c.
By 1 bbl. Salt
" 25 lbs. lOd. Nails @ 3c.
" 2 gals. Paint @ $1.50
To 2 bu. Potatoes @ 50c.
" 1 bu. Apples
By 1 Pickaxe
To Cash in full of %
5
1
4
00
00
50
65
1
3
1
3
11
15
11
80
50
00
25
75
00
85
15
174 FARM MANAGEMENT
businesslike as any plan available. Each man
may introduce modifications to suit his own tastes
or requirements but the general plan is one which
the author can fully recommend. After years
of experience in keeping personal and farm
accounts he believes this is the simplest system
available and one which will best meet the needs
of the average farm business.
It is now proper to inquire how far this method
answers the requisites mentioned at the beginning
as desirable in a bookkeeping system. It meets
the demands of requirements Nos. 1, 2, and 4
fully. It is simple, it shows the gain or loss at
the end of the year, and it furnishes a record of
all transactions. It does not meet requirements
Nos. 3 and 5. It does not show where gains and
losses occur and it affords no checks against
mistakes. The latter requirement is met only
by double entry bookkeeping, at the sacrifice
of simplicity. The former will be discussed later.
DOUBLE ENTRY
This work is not intended as a manual of book-
keeping; therefore a full exposition of the
methods of double entry bookkeeping cannot be
given. A comparison between the two systems,
with an explanation of the principal methods
used in each, is, however, in place. The chief
advantage of double over single entry book-
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 175
keeping, as already suggested, is in guarding
against mistakes. It may also help to show
where gains and losses occur, because it calls
for more accounts, but it does not of itself answer
this question. In return for these advantages
it is necessary to sacrifice requisite No. 1. It is
less simple and entails more work. There must
be a ledger account and two ledger entries for
every transaction, except that in the case of cash
transactions a number of items are combined on
the cash side of the entry by posting the footings
for a given time in the cash account of the ledger
instead of entering each separate item. A plan
for combining other cash transactions in posting
will be explained later.
THE CASH BOOK
The cash book follows the same general plan
as that suggested for single entry. The division
columns, if used, should correspond with ac-
counts in the ledger, and so far as possible should
be the ones which demand most frequent entries.
The column for "investments'* will not be
needed in double entry for the ledger accounts
will show all articles purchased during the year
which should be added to the inventory. A
column will be needed, which may be headed
"ledger," into which shall be entered items
which are to be posted directly to their separate
176
FARM MANAGEMENT
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RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 177
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Byl bbl. Flour
Suit clothes, Harry
" First Nat. Bank, deposit
" JmpZewenf5, Discharrow,W.& S.
" 1 ton Wheat bran, R. G. White
" First Nai. Bank, deposit
" 20 lbs. Oatmeal ($1), 100 lbs
sugar, ($4.50)
" Shoeing team ($2), repairs to
wagon ($.50)
" Trip to State Fair
" 5 gals. Kerosene
" Delos Rockwell, wages, October
" Implements, Hand-saw
" Waldo ds Soper, in full of %
e»cooo»>o o 1-t wsooi-H
fi fi r-i Ot 0» 0)0400
178 FARM MANAGEMENT
accounts in the ledger, no column being pro-
vided for them. Only the footings of the other
columns at the end of the month are posted.
This saves much time for it does away with a
large number of entries.
In the specimen pages which are shown
herewith, it is assumed that the lines of the
business from which returns are desired to be
readily seen are dairy, poultry and farm crops,
a column being provided for each. At the end
of the month the dairy account in the ledger is
credited with $60, the poultry account with
$15.86 and the farm crops account with $281,
instead of making the nine separate entries under
the dates at which the transactions occur. For
those items in the "Ledger" column, which
must be entered separately, the italicised
word at the beginning of the entry shows the
account to which they are to be posted. In
order to keep the ledger balanced, cash must be
charged with the sum of all these items, that is
with the total amount taken in during the
month.
On the cash paid side of the cash book U is
assumed that a column will be desirable for
living expenses. This is supposing that the
farmer is not to keep his farm accounts separate
irom his personal accounts, as most farmers do
not. The second column provides for "Farm
Expense" which will include things which are
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 179
strictly expenses, such as help, feed, etc. Things
like implements or stock, which are in the nature
of an investment, should not be entered here.
In this case it is assumed that the account for
** Living Expense" shall include only the actual
cost of living, another column being provided for
other incidentals. These two may be combined
in one column under the heading of personal or
incidental expense if it is not desired to know the
actual cost of the living expenses. As on the
other page italicised words show the account
to which the separate items are to be posted.
The titles of these columns should vary with
the nature of the business.
THE DAY BOOK AND JOURNAL
A day book and journal, or a combination of
the two are necessary in double entry book-
keeping. The combination daybook-journal, in
which one book serves for both entries, is simpler.
It must include every item which is not a cash
transaction. In single entry bookkeeping when
the farmer buys a plow and gives his check in
payment, the entry which he makes on the stub
of his check book completes the record, in the
simple system outlined in previous pages. In
double entry bookkeeping there must be, in
addition to this entry on the stub of the check
book, a daybook- journal entry and two ledger
180
FARM MANAGEMENT
OCTOBER 1
1905
Db
•
C».
First Nat. Bank
75
00
To Live stock
75
00
Check for Guernsey bull
Monarch, rec'd and de-
posited
Farm Expense
80
Implements,
1
50
To Waldo & Soper
2
30
2 plow-points (.80), scythe
and snath ($1.50)
8
Implements
35
00
To First Nat. Bank
35
00
Farmer's Handy wagon.
check No. 156
10
Farm Expense
3
00
To Waldo & Soper
3
00
200 lbs Oil-meal @ $1.50
12
•
Farm Expense
34
32
To First Nat. Bank
34
32
Taxes for 1905 $48.27
Less timber rebate 12.15
$36.12
Less 6% 1.80
149
62
149
62
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 181
OCTOBER 12
1905
Db
Ce
Waldo &Soper
To Dairy %
20 lbs. Butter @ 25c. on%
15
Farm Expense
To Waldo &Soper
1 bbl. Salt, ($1.25), 25 lbs.
lOd. nails @ 3c. ($.75)
18
Bills Receivable
To Live stock
Note of R. M. Burk, 6 mo.
in payment for horse. Bill,
sold to-day
19
Farm Expense
To Waldo & Soper
2 gals. Paint @ $1.50
21
Waldo & Sop)er
To Farm Crops
2 bu. Potatoes @ 50c. ($1)
1 bu. Apples 50c.
25
Real Estate
To First Nat. Bank
Repainting barn, ck. 158
27
Implements
To Waldo & Soper
1 pickaxe
5
2
150
3
1
45
207
00
00
00
00
50
00
85
35
5
2
150
3
1
45
00
00
00
00
50
00
85
207
35
182 FARM MANAGEMENT
entries. The implement account must be
charged and the bank credited with the amount.
Sample pages of the daybook-journal are
shown at pages 180 and 181. The first part of
each entry is the journal entry, giving the ledger
accounts to which the transaction must be
posted, with the amounts to be charged or
credited to each. The second part of the entry
is merely to explain the transaction, and may be
as full or as brief as circumstances demand.
This part takes the place of a separate day book
entry. Fewer words will suflSce to make the
explanation here than in a separate entry in
another book.
These pages serve to illustrate well the state-
ment elsewhere made that doing a cash business
is one of the best ways to simplify bookkeeping.
Seven transactions with Waldo & Soper, the
village storekeepers, appear, involving fifteen
separate entries in the ledger. Had these been
cash transactions all but the two in which imple-
ments were purchased would have fallen in one
of the columns provided in the cash book and
would have been posted with the footings of these
columns at the end of the month, thus saving
the labour of thirteen ledger entries. The
original cash book entries would also have
called for less writing than these daybook-
journal entries.
Most of the items shown are self-explanatory.
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 183
The first one might appear as two separate items
in the cash book with equal propriety, crediting
"Live stock" with the amount received and
charging the bank with the amount deposited.
Here one entry serves to explain the two trans-
actions. The cost of repainting the bam is
charged to "Real Estate" because this is to add
to the inventory value of the building when the
next inventory is taken. It is not an expense
which should be borne by a single year.
THE LEDGER
The name double entry comes from the fact
that there are two entries in the ledger for each
transaction, though, as already suggested, a
number of items belonging on the same side of a
given account may be combined in one entry.
As a result of these two entries for each trans-
action, one being on the debit side and the other
on the credit side, the two sides of the entire
ledger must always foot up to the same amount.
This is termed the "trial balance," and is one of
the chief checks against mistakes. If in the
transaction shown in the daybook- journal in
which 200 pounds of oil meal were bought of
Waldo & Soper on account, there had been a
failure to enter this item o!!| the ^ebit side of the
Farm Expense account, H^t side of the ledger
would fall three dollars short when the sums of
184 FARM MANAGEMENT
all the debits and credits in the ledger were
foundo The mistake would therefore need to
be found before the two sides would balance.
With single entry there would be nothing to
bring out the mistake, for there would be nothing
to call the account in question, though if the mis-
take had been made on the other side of the
entry, the disagreement with Waldo & Soper*s
account at time of settlement would be likely to
bring it out.
It would complicate matters too much to
show the ledger accounts for each transaction
indicated in the specimen pages of the cash book
and daybook-journal, but a few of them may
be explained. The cash account in the ledger
might appear somewhat as shown in the accom-
panying illustration. First on the debit side
would appear the amount of cash on hand
at the time when the last inventory was taken
and the books balanced for the year. Then
there would appear on the same side the total
amounts of cash received during each month
since that time. On the opposite side would
appear the total amounts paid out during each
month, these items being taken from the footings
in the cash book each month. The difference
between the two'i^des October 1 must be $15.10,
the same as slyftvnjby the cash book. When
balanced at the endJ^October the total amount
of cash received oimng the month, which is
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 185
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186 FARM MANAGEMENT
$366.86, the footing of our total column on the
cash received side, less the balance at the be-
ginning of the month, is entered on the debtor
side of the ledger account. The total amount
paid out during the month, $352.25, is entered
on the creditor side.
The ledger account for "Incidentals'* must
then be credited with $2.50; that for "Swine"
with $7.50; "Dairy" with $60; "Poultry" with
$15.86, and "Farm Crops" with $281; the sum
of which must just equal the $366.86 charged to
" Cash." From the credit side of the cash book
the items charged to "First National Bank."
"Implements," "Waldo & Soper," "Living
Expense," "Farm Expense" and "Incidentals."
must just equal the $352.25 with which cash is
credited.
These entries assume separate ledger accounts
for Implements, Swine, Dairy, and Poultry, for
convenience in knowing the total amounts
charged and credited to these lines of work.
These may be combined with other accounts if
preferred. Bookkeeping is wonderfully ad-
justable and may be modified in many ways, to
suit the fancy of the bookkeeper.
The ledger account with First National Bank
should show the same balance at the beginning
and end of the month as that shown by the
check book stubs at the corresponding time.
The account will be charged with the two
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 187
deposits shown in the cash book and the one
shown in the daybook-journal. It will be credited
with the checks drawn, which in this case are all
entered in the daybook-journal, since no money
has been drawn out directly. Bills Receivable
is the common term given to the account which
includes all notes due the firm, as distinguished
from simple personal accounts.
The system of double entry represents too
much work for most farmers to follow. Unless
the business assumes larger proportions than is
generally the case, or takes on more of a com-
mercial character for any reason, the simpler
plan of single entry will answer all purposes and
give excellent satisfaction. Yet for one who
has a taste for such things, a simphfied double
entry system, similar to that here suggested, will
afford great satisfaction in enablmg him to study
his business carefully, and may well repay the
extra labour involved.
FARM RECORDS
Requisite No. 3 has not yet been fully satisfied.
The system just outlined does not show as well
as it should be shown where gains and losses
occur. Double entry can be made to do this
but it involves much work and many puzzling
questions. To attempt to charge each crop with
the fertiliser, seed, labour and other expense
188 FARM MANAGEMENT
put upon it, or to charge and credit the dairy or
poultry with all the items connected therewith,
complicates matters altogether too much if done
in connection with the business accounts kept
in the regular set of books. This can be best
and most easily done by separate farm records.
These may be kept in any convenient way, but
the simpler the better. A book for the purpose,
or separate sheets or cards, may be used. It is
a very simple matter to keep an account with a
field of potatoes or hay if it is only necessary to
charge the items of cost as they occur and credit
the field with what it produces. If at the same
time the seed, the time, and the other expenses
must be credited to the proper account as a part
of the regular double entry bookkeeping it
becomes a very different matter.
TIME CARDS
Time cards, showing how the time has been
employed, are very useful in determining sources
of profit and loss. They should show the work
of both men and teams. If properly kept these
time cards will make it possible to determine the
cost of any crop with a fair degree of accuracy,
even if no special account with the crop has been
kept. They will also serve as a record of opera-
tions, showing when things have been done. At
times they may be of great value for this purpose
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 189
alone. The team records will also show the per
cent, of eflSciency of team work, and its conse-
quent cost per hour. They are worthy of careful
study with this point in view. They may be the
means of reducing the number of horses kept
or of readjusting the work in such way as to
keep the ones on hand more fully employed.
The specimen schedule shown herewith,
will illustrate the manner of keeping the
record. At the end of the month the time given
to any particular work may be placed in a column
of footmgs at the end so that the total amount
for the year can be quickly obtained. For these
purposes it will be more convenient if one sheet
is made to include the time of all men employed,
since then only that one need be consulted to
determine the time employed on a given crop or
phase of the work. If a sheet for each man is
kept they will serve as a record of lost time or
other irregularities.
Time cards for the team-work are kept in the
same way, but there is no call for a separate
sheet for each team unless there should chance
to be a team kept for some special purpose, a
record of which might be desirable. The record
may be kept in terms of one horse or of a double
team, as may be thought most convenient. In
the latter case, when one horse is used only half
the number of hours it was employed would be
entered in the record.
190
FARM MANAGEMENT
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RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 191
PRODUCTION RECORDS
It is unnecessary to dwell upon the importance
of production records. Much of the success of
an undertaking will depend upon weeding out
unproductive animals, unproductive lines of
effort and unproductive crops. Unproductive
fields must be; brought up to a state of fertility
which will make them pay. It is in finding out
these things that one can answer the question of
requisite No. 3. How to get this information in
the simplest manner is the problem to be con-
sidered in keeping the farm records,
DAIRY RECORDS
It is important to keep an account with the
dairy as a whole. Some men might be surprised
at the result of this on their own farms. This
can best be done in a little account entirely
separate from the business records. All feed
bought for the dairy should be charged. Feed
produced on the farm and consumed by the
dairy should also be estimated, or better weighed,
and charged. The time consumed in caring
for the cattle, as shown by the time cards, should
also be charged. It would not be amiss to
charge stable rental, or the depreciation, in-
surance and repairs on the dairy barn. These
are expenses which really belong to the dairy.
19« FARM MANAGEMENT
Veterinary services, if any, should also be
charged.
The cash book will show the cash returns.
Whenever products are sold for other than cash
they should be credited separately as the trans-
actions occur. All stock sold and increase in
the inventory, if any, should be included among
the credits. Dairy products consumed in the
family should not be overlooked and should
appear among the credits. The dairy should
also receive credit for the skim-milk fed to pigs
or poultry. Credit should likewise be given
for the manure produced, since this is one of the
most important resources from the dairy in
ordinary farming.
MILK RECORDS
Milk records are of first importance to the
dairvman. He needs to know what individual
cows are doing. The first requisite is a con-
venient set of scales, with pails brought to a
uniform weight, so that the scales may be set at
zero when the empty pail is on them. For this
purpose scales graduated to pounds and tenths of
pounds are more convenient than those register-
ing pounds and ounces. The footings are then
more easily made. If it is felt that weighing
every milking involves too much work, weighing
the milk for one day in each week will give a
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 193
fairly accurate idea of what each animal is
doing.
Blanks should be provided upon which to
enter the record. If the weighings are to be
but once a week these may be easily ruled off
with a pen, but for more frequent weighings the
printed blanks designed for the purpose will be
found much more convenient.
Butter-fat tests are essential in all forms of
dairying where butter or cream are the products
sought. Indeed progressive milkmen are no
longer content with knowing merely that they
are offering an honest quart of milk. They
want to know its quality also. In some instances
milk is being "standardised," that is, brought
to a uniform degree of butter-fat content before
being sold. In all these cases it is important
not only to know the amount of milk which a
cow gives during the year but the amount of
butter-fat which it contains. Methods of
making these tests are well described in
experiment station bulletins and other works
dealing with the subject and need not be
repeated here. Suffice it to say that a com-
posite sample, obtained by mixing samples
from several different milkings is always a
safer guide than a sample taken from a single
milking. Experience shows that the fat con-
tent of a given cow's milk is subject to marked
fluctuations.
194 FARM MANAGEMENT
SWINE RECORDS
On most farms swine are kept chiefly as an
adjunct to the dairy. In some cases it may
seem preferable to treat them merely as part
of the dairy, charging and crediting all ex-
penses and receipts connected therewith directly
to the dairy. Items of feed, care, and other
expenses should be charged and returns credited
in the same manner as suggested for the dairy.
Feeding records will also prove useful in
connection with swine. Note the amount of
feed consumed from month to month. Catch
and weigh an average pig and learn how much
he has gained in weight. Which month gives
most gain ? What is the margin of profit when
the litter is sold ? Such questions as these may
be easily answered to your own satisfaction by
a little forethought, and with very little extra
trouble or record keeping. Let the records be
simple but be sure to put them in some shape
where they will be available for future reference
when wanted.
POULTRY RECORDS
Few farmers, unless it be special poultry farm-
ers, will care to keep individual records with trap-
nests, but a record can be easily kept with the
poultry as a whole. In a simple, separate ac-
count kept as suggested, the feed consumed can
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 195
be charged by giving a little care to knowing the
amount used. The time cards should show the
amount of time consumed and other expenses
can be noted as they occur. The account should
be credited with all eggs and fowls used in the
family as well as those sold.
CROP RECORDS
By this simple plan of little separate accounts
having no connection with the regular busi-
ness accounts, it is easy to keep an account
with individual crops. Charge to the crop the
seed and manure or fertiliser used, also a fair
amount for rent of land. The time can be taken
from the time cards if they are properly kept.
It will afford satisfactory and useful information
if this is separated in such a way as to show the
time consumed in the different phases of the
work, such as plowing, fitting, planting, tillage,
harvesting, etc. When harvested the crop is
credited with the yield produced. Such a record
of the cost and returns from different crops for
a series of years would prove a most valuable
guide to any farmer and to others who might
seek his advice.
FAMILY CONSUMPTION RECORDS
Few farmers know much of what it costs them
to live. It is not easy to record every pint of
196 FARM MANAGEMENT
milk used and every head of cabbage and lettuce
taken from the garden. It would not be a diffi-
cult task however to watch or record these things
for a time. This would then serve as a basis
from which fairly accurate estimates could be
made of the amounts consumed during the year.
A knowledge of the credit accounts involved is
equally valuable, for it will help to place those
lines of production which are called upon to help
support the family in their proper light. The
dairy, the swine, the poultry, the garden and the
orchard do not usually receive the credit they
deserve in this connection.
Such a record of family consumption will
prove a source of satisfaction in more ways than
one. Compare the account with that of your
village or city neighbour when you have oppor-
tunity. If possible let this comparison show
the difference in amounts of fresh eggs, poultry,
milk, vegetables, fruit, etc, used, as well as
the total cost. Such comparison may help you
to be more content with your lot. Perchance
your neighbour's salary will look less enticing to
you if he gives you the facts fully.
THE METHOD
The method of keeping these separate accounts
matters little. The chief essential is that it be
as simple as possible. Any cheap blank book
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RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 197
can be used, giving as much room as the account
may promise to need. Separate sheets or bill-
heads will do equally well, except that they are
more likely to be misplaced and lost. The card
catalogue system in any form will be particularly
convenient. This, or any form of separate
sheets, possesses the advantage that the accounts
of different years may be brought together for
convenience in making comparisons.
These separate farm records showing the cost
and return from different crops and lines of the
business are even more important than business
accounts. If you feel that you cannot keep
both, begin here and let the other go. These
records will show what things are paying and
what ones are being run at a loss. Hence it will
be easy to see whether the business as a whole
is paying or not.
GENERAL ADVICE
Begin simply, but begin. Elaborate your
method as you find more things which you want
to know. In relative importance the different
phases of the subject occupy about the following
rank:
1. The inventory 2. Farm records
3. The cash book 4. Personal accounts, etc.
CHAPTER XII
MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS — FENCING
THE cost of fencing is a heavy charge upon
the farm enterprise. The material alone
costs from thirty to fifty cents a rod under
most circumstances, even with wire fencing,
which is usually the least expensive kind which
can be built. A 100-acre farm, 160 rods long
and 100 rods wide will require 520 rods of
fence to enclose it. With highway across the
end, the road fence, if needed, and half the line
fence will make 310 rods for the owner to build.
If the farm is divided into four fields by halving
in each direction, 260 rods will be added. If
divided into eight fields by again halving in the
shortest direction 200 rods more will be needed.
If a laneway along the centre fence reaches to
the two back fields this will require 120 rods.
Allowing 10 rods extra for a barnyard makes
a total, under these conditions, of 900 rods, or
a little more than two and three-fourths miles, of
fencing to be built and kept in repair. Assum-
ing, for convenience, that this fence will cost
fifty cents a rod, complete, the cost will be $450.
With present quality of wire this is not likely
to last more than six years, with more or less
198
MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS 199
repairs. The annual charge is therefore $75,
disregarding interest on the first cost. If in-
stead of our present fence laws each man were
required to fence in his own stock, regardless of
boundary lines, and the owner of this farm
should provide one permanent pasture occupying
one-fourth of the farm adjacent to the buildings,
only 260 rods of fencing would be required,
making the annual charge but $26. If his
neighbour should chance to have a pasture next
to his that fence would be divided and the cost
still further reduced. Bringing in pasture as a
part of the regular rotation greatly increases the
cost of fencing.
The quality of material used is an important
matter. It is an indisputable fact that the wire
fencing used in recent years has proved very
unsatisfactory, adding greatly to the ultimate
cost, even though the price has been much re-
duced. It is to be hoped that some simple
method of determining quality will be evolved,
so that the buyer may be able to get good material
by paying for it; he should then by all means do
so.
No useless fences should be permitted to re-
main. If a fence cannot justify its existence
beyond question it should be cut out. A care-
ful study of this problem of the farm may yield
most excellent returns. If pastures can be
brought nearer the barn and unnecessary lanes
200 FARM MANAGEMENT
avoided this may materially reduce the amount
of fencing required. Small fields are the bane
of many New England farms. Unfortunately
these are in many cases enclosed by stone walls,
which are not easily removed. The great in-
convenience in working such fields will warrant
considerable outlay in removing the walls and
attendant lines of weeds and brush.
Where pasture enters into the regular rotation
a satisfactory portable fence would be a great
convenience. Many types of these have been
suggested, but they are usually too expensive
or too unstable to give satisfaction. To move
a woven wire fence is not really a great task and
might often be done with advantage.
ECONOMY OF TIME
The labour problem forms the heaviest charge
in farming operations. It therefore warrants
careful study. There are many ways in which
time can be economised or wasted.
The effectiveness of labour is often decreased
by allowing unimportant things to usurp the
place of the main work in hand. So many
incidental things and interruptions are constantly
occurring on the farm that this point needs to
be carefully guarded. Forethought will prevent
many of the interruptions or reduce their im-
portance when they occur. This is particularly
MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS 201
true of breakages. The wise farmer is well
provided with bolts, screws, rivets, nails and
other things most likely to be needed. Having
these things and the necessary tools at hand will
often save the loss of much valuable time when
men are waiting to go on with important work.
Putting all implements in good repair before
the time when needed will also contribute much
to the eflficiency of work. Immediately after
haying is a much better time to repair haying
machinery than immediately before. Concen-
tration is a motto to keep well in mind. Put
through the main work in hand. Let the inci-
dental things come afterward and by themselves
if possible to do it.
Poor fences are the cause of much waste of
time on many farms. Stopping to drive cattle
out of fields into which they have broken, and to
patch up a broken fence is a far too common
occurrence. Important work must often cease
while this is being done. The fence can be far
more cheaply built when that is the main work
in hand. If well done then other work need not
be interrupted to do parts of the work at much
disadvantage from time to time. Broken har-
nesses, worn out hose, loose nuts and many things
of like nature all contribute to similar loss of time.
A fast walking team will do much to econo-
mise time. A 12-inch furrow must be eight and
one-fourth miles long to equal an acre. If the
202 FARM MANAGEMENT
team walks two miles per hour in plowing it will
require four hours and eight minutes to turn the
furrow, regardless of stops and turns. At a
walk of three miles per hour it will require but
two hours and forty-five minutes.
The shape of fields is also an important factor
in such operations as plowing. If a 100-acre
farm of the shape indicated in the diagram on
another page be divided into eight fields as there
suggested it will require 1,320 turns, with a
12-inch furrow, to plow one of the twelve and
one-half acre fields, disregarding the waste along
fences. If each turn can be made in 30 seconds,
the time consumed will be 660 minutes or 11 hours.
If the farm is divided into four parts, by halving
in each direction, as suggested, one of the 25-
acre fields can be plowed with 1,650 turns, re-
quiring 13f hours of time. This effects a saving
of 8i hours over the time required in plowing
the two fields separately. If two of the fields
lying end to end are plowed together no more
turns are required than in plowing one, and 11
hours would be saved in turning. A square
field of 12i acres requires 1,500 turns, with a
12-inch furrow, which will consume 12i hours
in turning,
If the furrow is only nine inches wide instead
of twelve inches it will require about one-third
more turns, with consequent increase in length
of furrow, in time consumed in making turns.
MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS 203
and in time lost from inconvenient shape of
fields.
A strong team, able to do the full amount of
work required, trained to walk at a brisk pace,
with implements of the largest size consistent
with eflSciency, and well arranged fields are
important factors in the economy of time.
The shape of the farm itself may be an im-
portant matter. In some localities long, narrow
farms, with a short frontage on the highway and
extending a long distance back on the hills, are
the rule. Such a farm is much more expensive
to work than one which is more compact, with
buildings more centrally located. The addi-
tional cost of going to and from work at the
farther end of such a place, and especially of
drawing in crops and drawing out manure,
becomes a decided handicap to the business.
As striking illustrations of the loss of time
which may occur from inconvenience in the
arrangement of the farm or as a result of con-
ditions which exist, John Hamilton, in one of
the reports of the Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture, has called attention to the fact that
the man who has driven his stock one-fourth mile
to water twice a day for forty years, has travelled
14,600 miles in doing so. If instead, he has
spent ten minutes, three times a day, in pumping
water he has lost two and one-half years, of 300
days each, out of his life.
204 FARM MANAGEMENT
The location and arrangement of buildings
is an important factor in the economy or the
waste of time. Barns too far from the house
or from each other add greatly to the distance
travelled and the time consumed, during a life-
time. So too, neglect to give careful study to the
interior arrangement of buildings may add much
to the time consumed in doing the work. A
few hours spent in study and planning may save
many days during the existence of the building.
I recall one barn on the farm of a man who was
noted for his thoughtfulness in these matters,
and who provided himself with an unusual
number of little conveniences seldom found.
Yet the absence of a stairway necessitated going
out of doors and around the barn whenever the
second floor was to be reached. This meant
every time that hay or straw was needed for the
stock, besides the many times at which it would
occur in the ordmary rounds of work. Most of
the implements were kept on the upper floor and
all the stock kept below. In storm and snow
and wind, for forty years or more, so long as
the barn stood, this trip had to be made and
the large barn door above opened whenever it
was necessary to go from one floor to the other.
A little study of farm buildings will reveal many
such illustrations.
Another case comes to mind in which the
dairy barn stands about twenty-five rods from
53. SMALL FIELDS (See diagram)
^"etroy
54. DIAGRAM OF SMALL FIELDS SHOWN AT EIG. 53
Stone walls form the division lines. Approximate area within double lines 2.9+ acres
/60 rods
I
55. DIAGRAM OF FENCING PROBLEM FOR A 100-ACRE FARM
MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS 205
the house (A. Fig. 56) The farm supports a
dairy of twenty cows and the milk is all carried
to the house cellar to be separated and cared
for, which requires ten or twelve trips per day.
This means that the total distance travelled in
both directions, for this purpose alone, will be
about six hundred miles per year. It should
be remembered, too, that much of this distance
must be travelled when the man who carries the
two heavy pailfuls of milk is already well-nigh
exhausted from a long day's work in the fields.
The additional trips needed for other purposes
will bring the average well above two miles per
day. Yet as long as he lived the owner of this
farm kept up this laborious travel. His de-
scendants are wisely planning to bring the barn
nearer the house.
On this same farm the well is located more
than ten rods away from the kitchen door.
(B. Fig. 56.) For each daily trip to the well
the total distance travelled is over twenty-two
miles per year. The housewife estimates that
at least twelve pailfuls of water per day are used,
which shows how many times this twenty-two
miles must be multiplied to give the amount of
the year's travel. Such a condition does not
look so bad on the ground as it proves to be
when reduced to figures. Measure off ten rods
from your kitchen door and it will not look very
far. You might readily be induced to locate a
206 FARM MANAGEMENT
well there if the divining rod should say so and
you believed in the divining rod. Many a home
depends upon a water supply farther removed
than this.
Haying operations afford a good field for
study in economy of time. At a Pomona Grange
meeting in Rhode Island I asked for the ex-
perience of the farmers present as to the cost
of harvesting hay. The consensus of opinion
expressed was about as follows. Mowing re-
quires one-hour per acre, raking the hay and
scatterings one-half hour. Two men and team
will put a load to the bam in one hour. Three
men will unload it in twenty to thirty minutes.
The average yield of hay per acre in the United
States for the last ten years has been less than one
and one-half tons per acre. These figures would
make the cost of harvesting about one dollar per
ton, if no extra labour were needed in bunching
to guard against rain.
I watched a good driver in heavy grass, work-
ing with a quick team. Turning at the comers
took from twelve to fifteen seconds, when nothing
hindered. Many teams would take double the
time. This machine had a five-foot cutter-bar.
Measuring six swaths together at different
places showed that it was cutting about four feet
three inches of grass on the average. On
smooth land, with sharp knives, a six-foot cutter-
bar, which the team would be able to handle.
MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS 207
would reduce the time of mowing nearly 20
per cent. Two feet added to the length of the
hay rake will reduce the cost of raking 20 to
25 per cent. More important than either, a
system of management which will bring the
yield of grass up to three tons per acre will
reduce, by more than half, the cost per ton for
mowing and raking. A hay loader, with prop-
erly raked windrows, will materially reduce
the time required in getting each load to the
barn and make the farmer less dependent upon
extra help, which is always most expensive and
diflficult to get in haying time. These are prob-
lems which cannot be figured out with exactness
but they are problems which will well repay
careful study.
CHAPTER Xm
COOPERATION
MUCH has been written upon the subject
of cooperation. A volume might well
be devoted to this alone, as volumes have
already been devoted to it. In the present
connection, however, little more than a general
outline of the field and its possibilities can be
attempted. The subject naturally divides itself
into four main lines, viz.: 1. Cooperative pro-
duction. 2. Cooperative manufacture. 3. Co-
operative buying. 4. Cooperative marketing.
These will be considered in their order.
PRODUCTION
Cooperative production in its simpler forms
has been long in vogue. The practice of "chang-
ing works'* was common among farmers in the
early day. Later it seems to have grown into
disrepute to some extent, although recently
many farmers have been driven back to it by the
scarcity and inefficiency of farm labour. Many
a farmer is now trying to manage his business
alone who would gladly employ additional
labour if available at prices which the returns
208
COOPERATION 209
would warrant him in paying. There are
several ways in which cooperative production
among farmers can be carried on to advantage.
1. The Ownership oj Large Implements. — As
pointed out in the discussion of implements and
machinery, the fixed charges incident to the
ownership of an expensive implement prevent
such ownership being profitable in a small
business. If the implement is one which needs
to be used for only a short time during the year,
and particularly if the work is of such nature
that it need not be done at a definite time, owning
the machine in partnership by near neighbours
will prove greatly to their advantage. The
larger amount of work to which the fixed charges
are thus apportioned may make the partial
ownership a profitable one where entire owner-
ship would be unprofitable.
A farm engine may often be advantageously
owned in this way. It can do the work of saw-
ing wood, grinding feed and filling silos for
several farms as well as for one. In connection
with it a silage cutter may also be included in
the partnership, though in this case the partner-
ship needs to be closely limited. The work of
filling silos should be done within a compara-
tively short period of time and each farmer is
likely to need the machines at the same time. If
it is the custom to cooperate in doing the work,
there is nothing to prevent cooperation in the
210 FARM MANAGEMENT
ownership of the machinery, since that can only
be employed where the farmers themselves are
engaged. A corn harvester might also be in-
cluded in the outfit. Two or three farmers who
can work together harmoniously will often find
it greatly to their advantage to own the complete
outfit for transferring the corn from the field
to the silo in common, and to do the work
together. One factor which will materially
influence the desirability of such a plan is the
opportunity or lack of opportunity to hire men
with outfits for doing the work. In many com-
munities men make a business of filling silos
as they do of running a threshing machine, the
same parties often owning both machines. If
such an outfit can be secured at the right time
it may be better to hire it than to assume the ex-
penses of ownership, even in company with
others. I have never yet known a man who had
accumulated much wealth by operating such
outfits, which may argue somewhat against the
assumption of the ownership by the farmer
himself.
Cooperative ownership of a feed mill presents
less difficulties than in the case of corn machinery.
Feed may be ground at any time and may be
■carried to the mill or the mill brought to the
feed, whichever may happen to be most conven-
ient at the time. A wood sawing outfit is
especially well adapted to cooperative owner-
COOPERATION I 211
ship, since the work can be done at any time dur-
ing the year when the time can be given to it, and
the outfit itself can be moved from place to
place with little trouble.
A grain binder, like the corn harvester, can
only be used during a limited time, but is cap-
able of doing far more work than that afforded
by the average farm, with no loss from neglect
of crops, if the work is properly planned and
managed.
2. The Ownership of Imjyroved Sires and
Breeding Stock. — Two or three neighbouring
farmers may combine in the purchase of a bull,
either for general use or for use only with the
best cows owned by each. By this means they
may well afford to get the best blood available
and easily build up high-class herds. I recall
one instance where this plan was followed, to
the marked advantage of the two herds con-
cerned. In a similar manner, cooperative
ownership or a cooperative association may be
the means of bringing into a community a well-
bred stallion of a type which might be otherwise
unavailable. Even in communities where much
attention has been paid to the breeding of horses
it is often impossible to find a good stallion of
the particular class which it may be desired to
use. Good coach stallions are wanting in many
communities where trotting-bred horses are to
be found in abundance. The introduction of a
212 FARM MANAGEMENT
good jack, for the breeding of mules, may like-
wise prove of marked benefit to a farm com-
munity. A word of caution should be added
in this connection for cooperative associations
for the ownership of stallions often lead to
failure.
3. Cooperative Labour, Cooperative labour
has always been common among farmers in a
limited way. In such operations as threshing,
and latterly the filling of silos, extra help must be
employed. This is most often secured from the
neighbouring farms. The principle remains
the same whether the service is paid for in money
or by a return in kind. This plan of work
might doubtless be extended with advantage
in many cases, particularly on small farms.
Instead of two farmers working separately to do
their haying with incomplete equipment, the
same amount of investment by each would often
provide one complete equipment and by working
together a saving of time and money might
be possible for each. The success of such a
plan will depend much upon the personality of
the parties concerned, the location of the farms
and other attendant conditions. If each farmer
owns and operates certain parts of the equipment,
instead of owning the whole outfit in common,
there is less danger of friction. The plan of
cooperative work can then be easily abandoned at
any time if found undesirable.
COOPERATION 213
!
MANUFACTURE
Cooperative manufacture in agriculture is
best represented by the creameries, cheese
factories and similar enterprises which dot
the country from ocean to ocean. These are
generally organised in the form of a stock com-
pany, with shares of stock issued as in other
corporations. When started on the right foun-
dation, and well managed, the outcome has
nearly always been good. When started at
the instance of promotors who were concerned
in foisting upon the farmers a poor equipment
at an excessive cost they have often failed.
Where the farmers themselves have engineered
the matter from the beginning the undertaking
has generally proved successful, when ^ood
business men were connected with the manage-
ment. For the want of such men some ventures
have failed which had in them the other ele-
ments of success.
Conversation with a farmer connected with
the management of one such creamery revealed
the fact that the company had not only been
able to make and market the butter of its patrons
on the same terms offered by private creameries
but the business had yielded such good returns to
the stockholders that they were considering the
question of devising some plan to reduce these
returns, feeling them to be too high for wise
214 \FARM MANAGEMENT
business management. In this case the charge
for making and marketing the butter has been
three cents per pound, the product of one month
being paid for at the end of the succeeding month.
A manager who is both a good butter maker
and a good salesman is essential to such results.
To enter into the history or details of coop-
erative enterprises of this sort would far exceed
the limits of the present undertaking. The reader
is therefore referred to writings upon this partic-
ular field for further information regarding it.
BUYING
i
Where rightly planned co5perative buying
may prove of marked advantage to a farm com-
munity. In the early days of the grange move-
ment this was made, a prominent feature of the
order, but soon fell into disrepute. As there
carried on it usually took the form of a
grange store which aimed to carry a more or
less complete stock of merchandise from which
its members could purchase such articles as they
wished. Such undertakings were difficult to
maintain because demanding more time and
attention to insure their success than the size
of the business would warrant.
As an illustration of the kind of cooperative
buying which does prove successful the practice
of the Middletown Grange of Middletown, R. I.
may be cited. This grange is located in a potato
COOPERATION 215
growing locality. Its members buy commercial
fertilisers and seed potatoes in large quantities.
Instead of each man buying on his own initiative
they buy together, having their own brand of
fertiliser, mixed according to their directions,
and having their seed potatoes shipped from
Maine in carload lots when wanted. The plan
has proved very satisfactory and affords a
marked saving to the parties interested.
The same plan could be, and doubtless is,
followed with success in the purchase of grain
and other supplies. The cooperative creamery
may well form the centre for the purchase of
grain for its patrons. Such a plan would not
only afford a saving in the cost of feed, but in
many cases would also insure the use of grains
which would secure a better balanced ration and
better results in feeding. With a creamery
manager who would inform himself thoroughly
as to the best practices in feeding, this latter
advantage might be even greater than the saving
in price. The local grange might equally well
serve as the centre for such cooperative buying
of feeding stuffs. A discussion of the merits of
different feeds and a study of the prevailing
prices at the time would thus prove a topic of
special interest for the grange meetings and the
results obtained could hardly prove other than
satisfactory, provided the business were done on
a strictly cash basis, as it certainly should be. .j
216 FARM MANAGEMENT
Such cooperative buying might be profitably
extended to any article which is needed in suflS-
cient quantity by the community to make the
undertaking worth while. The purchase of a
given article on definite orders, in the manner
suggested, avoids the difficulties which contri-
buted to the disappearance of the grange store
as formerly conducted. That cooperative stores
may be run successfully, has been proved time
and again, but they require good business
management, with the right man at the head.
They also demand a plan somewhat different
from that usually followed by the grange store.
Those undertakings which have succeeded have
usually followed somewhat closely the Rochdale
plan practised in England, in which no attempt
is made to sell articles at cost but in which
regular retail prices are charged. This provides
a margin for the payment of expenses and for
meeting losses caused by depreciation in value
of goods or other property or from other causes.
If dividends are warranted they are paid in
proportion to the amount of goods purchased
rather than the amount of capital invested by
the individual.*
No community should embark in such an
undertaking without a most careful consideration
of all the problems and difficulties involved.
*Por a full bistorr and discussion of cooperative enterpriaea the reader ia
referred to Mjrriclc's "How to Cooperate."
COOPERATION 217
The failures have been far more numerous than
the successes.
SELLING
Cooperative selling presents more diflficul-
ties than any other form of cooperation, yet it
has been made a success in very many cases.
When attendant upon cooperative manufacture,
as in the case of creameries and cheese factories,
it is free from the more troublesome features
which attend the attempts to sell other forms of
produce in this manner.
The fundamental weakness in this type of
cooperation lies in the inherent quality of
human nature which cannot resist the temp-
tation to make private sales in competition with
the cooperative organisation. If the coopera-
tion consists merely in an agreement to maintain
prices some one is very likely to cut under and
destroy the price. If it is an agreement to mar-
ket all the commodity produced through the
organisation, the prospect of a slightly higher
price from some other source is quite sure to
draw away some of the goods which belong in
the cooperative channel, to the detriment of the
business. The fact that such advance may be
only temporary and that the average returns
from the cooperative system are likely to prove
better, is seldom sufficient to prevent such de-
flection of products.
Another difficulty arises in connection with
218 FARM MANAGEMENT
the quality of the products offered. Unless there
is a strong organisation with a central authority
which will adhere rigidly to established grades
much trouble is likely to arise.
That these difficulties are not insurmountable
is evidenced by the success of many of the co-
operative fruit shipping associations of the West.
yVith a legally incorporated organisation, and
good business men in charge, such undertakings
may be made to yield substantial results. The
management of such an enterprise constitutes
a business of itself into which it is not the province
of this discussion to enter. The farmer's train-
ing and surroundings tend to develop individ-
uality rather than interdependence. It is not
easy for him to work with others in business
undertakings. If it were possible for him to
forego this desire for individual effort and eradi-
cate from his nature the distrust of his fellow
farmers, which he is so likely to hold, he might
often profit by union of effort in disposing of
his products. Such union might take the form
of small undertakings based upon mutual agree-
ment between neighbours as well as the larger
undertakings based upon organised corporations.
FIRE INSURANCE
Aside from the four main lines already dis-
cussed cooperation may take other forms not
strictly concerned with the direct business
COOPERATION 219
management of the farm. Among such forms
which have proved especially satisfactory may
be mentioned fire insurance and telephone com-
panies. The movement on the part of old-line
companies to avoid risks on farm property which
has appeared in recent years, together with the
increase in rates demanded upon such property,
has favoured the development of mutual insur-
ance companies among the farmers themselves.
The Grange has been most largely instrumental
in bringing this about. In some instances these
companies have met with reverses at the outset
of their career from lack of knowledge of in-
surance methods and the safeguards with which
it is necessary to conduct the business. The
outcome, however, has usually been entirely
satisfactory, resulting in a perfectly safe and
well-managed insurance at much less cost than
in the old-line companies.
The fire insurance company with which the
writer chances to be most familiar is limited to
Grange members in good standing who may own
property within certain specified townships.
The policy contains, first, the usual provisions
demanded by the state law. The by-laws of
this company then provide for the election of
officers and the general conduct of the business.
Property to be insured is appraised by a member
of the board of directors and passed upon by
the board as a whole. No policy shall exceed
220 FARM MANAGEMENT
two-thirds of the actual value of the property
covered by it. A fee of $2.50, plus five cents for
each $100 of insurance, is charged for issuing
a policy, except in case of revision, when
the fee is $1, plus five cents for each $100
added to the amount already in force. If a
dwelling remains vacant for more than ten days
the company will pay half of its actual value
in case of loss. Losses are met by direct assess-
ments on the property insured, usually being
levied at about a two-mill rate, which yields a
suflficient amount from one assessment to cover
several losses. The experience of this com-
pany has been very satisfactory and the cost
very reasonable.
Other companies levy a fixed rate, thus accu-
mulating a fund upon which to draw when losses
occur, aiming thereby to secure a surplus which
shall provide against assessments, although the
parties insured are liable to such assessment
wjienever occasion may demand it. This plan
is more like that of the old-line companies
and may be subject to the same temptations.
TELEPHONE SYSTEMS
Cooperative telephone systems have proved
equally satisfactory wherever inaugurated among
the farmers. One to which the writer belongs
is organised as a stock company, but no member
H 3
O t>
COOPERATION 221
is allowed to hold more than thirty dollars of
stock. This stock fund is used in constructing
the line, being paid in part by labour or poles in
many cases. Each member buys his own phone.
Fees are then levied to provide for the expenses
of operation. This system now covers a consid-
erable portion of several counties, with con-
nections to all the leading towns in the territory.
The fees levied upon stockholders are at present
$3 per year. Merchants and others who are not
stockholders are charged a somewhat higher
price. The undertaking has proved of the
greatest convenience and satisfaction to the
communities which it covers, and the cost has
not even approximated that of the charges
exacted by the established telephone companies.
The system is now large enough to render its
subscribers practically independent of those
systems and also to furnish them a much better
service, because connected with far more people
in the vicinity.
CHAPTER XIV
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING
THE comparative advantages of different
types of farming can best be seen by
analysing the problem and endeavouring
to estimate the probable cost and return for
each. The following estimates are made with
care and after consultation with those whose
opinions are of value, but it must be remembered
that many of the items are subject to great
fluctuation, varying with locality, season and
other conditions. The figures should be accepted
as suggestive only and carefully verified or
replaced by others as conditions may demand.
For purposes of comparison I have assumed in
all cases, except for the very intensive types, a
farm of 100 acres, valued at $40 an acre for the
land alone. To this is added the value of the
buildings needed for the kind of farming which
may be under consideration. The dwelling
house is not included, for, as elsewhere explained,
that is really not a part of the business.
In these comparisons it is assumed that twenty
acres of land are occupied by buildings, wood-
land and waste places, including highway, waste
land along fences, etc. This leaves eighty
222
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 223
acres to be divided among the different crops
ftnd lines of production.
MIXED FARMING
INVENTORY
Farm, 100 acres @ $40 $4,000.00
Dairy and farm barn 1,000.00
Sheep barn 200.00
Silo 100.00
Hog house 50.00
Hen house 50.00
10 Cows @ $40 400.00
Bull 50.00
Young stock 150.00
50 Sheep @ $4 200.00
3 Hogs @ $15 and $20 50.00
50 Hens @ 50 cents 25.00
Separator 100.00
Small dairy utensils 25.00
Team, harness and wagons 400.00
Mowing machine 40.00
Hay rake 20.00
Tedder 25.00
Plows and harrows 50.00
Grain drill 50.00
Spraying outfit 15.00
Small implements 100.00
Total, $7,100.00
This provides for the essential things on a
mixed farm. Additional implements which
would be desirable but which the size of the
business may not warrant are a com planter.
224 FARM MANAGEMENT
corn harvester, ensilage cutter, potato planter,"
potato digger and grain bindeio
FARM ROTATION BALANCB
Acre*
Woodland, waste and buildings .... 20
Orchard 5
Pasture 80
Meadow 20
Com 10
Oats 10
Wheat 5
Buckwheat 5
Potatoes . 5
100
PROBABLE EXPENSE OF MANAGEMENT
Interest on $7,100 @ 5% $355.00
Depreciation, repairs and insurance on buildings
® 5% 70.00
Depreciation on team and tools, $825 @ 10% 82.50
Taxes 40.00
Help (in addition to that of farmer) . . . 200.00
Supplies and incidentals 200.00
Total, $947.50
PROBABLE RETURNS
2,000 lbs. Butter @ 20 cents $400.00
5 Calves @ $10 50.00
4 Old cows or heifers @ $25 100.00
10 Pigs, 4 weeks old 20.00
1,000 lbs. Pork @ 5 cents 50.00
800 lbs. Wool @ 25 cents 75.00
40 Lambs @ $3 120.00
400 dozen Eggs @ 20 cents 80.00
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SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 225
Fowls and chickens 50.00
125 bbls. Apples 125.00
100 bu. Wheat @ 75 cents 75.00
150 bu. Buckwheat @ 50 cents . . . . 75.00
600 bu. Potatoes @ 40 cents 200.00
Total, $1,420.00
Expense of Management, $947.50
Farmer's Salary, $472.50
The farm rotation balance suggested in the
above problem is designed to be fairly represen-
tative, rather than the best apportionment. In
many localities buckwheat would not appear
and in others wheat would be replaced by rye.
In this and succeeding problems estimates for
help do not include the labour of the farmer
himself; the net returns stand as the salary
which the farmer receives for his services. No
personal or family expenses should be included
under the head of "supplies and incidentals.*'
A word of explanation is demanded regarding
the figures given for probable returns. The
problem is designed to illustrate a typical
"mixed farm" on which nothing is made a
specialty and nothing is pushed to a high state of
productiveness, yet a farm which represents
good farming and more than average crops.
The yield of butter is placed at 200 pounds per
cow, much below the possibilities of good cows
but decidedly above the average returns shown
by statistics. It is assumed that half the calves
226 FARM MANAGEMENT
are raised and half of them are sold at the end
of the first summer. Surplus milk is fed to pigs,
leaving the pork production small. In many
cases it would be better to veal the calves and
grow more pork. The return for apples is
placed at one-half the estimated yield for a bear-
ing year. The potato crop is a side issue, like
everything else. It receives no special care or
fertiliser and it is assumed that it will be possible
to market 100 bushels per acre and provide for
seed for the following year.
The farm is supposed to be largely self-
supporting. It is assumed that the farmer will
hire one man during the summer months and
care for the stock himself during the winter.
The farm is expected to provide feed for all
the stock which it keeps, The farm manure,
applied at some fixed place in the rotation, is
depended upon to maintain fertility and there is
no outlay for fertiliser. This may seem unwise
to the New Englander but the typical farmer of
New York and Pennsylvania will feel quite at
home under these conditions. There are many
ways in which the returns might be increased
and many more in which they might be reduced.
A REPRESENTATIVE MIXED FARM, NEW YORK
The following actual figures are from a large
farm in New York. It is one with some very
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 227
fertile bottom-land and a large amount of rough
and steep hillside. The figures represent general
averages as given from memory by the oiyner:
INVENTORY
Cost Valuation
Farm, 276 acres @ $30 $8,280.00
Waterworks 1,000.00
Dairy barn and silos 4,500.00
Hen house, 20x60 200.00
Hog pen, 20 X 40 200.00
Horse barn, 28x40, with sheds, . . . 800.00
Tool and carriage house 200.00
Outlying hay and straw barn .... 800.00
2 Tenant houses, $800 and $600 . . . 1,400.00
5 Work horses 400.00
2 Colts, unbroken • . 200.00
Harness 40.00
Wagons 100.00
Sleighs 40.00
Separator $200 . . 150.00
Dairy engine $100 . . 50.00
Dairy room 50.00
Chums, milk cans and small utensils 30.00
Steam engine $400 . . 200.00
Ensilage cutter .... $105 . . 60.00
Corn harvester 115.00
2 Mowing machines 50.00
Tedder $ 25 . . 15.00
Hay rake 15.00
Hay press $150 . . 40.00
Reaper 60.00
Grain drUl $ 80 . . 55.00
Thresher $200 . . 40.00
4 Plows 25.00
228 FARM MANAGEMENT
Disc harrow $28. . . $20.00
3 Spring-tooth harrows 15.00
Corn cultivator .... $28. . . 20^00
Roller 15.00
Fanning mill 5.00
Grist mill 6.00
Buzz saw 15.00
Pulleys and shafting 10.00
Small implements 100.00
Bull 50.00
38 Cows @ $30 1,140.00
8 Yearlings and two-year-olds .... 150.00
9 Calves . 45.00
30 Sheep @ $4 120.00
7 Brood sows 105.00
10 Shoats 60.00
30 Pigs 100.00
150 Hens @ 35c 52.50
12 swarms Bees @ $2.50 30.00
Total, $21,162.50
FARM ROTATION BAI<ANCE acreS
Woodland and waste 80
Rough pasture 50
Orchard 6
Rotation pasture 8
Corn 18
Oats 18
Buckwheat 6
Rye 12
Potatoes 1
Garden and small fruits 2
Meadow 75
276
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 229
EXPENSE OF MANAGEMENT
Help (3 regular men @ $250.00 with
perquisites) $1,200.00
Feed ($600 to $800) .... 700.00
Supplies and incidentals . . . 300.00
Fertilisers (5 tons acid phosphate) 60.00
Taxes 30.00
$2,290.00
To this should be added:
Interest on investment, $21,162.50
@ 5% $1,058.13
Depreciation, repairs and insur-
ance on buildings, $8,100 @ 5% 405.00
Depreciation on team and tools,
$1,930 @ 10% 193.00
$1,656.13
Total expense, $3,946.13
RETURNS
Butter, ($65 per cow, 260-270 lbs. average) . $2,470.00
Cows sold, 6 to 8 @ $35 245.00
Pork 600.00
Wool and lambs, $48 and $132 . . . 180.00
Eggs and poultry, $200 and $60 ... 260.00
Pork and beef consumed in family, $60 and $30 90.00
Milk and cream consumed in family . . . 100.00
Apples, 200 bbls. @ $1.25 250.00
Rye straw 135.00
Hay 150.00
Buckwheat 140.00
Potatoes, 75 bu. @ 40 cents 30.00
Garden stuff 50.00
Honey 30.00
Calves 20.00
Total. $4,750.00
230 FARM MANAGEMENT
It will be observed that upon this farm there
IS a very heavy investment in buildings, $8,100.
Perhaps not all of this is needed from a purely
business standpoint. Some of it may represent
the home element rather than the business ele-
ment, the perfectly legitimate wish to make one*s
surroundings pleasant and convenient. Yet the
returns show that the farm is able to carry this
heavy investment, with ample allowance for
insurance, repairs and depreciation, paying an
interest which it would be difficult for the owner
to get with equal security in any other invest-
ment, and still pay a fair salary to the manager
for his services. This farm too, is so located
that it must compete in distant markets and the
business is conducted on general lines, with no
fancy products.
The rate of interest allowed above might
be difficult for the owner to secure on the
same property except by personal or interested
management. As a matter of fact the farm
is managed by the son, who pays a cash rental of
$600 and bears all operating expenses, including
taxes, repairs and many improvements. In the
returns given, adequate allowance has not been
made for products used at home. A full account
of these items would considerably increase the
net proceeds.
It will be observed that while in this business
the dairy is the leading element there is a wide
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FAKlVflNG 231
diversity of operations, so that it fairly represents
mixed farming of the better class.
A woman's farm
The following figures from a woman's farm in
the West are taken from one of the magazines.
While somewhat incomplete they serve to give
sl fair idea of a somewhat different type of mixed
farming under different conditions.
INVENTORT
Farm, 80 acres $4,000.00
3 Horses 200.00
Plows and harrows 30.00
Wagons 85.00
Binder, mower and seeder 180.00
10 Good cows 400.00
4 Brood sows 60.00
Harness. 40.00
Sundries . . 225.00
$5,220.00
RECEIPTS
Milk and butter $500.00
Hogs 250.00
Poultiy and eggs 150.00
Garden surplus 75.00
Hay, 15 tons @ $8 120.00
Com, 500 bu. @ 20 cents 100.00
Oats, 1,000 bu. @ 25 cents 250.00
Other grains, fodders, etc 350.00
Calves 50.00
$1,845.00
23« FARM MANAGEMENT
EXPENSES
One man $300.00
Feed, cows 300.00
Feed, other stock 150.00
Wear and tear 100.00
$850.00
DAIRY FARMING
If run exclusively in the interests of the dairy,
with summer soiling and silos and the careful
attention of a dairy specialist our 100-acre farm
should be able to make a showing somewhat
like the following:
INVENTORY
Farm, 100 acres @ $40 $4,000.00
Dairy barn 1,500.00
Silos 300.00
Ice house 250.00
Separator 125.00
50 Cows @ $40 2,000.00
Bull 100.00
Young stock 400.00
Team, harness and wagon 400.00
Engine 250.00
Ensilage cutter and carrier 125.00
Mowing machine 40.00
Tedder 25.00
Hay rake 25.00
Plows and harrows 50.00
Dairy utensils 50.00
Small implements 100.00
Total, $9,740.00
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 233
FARM ROTATION BALANCE
Acrea
Woodland, waste and buildings 20
Pasture 20
Corn (one-half followed by rye and wheat) ... 30
Oats and peas 15
Hay (followed by barley and millet) . . . . 15
100
PROBABLE EXPENSE OF MANAGEMENT
Interest, $9,740 ©5% $ 487.00
Depreciation, repairs and insurance on
buildings, 5% 102.50
Depreciation on team and tools 10 % . . 119.00 •
Taxes 60.00
Help 900.00
Grain 1,000.00
Supplies and incidentals 200.00
Total, $2,868.50
PROBABLE RETURNS
12,500 lbs. Butter @ 25 cents .... $3,125.00
35 Calves @ $10 350.00
10 Cows @ $40 400.00
Total, $3,875.00
Expense of Management, 2,868.50
Farmer's Salarj', $1,006.50
This plan, as here outlined, provides for noth-
ing but dairy cattle. Ten of the best calves
are kept each year to develop into cows. This
leaves ten heifers coming one year old and ten
coming two years old to be carried through each
winter in addition to the fifty which are old
2S4 FARM MANAGEMENT
enough to be giving milk. The remaining calves
it is assumed will be fed the skim milk and sold
when six or eight months old. In actual practice
it would probably prove better management to
keep some pigs to help utilise the skim milk.
The farm rotation balance allows twenty
acres for pasture. This is probably more than
the best management would permit. Soiling
must be the main dependence and more feed
could be produced by limiting the pasture to
merely an exercise ground. Of the sixty acres
remaining one-half is devoted to corn, one-fourth
to oats and peas and one-fourth to hay. The
corn will be called upon for soilmg and to fill the
silos, any remaining being husked and the stalks
cured dry. Part of the oats and peas will be fed
green and part cured for hay. The hay land
is plowed and sowed to barley and millet for
late fall soiling and additional dry fodder, as
soon as the hay is off. With clover the second
crop might be depended upon for this purpose.
Half of the corn ground is sowed to rye and
wheat for early spring soiling, part of which will
be cured for hay. This part of the corn ground
is again planted to corn as soon as the rye and
wheat are off. The remaining corn goes where
the hay, followed by barley and millet, was the
year before. Oats and peas occupy the remain-
ing corn ground.
This would develop a four-year rotation which
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 235
would work out about as shown in the following
diagram, provided the twenty acres of pasture
do not enter into the rotation. This could be
brought in by pasturing the meadow after hay
is off and turning over fifteen acres of pasture
for the barley and millet. The chief disad-
vantage of the rotation is that it allows but one
year's cutting of grass for each seeding.
Corn
Rye
Wheat
Seed
Barley
Millet
Corn
Seed
Barley
Millet
Rye
Wheat
Oats
and
Peas
Seed
Barley
Millet
Rye
Wheat
Hay
Oats
and
Peas
Hay
Corn
Oats
and
Peas
Hay
Corn
Hay
Corn
Oats
and
Peas
Barley
Millet
Rye
Wheat
Seed
It is assumed that the dairy specialist will keep
better stock and secure a higher yield than the
mixed farmer who makes the dairy only one of
many lines. It is possible in time to considerably
exceed the figures here given. It will be noted
that the investment demanded in dairy farming
is comparatively heavy. Depreciation in cows
is provided for by the growth of young stock.
The showing could be much improved by
providing for pure-bred stock, which would add
greatly to the value of animals sold.
236 FARM MANAGEMENT
A TYPICAL DAIRY FARM — PENNSYLVANIA
INVENTORY
Land without buildings, 120 acres @ $40 . $4,800.00
Water supply 100.00
Buildings
Dwelling 1,200.00
Barns 2,200.00
Other farm buildings 200.00
Live stock
20 Cows @ $35 700.00
Young cattle 296.00
50 Hogs @ $8 400.00
100 Hens @ 50 cents 50.00
Teams and Tools
4 Horses @ $50 200.00
Farm harness 40.00
Farm wagons 50.00
Corn harvester 125,00
Other farm implements 100.00
Binder 115.00
Total, $10,576.00
FARM ROTATION BALANCE
Acres
Buildings, waste scad woodland 20
Meadow 20
Pasture 40
Com 20
Oats 15
Wheat 4
Potatoes 1
120
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 237
AVERAGE EXPENSES
Taxes $ 52.00
Help 250.00
Feeds 350.00
Supplies and incidentals 25.00
Total, $677.00
AVERAGE RETURNS
5,000 lbs. Butter at 22 cents $1,100.00
8,000 lbs Pork @ 5 cents 400.00
Eggs 150.00
100 bu. Potatoes @ 50 cents 50.00
Stock sold 750.00
Total, $2,450.00
SHEEP FARMING
Sheep farming as a separate and independent
proposition is a difficult problem. Even the men
who believe most thoroughly in the sheep seldom
advocate attempting to make that the only business .
For the following estimate I am indebted to
Joseph E. Wing of Ohio.
INVENTORY
Land without buildings, 100 acres @ $40 . $4,000.00
Barns and silos 1,200.00
Other farm buildings, windmills, etc. . . 900.00
4 Cows @ $35 140.00
100 Sheep @ $5 500.00
2 Hogs @ $10 20.00
100 Hens @ 40 cents 40.00
5 Horses @ $150 450.00
Farm harness 45.00
Farm wagons 50.00
Other farm implements 250.00
Total, $7,595.00
238 FARM MANAGEMENT
FARM ROTATION BAIiANCE
Acres
Buildings, waste and woodland 20
Meadow 20
Pasture 20
Com 20
Oats 5
Potatoes 5
Apples 5
Soy beans 5
100
\
PROBABLE EXPENSES
Taxes $ 85.00
Help 300.00
Supplies and incidentals 250.00
Interest on investment 5% 379.75
Depreciation, interest and insurance on
buildings, 5% 105.00
Depreciation on team and tools, 10% . . 79.50
$1,199.25
PROBABLE RETURNS
600 lbs. Butter @ 25 cents $150.00
300 dozen eggs @ 20 cents 60,00
600 bu. potatoes @ 40 cents 200.00
100 bbls. Apples @ $1.50 150.00
75 Fat lambs raised @ $7 525.00
100 Fleeces 150.00
25 Fat ewes 175.00
300 Fat lambs fed through winter, profit . 300,00
Total, $1,710.00
Expense of Management, 1,199.25
Fanner's Salary, $ 510.75
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 239
Mr. Wing writes as follows concerning this
estimate. **I do not know of any sheep farms
in the United States that are devoted altogether
to sheep. It is difficult here to do that thing.
The parasite is troublesome where too many
sheep are kept. A farm of 100 acres is too small
to be managed with most economy. Hogs and
sheep mix disastrously. Cows, hens, and fruit
fill in well. It is all a question of the man. If
he is good, things will increase mightily and
profit will result. If he is slack or lacks genius
he will not make the farm pay."
Sheep often prove profitable in mixed farming
or as an adjunct to the dairy farm. A small
flock, running with the cows or by themselves
usually thrive well and prove proportionately
more profitable than larger flocks. They are
particularly well suited to dry hilly pastures,
often bringing a better return from such land
than it can be made to yield in any other way.
A NEW. ENGLAND FARM ON WHICH SHEEP
FIND A PLACE ^MASSACHUSETTS
INVENTORY
Land without buUdings, 200 acres @ $10 . $2,000.00
Buildings
Dwelling 2,000.00
Barns and silos 2,000.00
Other farm buildings 600.00
Live stock
15 Cows @ $40 600.00
240
FARM MANAGEMENT
15 Young cattle 150.00
200 Sheep @ $4 800.00
6 Hogs @ $7.50 .
100 Hens @ 50 cents
Teams and Tools
4 Horses ....
2 Oxen ....
Farm harness
Farm wagons
45.00
50.00
375.00
140.00
50.00
75.00
Other farm implements 183.00
Total $9,068.00
FARM ROTATION BALANCE
Buildings and woodland
Meadow .....
Pasture
Com
Potatoes
Acrei
60
40
100
6
1
AVI&RAGE EXPENSES
Taxes $160.00
Help 500.00
Feeds 500.00
Fertilisers 50.00
Total $1,410.00
AVERAGE RETURNS
5,000 lbs. Butter @ 22 cents . . .
$1,100.00
1,000 lbs. Pork @ 6^ cents .
65.00
875 dozen Eggs @ 20 cents .
175.00
80 bu. Potatoes @ 60 cents .
48.00
400 bbls. Apples @ $1.50 .
600.00
700 lbs. Wool @ 18 cents .
126.00
Lambs sold
T
'ota
400.00
1 $2,514.00
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 241
GRAIN FARMING
For pure grain farming in the same locality
in the East, the problem would be somewhat as
follows:
INVENTORT
Farm, 100 acres @ $40 $4,000.00
Grain bam 800.00
Team, harness and wagons 400.00
Plows and harrows 75.00
Grain drill 50.00
Binder 125.00
Small implements 100.00
$5,550.00
FARM ROTATION BALANCE
Acres
Woodland, waste and buildings 20
Oats or barley 80
Buckwheat 10
Wheat or rye, followed by cowpeas or clover . 40
100
PROBABLE EXPENSES
Interest, $5,550 @ 5% $277.50
Depreciation, repairs and insurance on
buildings 5% 40.00
Depreciation on team and tools 10% . . 75.00
Taxes 30.00
Help and thresh bill 150.00
Supplies and incidentals 100.00
40 bu. Cowpeas or 10 bu. clover . . . 60.00
Fertilisers 800.00
Total $1,532.50
242 FARM MANAGEMENT
PROBABLE RETURNS
850 bu. Oats @ 40 cents $340.00
(1200 bu. less 350 for team and seed)
40 tons Oat-straw @ $6 £40.00
300 bu. Buckwheat @ 50 cents .... 150.00
800 bu. Rye @ 60 cents 480.00
60 tons Rye-straw @ $12 720.00
Total $1,930.00
Expense of Management 1,532.50
Farmer's Salary $397.50
This estimate assumes that the fertility of the
soil can be maintained by an annual expenditure
of $10 per acre for fertilisers. It also provides
for keeping up the humus supply by following
the fall grain each year with a crop of cowpeas
or crimson or mammoth clover. By dividing
between fall and spring grain and using buck-
wheat for part of the latter it will be possible
for one man and team to do all the work of
plowing and seeding. The only help needed
will be in connection with harvesting and thresh-
ing. Barley may be substituted for oats, or
wheat for rye, with about equal returns, varying
somewhat with the locality.
Grain farming has naturally flourished where
it has not been the custom to guard against
depletion of fertility, and where extensive meth-
ods are possible. It offers little inducement to
the Eastern farmer as a pure type, though by
careful management the above returns could be
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 243
much increased. Grain growing as part of a
rotation with other crops, where some other line
forms the main issue, is much more promising.
BEEF FARMING
Although chiefly confined to the prairies and
the ranch it will not be amiss to consider the
possibilities of beef farming upon a typical
Eastern farm. Changed into intensive methods
the problem should work out something like the
following.
INVENTORY
Farm, 100 acres @ $40 . . . . '. . $4,000.00
Barn 1,000.00
Silos 300.00
30 Beef cows @ $50 1,500.00
Bull 200.00
Team, harness and wagons 400.00
Mowing machine 40.00
Tedder 25.00
Hay rake 25.00
Plows and harrows 50.00
Small implements 100.00
$7,640.00
FARM ROTATION BALANCE
Acres
Woodland, waste and buildings 20
Pasture 10
Roots and forage 10
Corn 30
Hay 30
100
1^44 FARM MANAGEMENT
PBOBABLE EXPENSE OF MANAGEMENT
Interest, $7,640 @ 5% $382.00
Depreciation, repairs and insurance on
buildings @ 5% 65.00
Depreciation on team and tools @ 10% , 64.00
Taxes 50.00
Help 300.00
Supplies and incidentals 150.00
Grain 300.00
Total, $1,311.00
PROBABLE HETURNS
30,000 lbs. Beef @ 5 cents (30 head one-year
old) $1,500.00
Expense of Management, 1,811.00
Farmer's Salary, $ 189.00
For suggestions in making up these figures I
am indebted to a well-known animal industry
man. The farm rotation balance here suggested
contemplates feeding from the silo summer and
winter, with a small area of roots and summer
forage to furnish a slight variety of feed. The
pasture may or may not enter into the rotation.
Land may be seeded in the corn at the last culti-
vation or following forage crops and allowed to
remain in hay two years, half the thirty acres
being newly seeded each year and allowing corn
to occupy the same land or forage land a second
year, one-half being on sod ground. Forage
crops may be interspersed in part as suggested
in the dairy farm rotation. Provision could be
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 245
made for bedding in connection with the forage-
crop area.
It is assumed that "baby-beef" can be made
to reach 1,000 pounds in weight at one year
of age. The prices allowed for investment
are sufficient to provide for good beef ani-
mals.
This estimate is merely an attempt to adapt
beef farming to our assumed type of farm,
limited in size. In other words it is an attempt
to transform a naturally extensive type of farm-
ing into an intensive type, and the results are not
encouraging. With a larger investment in land,
allowing for pasture in summer, and a corre-
spondingly smaller expense for labour, the
results may be quite different.
The following figures from a 1,000-acre beef
farm in Missouri show the ability of such a
farm to pay interest on a heavy capitalisation
and still leave a substantial salary for the
owner.
A PROFITABLE BEEF FARM MISSOURI
INVENTORY
Land without buildings, 1040 acres @ $65 . $67,600.00
Water supply, drains, etc 1,400.00
Buildings
Dwellings, including 5 tenant houses . 6,000.00
Barns and Silos 3,000.00
<4ther farm buildings 1,000.00,
246 FARM MANAGEMENT
Live stock
100 Cows (Short homs) @ $100 . . $10,000.00
50 Young cattle $75 3,750.00
100 Beef steers @ $50 6,000.00
300 Hogs @ $5 1,500.00
200 Hens @ 50 cents 100.00
Teams and Tools
10 Horses @ $100 1,000.00
Farm harness 100.00
Farm wagons 200.00
Other farm implements 200.00
Total, $100,850.00
FARM ROTATION BALANCE
Acrea
Buildings, waste and woodland 100
Meadow 200
Pasture 680
Com 80
Oats 40
Wheat 40
1040
AVERAGE EXPENSES
Taxes $ 460.00
Help 1,440.00
Supplies and incidentals 3,000.00
Total, $4,890.00
AVERAGE RErnRNS
100 lbs. Butter @ 25 cents $ 25.00
200 dozen Eggs @ 15 cents 80.00
100 tons Hay @ $6.60 650.00
100 Steers 6,000.00
60 Cows (Short homs) 6,000.00
200 Hogs @ $12.50 2,500.00
Total, $15,205.00
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 247
POULTRY FARMING
Poultry farming adapts itself to a wide range
of possibilities, but I know of no more business-
like system than that which employs a farm of
considerable size, similar to the one we have
chosen for illustration. The figures here given
are based upon the experience of a very success-
ful poultry firm which adopts this type.
INVENTORY
Fann, 100 acres @ $40 $4,000.00
Barn, with root cellar 500.00
Henhouses ($2 per hen,) 4,000.00
Incubator cellar, feed and cooking room 500.00
12 Colony brooder houses for chicks @ $30 360.00
Fencing 300.00
Incubators 150.00
Team, harness and wagons 400.00
Plows and harrows 50.00
Mowing machine 40.00
Hay rake 25.00
Small implements 100.00
2,000 Fowls @ $1.50 (75 cents each if not
pure-bred) 3,000.00
$13,425.00
FABM ROTATION BALANCE
Acres
Woodland, waste and buildings 20
Com 20
Wheat 20
Clover 10
Oats and peas 10
Pasturage, set with fruit . 20
100
248 FARM MANAGEMENT
PROBABLE EXPENSE OP MANAGEMENT
Interest, $13,425 @ 5% $ 671.26
Depreciation, repairs and insurance on
buildings @ 5% 268.00
Depreciation on team, tools and fencing 10% 91.50
Taxes 40.00
Help (two regular men) 900.00
Feed ($1 per hen less amount raised) . 1,000.00
Advertising 200.00
Supplies and incidentals 300.00
Totat, $3,470.75
PROBABLE RETURNS
E^s for market @ 30 cents per dozen . . $4,000.00
Eggs for hatching 1,000.00
Meat and breeding stock 1,000.00
Fruit 1,000.00
Total, $7,000.00
Expense of Management, 3,470.75
Farmer's Salary, $3,529.25
In this estimate of returns the cost of raising
chicks is provided for by sale of hens, the receipts
for which are not included.
In a business of this size the demand for Htter
in the houses corresponds to the demand for
roughage on a dairy farm. Growing a con-
siderable amount of grain, as above, provides
for this as well as reducing the money outlay
for purchased feed. An acre of beets should
be provided for at some point. This may be
taken from the pasture range in orchard or from
the amount assigned to one of the other crops.
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 249
The plan here followed uses home made
colony brooder houses for chicks, in which
heat is used only while the chicks are young
but in which they remain until ready to
take their place in the regular laying flocks.
The supplies and incidentals will include
whitewash, kerosene and gasolene, bug-death,
postage, etc. The price allowed for market
eggs assumes a well established trade among
customers willing to pay for a carefully
prepared and fully guaranteed article. This
price is somewhat exceeded by the firm
upon whose experience these figures are
based.
The fact which is likely to strike those un-
familiar with the business most forcibly is the
large amount of capital involved. Many false
notions exist in this regard. While it is per-
fectly true that one may make a beginning in
the poultry business with very little capital, pro-
vided he does not need to depend upon that
for a livelihood, it is equally true that to
make it a business of any great import-
ance demands a heavier investment than in
many other lines of farming. Given that
investment, coupled with skilful manage-
ment, and the returns need no apology. It
should be noted that the amount of labour
demanded is also considerably more than
is often supposed.
250 FARM MANAGEMENT
A MODEST POULTRY FARM — RHODE ISLAND
INVENTORY
Land without buildings, 113 acres ... $ 400.00
Buildings
Dwelling 600.00
Barns 200.00
Other farm buildings 600.00
Live Stock
2 Cows @ $30 60.00
900 Hens @ 60 cents 540.00
Chicks and ducks 200.00
Teams and Tools
2 Horses @ $50 100.00
Farm harness 40.00
Farm wagons 60.00
Other farm implements 50.00
Total, $2,750.00
Estimate of cash needed for working capital, $ 300.00
FARM ROTATION BALANCE Acres
Buildings, waste and woodland 78
Meadow 18
Pasture 20
Potatoes ^
Garden J
112
AYERAOB EXPENSES
Taxes $ 3.00
Help 200.00
Feeds 2,000.00
Supplies and incidentals 450.00
Total, $2,653.00
AVERAGE RETCRNS
Eggs $1,800.00
Poultry 2.000.00
Total, $3,800.00
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 251
GRASS FARMING
In many localities hay is a profitable crop.
Under some conditions it may seem wise to de-
vote the farm to hay alone. In that case the
problem would work out in a manner similar to
the following:
INVENTORY
Farm, 100 acres @ $40 $4,000.00
Hay bam 1,000.00
Team, harness and wagons 400.00
Mowing machine 40.00
Tedder 25.00
Hay rake 25.00
Hay loader 60.00
Plows and harrows 60,00
Rollers 25.00
Small implements 50.00
Total, $5,675.00
FARM ROTATION BALANCE j^cns
Woodland, waste and buildings 20
Hay . 80
100
PROBABLE EXPENSE OF MANAGEMENT
Interest, $5,675 @ 5% $ 283.75
Depreciation, repairs and insurance on
buildings @ 5% 50.00
Depreciation on team and tools @ 10% . 67.50
Taxes 40.00
Helping in haying 200.00
Grain and bedding for team 100.00
Grass seed, 20 acres each year .... 40.00
Fertilisers, $15 per acre 1,200.00
Supplies and incidentals 50.00
Total, $2,081.25
«52 FARM MANAGEMENT
PROBABLE HETURN8
840 Tons hay @ $15 $3,600.00
Expense of Management 2,031.25
Farmer's Salary 1,568.75
These figures assume that by an expenditure
of $15 per acre annually for fertilisers it is pos-
sible to secure an average yield of three tons of
hay per acre. Such yields are being exceeded
year after year on good grass land with careful
management. It is assumed that four crops
will be taken before reseeding, which is done by
working up the old sod as soon as the grass is
cut, giving thorough and frequent tillage until
September 1st and seeding to grass alone. As
the hay is grown for market no clover is used
and all nitrogen needed must be supplied in
fertilisers. A side-delivery rake and a hay press
are additional items of equipment worthy of
consideration. In some cases the hay loader
might not be profitable.
In determining whether this would prove a
profitable type of farming the character of the
land and the cost of marketing should be care-
fully considered. On good hay land in local-
ities where hay brings a high price it is one
of the most promising lines. New England is
a particularly favourable region for hay farming
since the prices average very high and the climate
is favourable for the growth of grass. Much of
the soil is deficient in fertility so that fertilising
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING ^53
must be more liberal than in many other parts
of the country.
A feeling exists among farmers that to sell hay
is a bad business policy, because it depletes the
fertility of the land. Under the common system
of taking everything off and putting nothing back
this is true. It is easily possible, however, to
supply all the fertiliser ingredients removed, in
the form of chemicals, while hay farming, unlike
grain farming, does not rob the soil of its humus,
the depletion of which causes so much injury to
the mechanical condition of the soil and such
rapid depletion of fertility in continuous grain
growing.
Certain objections apply to a system of all
hay farming. Chief among these is the fact that
the greater part of the labour is bunched at
haying time, a season when it is most difficult to
obtain help and when prices rule higher than
at any other season of the year. There is not
enough labour for team nor men during the
remainder of the year to warrant keeping a
sufficient force to handle the haying with regular
help. It is therefore necessary to make careful
provision for the extra help needed in ample
time to avoid delay when haying comes.
There is a possibility that insect enemies,
particularly the white grub {Lachnostema
fused), may render continuous grass culture
precarious. This latter insect is especially
254 FARM MANAGEMENT
troublesome in New England, and its habit of
laying its eggs in grass land, being much more
injurious in old meadows and pastures, may
render it a serious enemy to this type of
farming.
In some quarters a prejudice has arisen against
hay fertilized with chemicals, owing to the belief
that its quality is inferior. Should this belief
prove well-grounded, it may become a serious
objection to pure hay farming.
SPECIAL FARMING Terry Rotation
A three-year rotation limited to wheat, clover
and potatoes, as formerly practised by T. B.
Terry of Ohio, should show results somewhat
as follows;
INVENTORY
Farm, 100 acres @ $40 $4,000.00
Barn and sheds 1,000.00
Team, harness and wagons 400.00
Plows and harrows 75.00
Roller 25.00
Mowing machine 40.00
Tedder 25.00
Hay-rake 25.00
Potato planter 50,00
Potato digger 100.00
Grain drill 50.00
Binder 125.00
Small implements 100.00
Total, $6,015.00
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 255
FABM ROTATION BALANCE
Acres
Woodland, waste and buildings ..... 20
Potatoes 26§
Wheat 26?
Clover 262
100
PROBABLE EXPENSE OF MANAGEMENT
Interest, $6,015 @ 5% $ 300.75
Depreciation, repairs and insurance on
buildings @ 5% 60.00
Depreciation on team and tools @ 10% . 101.50
Taxes 40.00
Help 400.00
Supplies and incidentals 100.00
Grain for team 75.00
Fertilisers 250.00
Total, $1,317.25
PROBABLE RETURNS
5,000 bu. Potatoes @ 50 cents .... $2,500.00
750 bu. Wheat @ 75 cents 562.50
Total, $3,062.50
Expense of Management, 1,317.25
Farmer's Salary, $1,745.25
For a farm of this size the plan as here out-
lined is weak in not providing a profitable use
for the clover hay. As practised by Mr. Terry
on a smaller farm the clover can be utilised by
liberal feeding to the team and family cow. The
addition of a system of winter feeding of calves
256 FARM MANAGEMENT
for beef or of boarding stock which would pay
a fair value for the hay and for the labour in-
volved would materially increase the returns
and render the plan more businesslike. As
outlined here it would be necessary to allow
much of the clover to return directly to the land
unharvested.
The above estimate allows for 200 bushels of
potatoes and thirty bushels of wheat per acre.
With these yields the amount marketed will still
provide a sufficient amount for seed. In case of
potatoes it will allow for exchange of seed, in
part at least, at an advance in price over that
obtained for those marketed.
Mr. Terry was able to carry on this rotation
continuously without the use of chemical fer-
tilisers, and without any apparent depletion of
fertility. Whether this can be done everywhere
is open to question. Certain it is that in many
localities chemicals would be needed at the be-
ginning in order to secure yields anywhere near
satisfactory. Yet the soil conditions brought
about by the abundance of humus resulting
from the clover sod so frequently turned under
is doubtless a more important factor than the
mineral elements present. With the clover
carefully converted into manure and returned
to the soil each year as Mr. Terry did it the
fertiliser demands will be reduced to a mini-
mum.
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 257
A POTATO AND HAY FARM — RHODE ISLAND
INVENTORY
Land without buUdings, 84 acres @ $200 . $16,800.00
Buildings
Dwelling 6,000.00
Bams 1,200.00
Other farm buildings 600.00
Live stock
1 Cow 35.00
60 Hens @ 75 cents 37.60
Teams and Tools
6 Horses 800.00
Farm harness 60.00
Farm wagons 400.00
Other farm implements 500.00
Total $25,432.60
FABM ROTATION-BALANCE
Acres
Buildings, waste and woodland 18
Meadow 20
Pasture 18
Com 6
Oats 10
Potatoes 12
84
AVERAGE EXPENSES
Taxes $ 80.00
Help 600.00
Feeds 300.00
Fertilisers 600.00
Supplies and Incidentals ?
Total, $1,480.00
«58 FARM MANAGEMENT
AVERAGE RETURNS
400 dozen Eggs @ 24 cents .... $ 96.00
3,600 bu. Potatoes @ 56 cents ... 2016.00
40 tons Hay @ $19 760.00
300 bu. Corn @ 57 cents 171.00
SOO bu. Oats @ 38 cents 114.00
Total, $3,157.00
FRUIT FARMING
Fruit yields are even more fickle than those of
most other farm crops. Returns are therefore
hard to estimate, but based on general averages
the problem will work out somewhat as follows,
if a miscellaneous collection of fruit is grown:
INVENTORY
Farm, 100 acres @ $40 $4,000.00
Horse bam 500.00
Storage house 1,000.00
Teams, harness and wagons 700.00
Plows and harrows 100.00
Spraying outfit 150.00
&naU implements 100.00
Total, $6,550.00
FARM ROTATION BALANCE
Acres
Woodland, waste and buildings 20
Apples • 40
Pears 10
Peaches ....•*..... .10
Plums 5
Cherries 5
Raspberries 9
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 259
Blackberries 2
Currants 1
Gooseberries 1
Strawberries and clorer 8
100
PROBABLK EXPENSE OF MANAGEMENT
Interest, $6,550 @ 5% $327.50
Depreciation, repairs and insurance on build-
ings @ 5%. 75.00
Depreciation on team and tools @ 10% . . 105.00
Taxes 50.00
Help, regular 600.00
Feed and bedding for teams 400.00
Fertilisers 800.00
Supplies and incidentals 200.00
Total, $2,557.50
PROBABLE RETURNS
1,600 bbls. Apples @ $1 net .
500 bbls. Pears @ $1.25 net .
1,000 bu. Peaches @ $1 net .
750 bu. Plums @ 75 cents net
600 bu. Cherries @ $1 net
200 bu. Raspberries @ $1.25 net
200 bu. Blackberries @ $1.25 net
125 bu. Currants @ $1 net . .
800 bu. Gooseberries @ 75 cents net
100 bu. Strawberries @ $1.50 net .
$1,600.00
625.00
1,000.00
562.50
500.00
250.00
250.00
125.00
225.00
150.00
$5,287.50
Expense of Management 2,557.50
Farmer's Salary $2,730.00
A fruit farm of this size, with the large amount
of marketing involved, would call for an
additional team, thus increasing the investment
260 FARM IVIANAGEMENT
for that item. It should be said that there is
also a large investment of passive capital, repre-
sented in the trees, which is not included in the
above estimate. If this is added it will greatly
increase the interest charge on capital. It is
diflScult to place a just value upon a bearing
orchard. If the attempt is made it should be
remembered that there is not only the item of
appreciation in value for a young orchard but
depreciation for orchards which have begun to
pass their zenith. Each must be carefully con-
sidered or the owner will be led astray. When
the grower develops his own orchard he may
prefer to look upon it in the light of a crop under
way rather than add a value to his farm which it
might be difficult for him to realise in case of
sale.
For purposes of illustration the farm rotation
balance given above shows a larger variety of
fruit than it would be advisable to grow under
many conditions. The peaches and small fruits
are necessarily short-lived so that an exact
balance of this kind could not be looked upon as
permanent. The strawberries are supposed to
alternate with clover, allowing one acre in fruit-
ing, one in young plants and one in clover each
year.
On high-priced land, especially, it is entirely
feasible to plant small fruits among the trees,
thereby materially increasing the productive
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 261
possibilities of a given number of acres. This is
especially desirable during the years when a
young orchard is developing.
The item of help is designed to include only
the regular help needed in caring for the trees and
plants and in hauling the produce to market.
The cost of picking, packing, packages, etc. is
provided for by allowing a net price for the prod-
ucts sold low enough so that average market
prices will cover these charges. These are variable
'terns, depending upon the amount of fruit sold.
Fruit prices are apt to be very irregular and it
would be unwise to place too much dependence
upon estimates of this sort, but it is believed that
the prices allowed are conservative. The yield
of the larger fruits is placed at about half that
of a full crop in order to arrive at an approximate
average between the bearing year and the off
year, or years of light crops.
A SUCCESSFUL FRUIT FARM IN NEW YORK
MANAGED BY A FATHER AND SON
INVENTORY
Land without buildings, 114 acres® $100 . $11,400.00
Water supply, etc 500.00
Buildings
Dwelling 3,000.00
Bams 2,000.00
Other farm buildings 200,00
262 FARM MANAGEMENT
Livestock
1 Cow $50.00
Young cattle 10.00
2 Hogs® $5 10.00
100 Hens® 50 cents 50.00
Teams and Tools
7 Horses® $125 875.00
Farm harness 100.00
Farm wagons 600.00
Other farm implements 300.00
Total, $19,095.00
FARM ROTATION BALANCE
Acre*
BuOdings, waste and woodland 30
Meadow 6
Pasture 6
Fruit 62
104
AVERAGE EXPENSES
Taxes $ 100.29
Help 3,217.01
Feeds 360.61
Fertilisers 384.62
Supplies and incidentals, estimated (this in-
cludes fruit packages, $1,467.69) . . . 2,000.00
Total, $6,062.53
AVERAGE REl'URNS
Total sales of fruit, less freight and com-
mission $12,955.41
This was considered an unusually good year.
TRUCK FARMING
At this point it will be necessary to depart from
our typical farm of 100 acres, for a farm of 100
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 263
acres devoted to vegetables would represent a
business of much greater size than any which we
have considered. For this reason we will
therefore assume a farm of ten acres, the land
being worth $125 per acre. For purposes of
illustration, as in the case of fruit growing,
a rather wide range of products will be in-
cluded.
INVENTORY
Farm, 10 acres @ $125 $1,250.00
Horse barn 500.00
Root cellar 500.00
Teams, harness and wagons (3 horses) . . 600.00
Plows and harrows 50.00
Small implements 100.00
Total, $3,000.00
FARM ROTATION BALANCE
_ ., ,. , Acres
Buildings and waste ^
Asparagus 1
Potatoes, followed by cabbage S
Sweet com, followed by turnips 1
Onions, followed by carrots 1
Cabbage, running 1
Spinach, followed by tomatoes |
Beans and peas, followed by beets ^
Onion sets and lettuce, followed by sweet com . J
Beets J
Carrots J
Parsnips J
Rhubarb \
10
264 FARM MANAGEMENT
PROBABLE EXPENSE OF MANAGEMENT
Interest, $3,000 @ 5% $150.00
Depreciation, repairs and insurance on build-
ings @ 5% 50.00
Depreciation on team and tools @ 10% . . 75.00
Taxes 25.00
Help 800.00
Feed and bedding for teams (3 horses) . . 300.00
Manure and fertilisers 400.00
Seeds 60.00
Supplies and incidentals 100.00
Total, $1,960.00
PROBABLE RETURNS
600 bu. Potatoes @ 75 cents $450.00
35 tons Cabbage @ $20 700.00
400 bu. Onions @ 60 cents 240.00
500 bu. Carrots @ 50 oents 250.00
1,250 doz. ears Sweet corn @ 8 cents . . 100.00
200 bu. Turnips @ 40 cents 80.00
2,500 lbs. Asparagus @ 12 cents .... 300.00
100 bbls. Spinach @ $1.50 150.00
150 bu. Tomatoes @ 50 cents 75.00
75 bu. String beans @ 80 cents .... 60.00
50 bu. Peas @ $1 50.00
150 bu. Late beets @ 50 cents .... 75.00
500 dozen Lettuce @ 25 cents .... 125.00
6,000 bunches Onion sets 125.00
400 doz. bunches Beets @ 30 cents . . . 120.00
400 doz. bunches Carrots @ 30 cents. . . 120.00
50 bbls. Parsnips @ $1.50 ' 75.00
Bhubarb 25.00
Total, $3,120.00
Expense of Management, 1,960.00
Farmer's Salary, $1,160.00
SPECIFIC TYPES OF FARMING 265
Such a wide range of products as here as-
sumed would call for a local market demanding
a general supply. If for a wholesale trade fewer
kinds would prove more profitable. It will be
noticed that in this type of farming the capital
invested is much less in proportion to the total
returns than in types previously considered.
The interest charge is therefore smaller, while
the expenses for help and fertiliser are pro-
portionately larger. For the man with limited
capital this type possesses manifest advant-
ages.
A TYPICAL TRUCK FARM NEAR BOSTON
INVENTOHT
Land without buildings, 14^ acres @ $800 . $11,600.00
Buildings
Dwelling 1,700.00
Bams 400.00
Greenhouses 1,000.00
Live stock
1 Cow 25.00
35 Hens @ 80 cents 28.00
Teams and Tools
3 Horses @ $150 450.00
Farm harness 75.00
Farm and market wagons .... 400.00
Other farm im[Jements 168.00
Hotbed sash 1,100.00
Total, $16,946.00
266 FARM MANAGEMENT
FARM BOTATION BALANCX
ACTM
Buildings, waste and woodland 4}
Small vegetables 10
Hi
AVEBAGB KXFENaSS
Taxes $ 180.00
Help 3,290.00
Feeds 460.00
Fertilisers 748.00
Supplies and incidentals 800.00
Total, $5,478.00
AVERAGE RBTURNS
Vegetables, forty varieties $6,768.00
Statement of expenses and returns taken
from figures for five years.
The reader may find items in the foregoing
estimates which his own experience will lead
him to criticise or change. They are believed
to present a reliable working basis for making
comparisons under average conditions but too
much emphasis is not to be laid upon the
detailed items given.
INDEX
Account, bank, lOy
Accounts, business, 145
personal, 170
reasons for keeping, 145
reqnisifes for satisfactory,
146
systems, of, 146
Acreage of improved land, 7
Adjustment of farm problems, 6
of land, labour and capital,
12
Advertising, 139
Agriculture and manufactures, 8
and population, 7
Appearance of farm and crops, 139
of farmer and team, 139
Attractiveness of location, 68
surroundings, 104
Bank accoimt, 169
Beef farming, 243
Bookkeeping requisites, 146
Boyd farms, 90
Budlong farm, 75
Buildings, 65
depreciation on, 157
location and arrangement,
204
Bulletin-board, 142
Business accoimts, 145
other lines compared with
fanning, 91
Butter-fat tests, 193
Buying, cooperative, 214
Capital, 10
census statistics, 13
classification, 11
economy of, 76
man without, opportunities
for, 102
need of, 92
opportunity for investment,
93
statistics from farmers, 15
Cards, inventory, 160
ledger, 172
Cash book, 162
double-entry, 175
Cash business, advantage oi, 182
rental, 49
Census statistics of farm Ci4>ital,
13
Choice of a farm, 56
Church facilities, 57
Circulars, 143
City salesman, 133
store, 134
Commission, vs. direct sale, 180
Contour, 63
Contract labour, 32
Cooperation, 208
Cooperative buying, S14
creamery, 213
fire insurance, 218
labour, 212
manufacture, 21S
marketing, 186
ownership, 209, 211
production, 208
selling, 217
telephone system, 220
Com, farm price Nebraska and
New York, 111
harvester, compared with
hand labour, 42
Creamery, cooperative, 213
Cream separator, profitableness
of, 44
Crop records, 195
Crops, appearance of, 139
Dairy farm, ownership or rental
of, 48
farming, 232
records, 191
Day book, 179
Dead-line, 95
Depreciation, 46
rates of, 156
267
S68
FARM MANAGEMENT
Distant market, vs. home, 128
Division of shipments, 132
Double-entry, 174
Drainage, 64
Dwelling, relation to farm business,
11, 152
Economic changes, 7
Employment, family, 106
Envelopes, printed, 141
Equipment, 40, 85
statistics, 16
Evolution of fanning, 3
Extensive farming, vs. intensive,
78
Fair exhibits, 142
Family consumption records, 195
employment, 106
Farm, appearance of, 139
beef, 245
character of, 62
choice of, 56
consiunption, 71
dair}% typical, 236
fruit, successful, 261
mixed, a representative,
226
name, 140
ownership or rental, 48
poultry, 248
records, 187
shape, of, 203
sheep, 239
truck, typical, 265
woman's, A, 231
Panning, beef, 243
compared with other lines
of business, 91
dairy, 232
fruit, 258
grain, 241
grass, 251
mixed, 223
poultry, 247
sheep, 237
special, Terry rotation, 254
specific types of, 222
truck, 262
Farmer, appearance of, 189
Veaces, 67
Fencing, 198, 201
Fencing, inventory value, 150
Fertility, 63, 80
inventory value, 151
Fields, shape of, 202
Financial returns, 97
Fire insurance, cooperative, 218
Forests, returns from, 22
Fruit farming, 258
Furrow, widfli of, 202
Garfield, Chas. A, quoted, 100
General market vs. special, 126
Grading, 136
Grain farming, 241
Grange fire insurance company,
219
Grass farming, 251
Grinnell, A. P., quoted,. 96
Haul, long vs. short. 111
Hay, extensive methods vs. in-
sive, 82.
farming, 251
Ha)dng, time consiuned in, 206
Highways, 62
Home-making, 105
Home market, vs. distant, 128
Implements and equipment, 40
cooperative ownership of,
209
depreciation on, 158
hiring, 44
profitableness of, 41
Independence, 107
Intensive farming vs. extensive, 78
Inventory, 148
records, 159
valuation, 154
Investment demanded, 92
safety of, 94
Investor, active, opportimities for,
100
passive opportunities for,
101
Journal, 179
Labour, 19
amount expended per farm,
14
average cost, 31
INDEX
269
Labour, contract, 32
cooperative, 212
distribution, 71
economy of, 76
manual, 27
married vs. single men, 28
monthly vs. day, 28
price of fanner's, 31
problem, 30
relation to fixed charges,
19
team, 34
winter, 20
Land as a form of capital, 11
improved and population,
7
inventory value, 150
nature of, 62
Ledger, 183
extended, 171
Letterheads, 140
livelihood, prosp)ect of, 95
Load, size in marketing, 119
Location, 56
attractiveness of, 68
Magazine advertising, 143
Mail faciUties, 56
Mail-order business, 135
Manual labour, 27
Manufacture, cooperative, 213
Manufactures and agriculture, 8
Man without capital, opportunities
for, 102
Market facilities, 60
general vs. special, 126
home vs. distant, 128
wholesale vs. retail, 122
Marketing, advantages of special
farming in, 77
advantages of syndicate
farming, 87
cooperative, 136
cost of, 117
effect of roads, 118
problems, 109
quantity handled, 116
team vs. rail, 121
Medical attendance, availability
of, 58
Milk records, 192
Miscellaneous problems, 198
Mixed farming, 223
vs. special, 73
Money return, uniform, 72
Name, farm, 140
Neighbors, 59
Newspaper advertising, 148
Onions, an intensive crop, 80
Operating expenses, statistics of,
16
Opportunities in agriculture, 100
Orchards, 67
inventory value, 150
Oversight, 87, 89
Ownership or rental of farm, 48
Packages, 137
Packing, 136
Parcels post, need of, 114
Perquisites, 29
Personal accounts, 170
Population and agriculture, 7
Potatoes, an intensive farm ox^,
79
extensive methods vs. in-
tensive, 83
Poultry farming, 247
records, 194
Price, importance of, 109
Profits, 97
Profit-sharing, 33
Production, cooperative, 308
records, 191
Quality of product, 128
Railway facilities, 57
Rations for horses, 36
Records and accounts, 145
crop, 195
dairy, 191
family consumption, 195
farm, 187
inventor}', 159
milk, 192
poultry, 194
production, 191
swine, 194
Rental or ownership of farm, 48
Retail market vs. wholesale, 128
Rhubarb, forcing, 24
270
FARM MANAGEMENT
Risk in cash and share rental, 52
Roads, effect on marketing, 118
Elotation, 67
Rotation-balance, 70
Safety of investment, 94
Sale, direct, vs. commission, 180
Salesman, city, 133
School facilities, 58
Self-sustaining men, percentages
of, 96
Selling, by whom done, 129
Selling, cooperative, 217
Service, 107
Shape of farm, 20S
of field, 202
Share rental, 49
Sheep fanning, 237
Shipments, division of, 1S2
size of, 113
Shipping cards, 141
Single-entry system, 147
Sires, cooperative ownershq) of,
211
Size of business, wholesale^ vs.
retail, 124
load in marketing, 119
machinery, 45
shipment, 113
Slips, ledger, 172
Social opportunities, 59
Special farming, 76
farming, vs. mixed, 73
Terry rotation, 254
Specialisation, S
Special market, vs. general, 126
trade, 124
Store, city, 134
Surface contour, 63
Surroundings, 56
attractiveness of, 104
Swine records, 194
Syndicate farming, 85
Systems of farming, 70
Team, appearance of, ISO
laTxtur, 34
cost per imit of work, S7
maintenance, 35
rations, 36
three-horse, in marketing,
120
depreciation on, 157
three- and four-horse, S8
Telephone facilities, 58
systems, cooperative, 220
Terry rotation, 254
Time-cards, 31, 188
Time, economy of, 200
loss in working large areaa^
88
Transportation, 110
facilities, 62
private, 114
relation to type of farming',
112
Trolley facilities, 57
Truck farming, 262
Types of famung, 222
Valuation, inventory, 154
Varieties, 136
Vegetable gardening, 262
Waste land, 64
Water-supply, 66
Well, badly situated, 205
Wheat, an extensive crop, 79
Wholesale market vs. retaO, 122
Wing, Joseph E., quoted, iS9
Winter labour, 20
study, 27
Woodland, 66
relation to labour probkm,
21
Woman's farm. A, 231
Women, opportunities for, lOS
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