UMASS/AMHERST 6 ift I Some Suggestions for Citi] Persons Who est re to Far G . FV Warren- )i Cornell Exp. Sta. C i r. 24 LIBRARY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL s 501 13 5m-12-'29. No. A 8061 'U NVr 'lVd SJ351BM •soia pjoi^«o jopuig junoiuo^ond JULY, 1914 "W &i CIRCULAR No. 24 CORNELL UNIVERSITY AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION OF THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE Department of Farm Management SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR CITY PERSONS WHO DESIRE TO FARM G. F. Warren This circular is prepared to make a few suggestions to the considerable number of inexperienced persons who are making farm investments. For a number of years large numbers of such persons have been writing to the College of Agriculture for advice. It is not often possible, in the limits of a letter, to fully answer the questions asked, nor will it be possible in a circular, but a few of the more common questions and mistakes may be discussed. The writer is well aware that the facts and opinions here presented are not popular, but he believes that if carefully considered they may save many misfortunes that are sometimes tragedies. It is not the purpose of this circular to persuade any one to farm or not to farm. The aim is to give a better understanding of what may be expected from a farm, and to suggest the safer ways of procedure for those who are starting farming. The facts here presented are based on records of large numbers of farms. Profits to be expected in farming. Farming is a very conservative business and, like ah conservative enterprises, it gives conservative returns. Compared with large city enterprises, farming is a very small business and, like other small enterprises, too much should not be expected from it. It is a very complicated business and requires considerable experience for success. For one who knows how to farm, it offers a wholesome living and a modest profit. In the best townships in Jefferson county, in a year fully as good as the average, the average farmer and his family with a capital of $9006 made $1155 above the business expenses of the farm. In addition they had the use of a house and some farm products. The houses are nearly all heated by stoves, with wood that comes from the farm. Usually not more than one stove is kept burning besides the one in the kitchen. Probably less than one in a hundred of the farmhouses has a bathroom. The majority of the houses are such as would rent for $10 to $20 a month in a village. In this county the farms usually furnish potatoes and milk and some vegetables, eggs, and meat for family use. The $1155 represents the amount that the average family had for living, aside from what the farm furnished, and for saving. This should not be compared with city wages because the farmer has capital invested. At 5 per cent the use of the capital is worth $450, and unpaid 'farm work done by members of the family was valued at $96, so that the pay for the farmer's 30 Circular No. 24 work, or his labor income, was $609, besides the use of a house and some farm products. This is considerably above the average for the State, but is exceeded in some townships in the State. In 16 townships in three counties of 1988 farmers 63 made labor incomes of over $2000, that is, made 5 per cent interest on the capital and had over $2000 besides the use of a house and some farm products as pay for the year's labor. Farming does not often give what in the city are considered large profits, nor is there so great danger of large losses. Bulletins 295 and 349 of this station give some of the variations in profits made by different farmers. A common wage in New York for experienced hired men is $30 a month, with house ; land for a garden, firewood, and a quart or two of milk a day. In some of the more prosperous parts of the State, $35 is often paid. Very rarely does a hired man get more _than $40 by the year. Unmarried men are paid about $5 a month less than married men, but are given their board. Inexperienced men are, of course, worth much less. The above figures may give some idea of the profits in farming. The glowing stories about farming that are told in many publications have led to very wrong conclusions as to the profits to be expected. A recent article that is typical stated that the farmer made $2400 a year from one enterprise and that he made 120 per cent on the capital. But no allowance was made for labor of men, horses or machinery. Deprecia- tion, taxes, and insurance on buildings were omitted, to say nothing of the multitude of miscellaneous expenses. To call the difference between the value of the feed and the returns from live-stock profit, is just as inaccurate as it would be to call the difference between the cost of leather and the value of shoes the profit of a shoe factory. This error is very common in farm publications. Popular publications are of course looking for striking things. Head- lines stating that John Jones and his son rose at five o'clock, milked the cows, worked in the fields all day, and milked the cows again at night, and made a dollar and a half apiece by so doing, would probably not add to the circulation any more than would the statement that merchant So-and-so went to the store in the morning, stayed there all day except for a hurried lunch, returned home for supper, and that by so doing he made enough to pay his modest living expenses. Publications are usually not looking for the ordinary, they are looking for the unusual; that is, for the news — and the news is sometimes highly colored. Compared with city work, farming is a very much better business than many farmers think it to be. It is a much poorer business than many city persons think it to be. At one of the Farmers' Week lectures, the writer gave the results from some of the most successful farms in the State. After the talk, an intelligent farmer stated that he did not believe any farm ever made so much money. An equally intelligent city business man criticized the talk even more severely because it did not show profits enough. How big a business is a farm ? The following statement from a recent letter is typical : " I want to buy a farm and go to fanning scientifically. I have always had a love for outdoor life and find that my present occupation is too confining for my health. I have about $5000 and have thought that you Some Suggestions for City Persons Who Desire to Farm 31 might possibly know of some good graduate of the College of Agriculture who would act as superintendent for me for a share of the profits. We would prefer a married man so that he could board the help." Very few farmers who have only $5000 invested in the business employ much if any hired labor. In fact, a farm with this amount of capital is usually a one-man farm. The graduate of a college who would act as superintendent of this farm should be able to do all the work himself, if not interfered with too much by the owner. There would usually be nothing left for the owner to do and no other hired help to board. A farmer running such a farm would ordinarily make a labor income of about $350. A person who is not so vitally interested would not be likely to run the farm so well. It takes more ability to run such a place and make any profit than it does to run a larger enterprise successfully. A graduate of a college of agriculture who has the experience and the ability that are necessary to make a profit on such a farm is a man who can earn $800 to $1200 a year in any one of several different kinds of work. In short, this represents too small a business to make it pay to hire a graduate. A few farmers who use this amount of capital are doing well, but they are the exception. A considerable number who know how to farm are doing well when the owned capital is not more than $5000 and when nearly as much more is borrowed. It is not safe for any but experienced farmers to be so heavily in debt. Another way of obtaining more capital is to be a renter. Many renters with less than $5000 of their own are doing well. Judging by the profits that farmers make, 5 per cent of the capital would be very high pay for a manager. It will be seen at once that no small business would justify one in employing a graduate of an agricultural college as a manager. Usually it requires a wise investment of $20,000 to $40,000 in order to justify one in employing a really good graduate of a college of agriculture who has had good farm experience and good business experience. A general or dairy farm with this amount of capital will usually employ three to six men. A good manager of such a farm does not conduct his business from an office ; he should be at work with the men and should do as much farm work as any other man on the place. No industry can afford a non- working foreman for so few workers. In sixteen townships in three counties, the 23 most profitable farms selling market milk at wholesale had an average capital of $19,728. Their average area was 257 acres, of which 154 acres were in harvested crops. These farms kept an average of 32 cows, besides young stock. These large profitable farms employed an average of 3.2 men, or a little over two men besides the farmer. With this amount of help, the stock was cared for and, in addition, enough cash crops were raised so that over one third of the income came from the sale of crops. The crops sold for enough to pay the entire feed bill and have left an average of $1553 per farm. For a business of this size, inexperienced persons often employ two or three times as many men. Farming a slow business. The returns from money invested in farming are very slow compared with most enterprises. Farming is a family busi- ness. The returns from some investments do not even come in the farmer's lifetime; they are made for his sons. 32 Circular No. 24 Farming is not a factory process. It depends on living things. Many of these things cannot be hurried. If one starts to improve his soil, he will not get far until he has carried out one full rotation. This usually takes six years on the dairy or live-stock farms. At least a second rotation must be carried out before the full returns come in. The successful live- stock breeder takes time. The favorite cow may persist in raising bull calves, so that the herd is not soon replaced by her daughters. An invest- ment in tile drains is a good thing for many farms, but we do not expect them to be paid for at once. The man who plants an apple orchard has a long-time investment. Orchard surveys of four counties published by this station indicate that the average apple orchard does not yield much until it is over twenty years old. The maximum production is reached at forty to fifty years of age. There are varieties that bear younger, but they also die younger. The old standards, such as the Baldwin, are long-lived trees that have a long youth as well as a long life. So it is with nearly all the best farm investments. Returns come slowly. Many an amateur at farming starts out with too rosy views, and becomes discouraged at the expense and time before things have had a chance to pay. Cost of living on farms. Approximately half of the food of farm families is furnished by the farm at a cost much below what it costs in cities. The purchased food usually costs as much as, or more than, it does in cities. City water rent is very much cheaper than the cost of furnishing running water in the house on most farms. Light is cheaper in cities unless the farmer uses kerosene lamps, as they nearly all do. High school education is often very expensive for farm children, because it is often necessary for the children to leave home and pay board, or a horse may have to be kept for the children to drive to school and this is very expensive even on a farm. The fact that food and house are cheaper on the farm makes the farm most attractive for persons with large families and small means, because such persons spend most of their money for food. The children can also be of much help in the farm work. At the same time the children not only receive the benefits that come from wholesome labor, but also learn much about plants and animals. Persons who have an income so large that food is not the chief item in the cost of living are likely to be disappointed in their expectations of a greatly reduced cost of living on farms. A farm a home enterprise. Farming is very different from most city occupations. The success of a farm is dependent on the entire family. All the members of the farm family take some part in the farm business. The women usually help by taking care of the hens and in some of the other farm work. They go to town to get farm supplies, often board some of the hired help, and usually take a considerable part in other farm operations at times of unusual pressure of farm work. They often direct the farm work during the absence of the head of the family. Children on farms [tactically always help with the work. There are many things that a small boy can do as well as a man. It is not of vital importance to the family whether one is a carpenter or a mason, but when one decides to be a farmer the family must be consulted, because farming is a family occupa- tion. Some Suggestions for City Persons Who Desire to Farm 33 One of the primary advantages of a farm is its value as a place to bring up children. The farm provides a healthful and wholesome life. Chil- dren on a farm learn to take life and work seriously. They have the best form of apprenticeship by working with their parents. The reason why farm boys get along so well in cities is primarily that they have learned to take an interest in their work and have learned to stick to it even if they had rather not. Children who have grown up in idleness in a city do not often take kindly to the discipline of farm life. The family that can derive much of its pleasure from the labor on the farm has one of the most important qualifications for success in farming. The primary ways of overcoming the isolation of farm life are to derive pleasure from work and to be able to entertain oneself by reading. The many other advantages of farm life are fully discussed in the magazines. The purpose of this circular is not to discuss the advantages or disadvantages of being a farmer but to give some cautions to those who are going to start farming. First learn the business. There are several reasons why one may wish to buy a farm. One may desire to live on a farm while he continues his employment in the city. One may want- a farm as a country home. Or one may desire a farm as a place on which to make a living — that is, a real farm. If the farm is to be a home only, it is of course desirable to know some- thing about farming, but it is not necessary because the living is made in some other business. The farm is not expected to furnish the income, but, if the aim is to make farming a business, then one should learn the business before he invests money in it. The farm boy who goes to town starts in at the bottom and serves some time in subordinate positions before he enters business for himself. If a successful farmer should decide that he desired to go into the grocery business, he should begin in a subordinate position in order to learn the business. It would be very unwise for him to start by buying a store before he had had any experience. It is even more unwise for one who has never farmed to buy a farm before he knows anything about the business. The way to gain the necessary experience is to work for a farmer as a hired man. The failure to appreciate the necessity of an apprenticeship before starting farming is the reason why a circular such as this is needed. If prospective farmers were willing to learn something about the business before starting, they would not make the many errors that call for this advice. The almost universal error of the city man is over-confidence in his ability, and lack of appreciation of generations of farm experience. Selecting a farm. If an amateur hopes to make money by farming, he should go where the present farmers are prosperous. The cheap farms are a great attraction to many. But the inexperienced person is the last one who should buy a poor soil. His lack of knowledge will be handicap enough without the addition of poor soil. When land sells for little, it is because in the experience of the farmers of the region there is little or no profit in farming it. , The newcomer who laughs at the present farmers in a poor region and thinks that they could do well if they would only follow his advice is an " easy mark " for the land agent. One may be sure that, if the land is good, some one in the country will have discovered it. Even 34 Circular No. 24 in the poorest community, some fanners have plenty of ability. An absolute proof of this ability is the facility with which they can sell a poor farm to an over-confident prospector for several times its value. By all means, the prospective farmer should locate on a good farm in a prosperous community. His chances of success will be much greater, and if he fails as a farmer the capital in the farm can be recovered because such a farm is salable. It requires the intelligence and skill of the most experienced farmer to make a profit from poor soil. It is just such soil that is ordinarily sold to city persons and to persons from a distance. Good land sells readily to the neighboring farmers. It does not require advertising in order to make it sell. The poor land of the South is often sold to Northerners. The good land is readily salable to persons who know it. The poor land in New York is often sold to men from the West and to men from the cities. The good land does not have to hunt for a buyer. Land values for many miles from New York are based primarily on the home value rather than the value for farming. The movement for country homes has made much of the land double in price. Such land is some- times a good speculation as it may rise in price. It is often very desirable for those who wish a country home and who expect to continue in the city occupation. But if one wishes to make a living from the soil, it is much safer to go where the farmers who depend entirely on the farm are making good profits. The farm should have buildings that are sufficient for the purchaser's needs. Good land with buildings can be purchased for little more than new buildings would cost. But the buildings without good soil are useless. The prosperity of the farm depends on the soil. No matter how good the buildings are or how attractive the view is, if the soil is not good the place is certain to prove a disappointment financially. One should not be mis- led by what can be done on the soil. A given amount of outdoors can be made a good soil if one has the money to spend, but to make it pay is a different problem. A good soil is one that nature made good. Large crops do not necessarily pay. The beginner nearly always over- estimates the importance of large returns per acre. Economy of land is usually much less important than economy of labor and other costs. From cost accounts on a number of New York farms, the following costs per acre were shown: Rent of land of man, horse, and equipment labor Other costs Total cost $68.61 $21.52 $11.71 The use of land is about one sixteenth of the cost of growing a potato It is less than a fifth of the cost of the oat crop and a third of 'if a hay crop. By experience, the practical farmer has learned win n nomize. He may not be able to express his views in terms of efficiency engineering, but a very large number of farmers have arrived Potatoes Oats Hay $4-42 $4.09 $3-78 42.19 11. 15 4.49 22 .00 6.28 3-44 Some Suggestions for City Persons Who Desire to Farm 35 at the correct practice. The writer is never favorably impressed by the amateur's large yields per acre unless he knows the cost. The way to make money on potatoes is to have the cost per bushel less than potatoes sell for. Fairly good crops are likely to be a help in reducing the cost of production, but phenomenal crops are likely to cost too much. The amateur is likely to figure how many cows he can keep on an acre by using the soiling system. The experienced farmer is not so much concerned with the cow population as he is with saving the labor cost. Economy in the use of labor of men and horses, and a reduction of the machinery cost, are more important by far than is economy in the use of land. When we arrive at the conditions of high-priced land and cheap labor of Europe, we will give relatively more attention to the saving of areas. There are some profitable farms that obtain very large receipts per acre; these are usually with types of farming in which the expenditure per acre is also large. Correct types of fanning. One who has traveled much is likely to be impressed by what is done in some other State and may want to try it in New York. He sees hogs eating corn in Iowa, and is likely to think that the New York farmer should raise as many as does the Iowa farmer. He buys an expensive steak, and concludes that beef would pay every New York farmer. Nearly all the pasture land in New York is already in use producing milk or raising dairy cattle. New York farmers have tried practically everything. The types of farming that have survived are the ones that have stood the test. Over-investment in buildings and machinery. In Livingston county, the investment in houses represents 14 per cent of the total capital in the farm business, including real estate equipment, live-stock and supplies. Certainly, one should hesitate to build a new home that represents much over a fifth of the capital. The house may be said to be a personal matter, but, if the investment goes much beyond this, it is too valuable a house for the farm. The average cost of barns per cow or equivalent in other animals was $70 in Livingston county. One who spends over $100 per cow should be sure that he is right. The interest, repairs, taxes, insurance and other costs on such a building amount to about 8 to 10 per cent. The above limit would make an annual cost of $10 per cow for barn rent. One set of barns were built not long ago which were intended to be model barns for the neighbors. They cost $65,000 and were to house 65 cows. The barn rent per cow would be $100 a year. It takes a good cow to give $100 worth of milk at wholesale prices. There are many such examples in this State. Nearly all the so-called model barns are so expensive as to be impossible on a business farm. Hen houses ought not to cost much over $1 per hen. At this cost, the hen must lay a half dozen eggs _ to pay her house rent. Many of the big poultry farms have such expensive buildings that the plant cannot possibly pay. The danger of over-investment in machinery is even greater, for there are skilled agents whose business it is to make sales. The average farm in Livingston county has an investment in machinery of $6 per acre of crops. Many a farm of an amateur has ten times this amount The machinery on a general farm ought not to cost over $10 per acre of crops. The complete cost of maintenance, housing, interest, repairs, and deprecia- 36 Circular No. 24 tion 'on farm machinery amounts to about 25 per cent of the inventory- value. A $10 investment per acre of crops represents a cost of about $2.50 per acre per year. Raise crops first. The temptation of the beginner is to spend his first year or two in a complete revision of all buildings on the farm. Such changes nearly always cost twice the estimated amount. Unless one has a large amount of money, he is likely to find that when he gets his buildings ready he has no money left for farming. This mistake is a very natural one to make, because in cities, buildings in themselves are often a business. But on a farm the foundation of the business is the crops grown. The way to begin farming is to raise crops. If one cannot make a profit at this, he has no need for buildings. It is better to put off the desire for changes for a few years. One will then know better what he wants. He will also know whether he desires to remain on the farm. Money invested in buildings is rarely returned when one sells. Learn from the neighbors. The beginner should follow the practice of the best farmers of the region, for the 'first few years at least. In every community there are farmers who understand farming as well as the most successful railroad president understands railroads. The newcomer with his theories nearly always scorns the experience of the generations of farmers. He fails to realize how old a science agriculture is. The words of Dr. A. D. Hall, formerly Director of the Rothamsted Experiment Station, show the modest point of view to which he arrived as a result of his many years of scientific investigation. " . . . Agriculture is the oldest and most widespread art the world has known, the application of scientific method to it is very much an affair of the day before yesterday. Nor can we see our way to any radical acceleration of the turnover of agricultural operations that shall be economical; the seasons and the vital processes of the living organism are stubborn' facts, unshapable as yet by man with all his novel powers." The newcomer fails to realize that in every prosperous farming com- munity there are farmers with minds as keen as any industry can command. Manufacturing enterprises are so much under control that the city man comes to have great faith that by the aid of science and business he can do what he wills. The farmer who has spent a lifetime trying to control the stubborn forces of nature is less confident of the powers of man and science. He has never seen two seasons exactly alike. His plans are every day subject to revision by the weather. He may be excused if his plans are not always clear-cut. Many public-spirited men of wealth desire to establish farms where, with the aid of college graduates as managers, they can show farmers the results of the application of scientific and business principles to farm- ing. There are already examples in every county of farms that are demon- strating how best to farm under the circumstances. Furthermore, a demonstration of how to farm with unlimited capital is of little value to the tenant or the small owner whose chief problem is not to know what it would pay to do, but to know what to do with his limited means. The college graduate who wants to demonstrate how to farm can best do it by starting as other farmers start and making his money while he farms. The newcomer should at first humbly follow the example of the best farmers. Any attempt to be a model for the farmers nearly always results Some Suggestions for City Persons Who Desire to Farm 37 in amusement for them at the expense of the newcomer. After one has learned how to farm in the region, he may cautiously try new things if he has not by this time learned that they have already been tried and found unprofitable. Starting as a young man without capital. A young man can take up any kind of business that he likes, and if he first prepares for the business and then works hard at it he may hope for success. The way to prepare for farming is by working as a hired man on a farm. Visiting on farms does not prepare one for farming, any more than visiting in town prepares one to be a banker. There is no way to learn to farm except by farming. It is an excellent thing for city boys to work as farm laborers during the summer vacation while they are in high school. It pays a young man to make a thorough preparation for any business before he goes into it. Such a preparation for farming includes work at an agricultural college as well as work as a farm hand. Neither one can take the place of the other. The work on a farm should precede the college work. It is a serious mistake for one who plans to farm to take a college course in agriculture before he has worked on a farm. There are many reasons why the farm work should come first. Not until one has worked on a farm does he know whether or not he wants to be a farmer. Many young men are quickly cured of any such desire as soon as they find out what farming means. The sooner such men find this out the better. Others like farming better than they expected to. It is a great mistake for parents, or any one else, to try to make farmers out of young men who are not going to like farming. When a young man is deciding what his life work is to be, he does not need blinders. A person who has never worked on a farm is not prepared to take a college course in agriculture. He will gain vastly more from such a course after he has had farm experience. The young man from the city should spend at least one full year on a farm before he takes such a course. Two years would be very much better. Farmers usually hire men after they have seen them. They do not ordinarily hire by correspondence. If one does not know where to get work, he should go to a farming community and start out in the country to look for work. He will usually get a temporary place if he looks as if he would not be afraid of work. At first an inexperienced city boy is rarely worth his board. As he learns how to be of use, and as it becomes safe to trust him with tools or stock, he will be worth a small wage. If one works well he will usually be paid all he is worth by the farmer or by some neighbor who has observed his work. If the desire to farm still persists after a year or two of farm work, at least a short winter course should be taken at an agricultural college. If possible it is very much better to take a regular four-year college course in agriculture. Farming for middle-aged persons. A decided change in business is always a hazardous undertaking for any but young men. The man who knows nothing about farming and who has a family to support should be very cautious about leaving good wages in a city and going to farming. Such changes have been made with great success, but there have also been many severe disappointments. One must learn the business .before -he can expect success in any occu- pation, and in any«business it is rather difficult to make a living for a family 38 Circular No. 24 while learning. Farming is manual labor. Very few persons make a success of farming who are not workers as well as managers, and these few persons nearly always come up through the labor experience. If a middle-aged person has never learned to do manual labor, such a change is still more difficult. If the members of such a family are very sure that they desire to go to farming, it is safer, if possible, to rent a small place in the country and continue with the city occupation. Some chickens and a cow can be kept, and a garden raised. The family can do most of this work. The small enterprises can be increased, and, if successful after a few years, it may be safe to leave the city work and go to farming. Another safe method of procedure for a man with a family and small means is to put his money in a savings bank and hire out as a farm hand for at least a year before any of the money is invested in farming. The amount of wages received will not be very large, but the danger of losing the entire capital through premature investment may be avoided. Until an able-bodied person is able to earn good farm wages for some one else, he is certainly not ready to direct a farm for himself — no more so than is a clerk ready to run a grocery store before he can earn good wages as a clerk in that store. The farm as a home. There are thousands of persons who live on farms and who continue with their city occupation. Living on a small place enables one to raise milk, vegetables, eggs and fruit for home use and often some for sale. This greatly reduces the cost of living. It gives a chance to provide useful and wholesome work that is such a vital part of the training of children. One of the greatest helps in encouraging this manner of living is the locating of factories in small villages or towns where the workers can get out to the land. Trolley lines have given a great stimulus to this method of living. In the last ten years there has been a great increase in the number of such places. Railroad freight rates and freight accommodations have often been unfavorable for the small town. This has been one of the chief obstacles to a still greater extension of this excellent movement. Large farms and corporation farming. Large fortunes are usually made cither by speculation or by making a little profit from each of a large number of workers. Many large fortunes have been made by buying land when it was cheap and holding it until it became expensive. Other fortunes have been made by dealing in farm land. But straight farming very rarely creates even small fortunes. Only rarely is there a farm business that compares in size with large manufacturing plants. There are many reasons why " bonanza farms " or corporation farms do not often pay. The factory system is based on high-priced supervision. Most of the workers have only a few things to learn, and they are under close super- vision. It is impossible to give close supervision to large farming enter- prises because the workers are so scattered. For general farming, 40 to 80 acres of crops can be raised per worker. The number of men that might be gathered under one roof under the supervision of one super- intendent, would in farming be scattered over half a county. For nearly all farm operations, it is necessary that each worker be intelligent and that he take an interest in the work. We cannot have a boss watching the man on a mowing machine. If some one has to watch Some Suggestions for City Persons Who Desire to Farm 39 the driver, he may as well replace the driver and do the work himself. There are a few operations at which gangs of men can be used, but there are very few cases in which a farm can make a continued use of a gang of men. It is very difficult to get men to take the necessary interest in large farms. If wages are high enough to attract men who will take an interest without close supervision, the high wages take all the profit. A profit of 10 to 20 per cent on the wages of each worker is a good profit in any industry. If the industry employs a very few men, the profits will be small. The expense of hauling crops and manure usually makes about 600 acres the limit to run from one center. But for general farming this area with half the land in pasture is a business that, measured in workers, corresponds with a grocery store that employs two or three clerks and one or two deliverymen. The prices of farm products are based on production by the farm family working as a unit. The hired help is usually boarded in the family at much less than it costs to hire it boarded. The women wash the milk pails, care for the chickens, go to town on errands. They very frequently take the place of a man at these light operations, and also very frequently help with farm work. In Delaware county, on 2 10 of the rather large dairy farms, 20 per cent of the milking and caring for cows was done by women and children. On the smaller farms, the proportion of such labor is much more. All this labor is directly interested. When men are hired to run large farms, it is exceedingly difficult to produce farm products at the same cost at which they are produced by the family-farm system. More conclusive than the reasons for failure are the results. Literally hundreds of successful business men scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific have tried running large farms with hired managers. Most of these men have demonstrated their ability to make money in cities. The writer has seen many such farms in a number of States, but has not yet seen a case in which a man who made a fortune in a city has ever added to his accumulations by running a large farm with a hired manager. There are many cases in which the live-stock has taken premiums innumer- able and the crop yields have been all that could be desired, but the profits have always been book profits. No farm is a success that does not pay all expenses, a reasonable rate of interest, and good wages to the operator, and have enough money to provide for depreciation. Many college graduates have undertaken the management of such farms. Formerly the writer recommended some of them for such places, but so far the writer has never seen an instance when such a farm paid. Yet these same college graduates have by the hundreds demonstrated their ability to make their own farms pay. Part of the difficulty is the erroneous attempt to apply the factory system to farming operations. Part of the difficulty is that the successful business man makes a fad of farming. He has too many theories to try out. Most of the big farms that are popularly cited as examples of business organization of a farm have a monthly check come out from the city to meet the pay roll. If the writer were free to give the names of some of the well-known places that have been run for years at a loss, many of which have been written up as great successes, the list would contain many surprises for the reader. 4Q Circular No. 24 Wealthy men who start farming with the idea of showing farmers howj to farm often end by finding out some of the obstacles in the way of farm-j ing and joining with the farmers to work for their removal. By aiding in cooperation, in marketing, in obtaining railroad accommodations, and in having laws passed that give the farmer equal rights, such men have done much good. Farmers are no more and no less in need of education or uplifting than are merchants, bankers, mechanics, or any other class of our population. But farmers have been relatively too little heard inf legislative halls. A successful business man may derive much pleasure from a country! place. But if he hopes to make money by farming with a hired manager, I he had best profit by the experience of others. The first few years are full j of hope, for then all expenses can be charged to improvements, but there i comes a time when the constant deficit is disconcerting. The writer is well aware of the fact that some large corporations are| making money in farming or in enterprises closely associated with farming. He has probably visited as many such farms as has any one.^ There are some large nurseries and seedhouses and other large enterprises that' are doing well. But these have usually grown by the direct management of their owners. Often several generations of the same family have developed the enterprise. Such enterprises have not often been success- ful when started by wealthy men from the city who depended on hired managers. About the only way in which such inexperienced men have often made successes has been in buying land and holding it for a rise in price. Even the large farms of the West where the farming is of the simplest kind are rapidly being broken up or rented. In order to manage a large tract of land profitably, it is necessary to have several centers, and the best method of management for the centers is to give the man a share in the returns, that is, rent the farm. The standard system of giving the worker a share in farm returns is to rent him the place for a share of the products. An even less hopeful kind of farming is the corporation that sells unit orchards or other parcels of land, when the buyer has nothing to do with the enterprise except to move onto the farm sometime in the future when the farm has been made to order and is to be producing a fine revenue. Such schemes profit from selling to city persons only. Farmers rarely make such investments, except when they are the promoters. Those who understand farming know better than to make such investments.