434. Machines that are seldom used. ВЂ” Some pieces

of equipment that seem almost necessary on the farm

are used but few times in a season. The farmer who has

a few acres of grain needs a fanning mill to clean the seed,

and yet it seems a waste to have this machine idle except

for a few days during each year. This difficulty can be

overcome in part by the cooperation of a number of farm-

ers in the purchase and use of such machinery. Seed

grain can be cleaned almost any time during the year.

This makes it possible for a dozen or twenty farmers

to use the same fanning mill, making the expense for

each one very slight. The same rule can be applied to

the ownership of grain drills, harvesters, threshing ma-

chines, and numerous other implements.

435. Size of machinery. — The size of machinery

must be adapt^^to the needs of the farmer. On the

very large farm >^ it ia dp^rable to have all the machinery

so large that it may be operated with as little man labor

as possible. Where fields are small, on the other hand,

large machines cannot be used to advantage on account

of the constant turning that is necessary. The traction

engine as a source of power in tillage operations may be

used under certain conditions, but it jfinds no place on the

ordinary farm. In trying equipment of all kinds, the

farmer should consider well the sizes that will best meet

his needs. The machines should be large enough to do

his work, and not so large that capital is unnecessarily

tied up in them.

436. The duty of machinery refers to the amount of

work done, or the area of land served, by an implement

during one season. The duty of a mowing machine would

be very great if it could be working the year round, but

396 The PrijicipUs (^ Agromymy

it is used only during the comparatively brief period when

hay is in the right stage to cut. The duty of a grain drill

is low, because the season when grain can be planted is

short and one implement can cover only a limited area

of land. The duty of an Implement is increased by keep-

ing it in good working order and by running it double

shifts during the busy season. By using lights and chang-

Pio. 95. — Gasoline engine uaed for etacking hay. Wisconsin.

ing men and teams, a potato digger may be run twenty-

four hours in a day if necessary, thereby making its duty

two or three times what it would ordinarily be. The

same plan may be followed with many other implements.

437. Depreciation. — Every farm Implement depre-

ciates, partly through wearing out and partly through

getting out of date. A gasoline engine built fifteen years

ago would be worth very much less to-day, had it not been

used at all, because many improvements have since been

Equipment of the Farm 397

made. The Minnesota Experiment Station found that

depreciation of equipment each year ranged from 12 per

cent for threshing outfits to 3.47 per cent for grain tanks.

Implements having complicated machinery like corn

binders depreciate much more rapidly than simple ones

like wagons. Depreciation is dependent less on actual

use than on the care given. Machines soon rust away

when left exposed to the sun and storms even if they

are not used.

438. Caring for machinery. — The sure way to waste

money on the farm is to buy expensive machinery and

Fia. 96. — Cheap but effective shelter.

leave it unprotected during all seasons of the year. Costly

machine houses are not necessary, or even desirable.

Some machine sheds, however, are so constructed that they

depreciate about as rapidly as the machinery they were

built to protect. A simple but neat shed that will keep

out water and sun will suffice. This can be built at slight

expense, and will pay for itself in one year if there are

many expensive machines to shelter.

It is a good idea to clean and repair all machinery at

the end of the season when it is put away. All parts

398 The Principles of Agronomy

likely to rust should be oiled. If this is done, the imple-

ment is always ready for use. The practice of repairing

when the machine is taken out for use in the beginning

of the season results in a great waste of valuable time.

All machinery should be kept in a good state of repair,

as this lessens the depreciation and increases the efficiency.

Mower knives, plows, and other similar implements, work

much more efficiently if kept well sharpened.

439. Suitable farm buildings. — Farm buildings, al-

though necessary, may be considered as the non-produc-

tive part of the farm. They are needed as protection

for the farmer as well as for his stock, farm products, and

machinery, yet they add nothing directly to the farm

income. Buildings, therefore, should not be expensive,

since they tie up capital that is needed in the more pro-

ductive enterprises. People who know nothing about

farming and the way its profits are obtained are likely

to criticize the average farmer for his lack of expensive

buildings. The farmer must be conservative in this re-

spect, however, or his desire to make a showing in build-

ings will cripple him in his working capital.

There is no doubt that farm buildings could be im-

proved in design, and that, with proper planning, the

money now invested could have been better spent. The

arrangement of farm buildings in many cases results in a

great waste of time. The modern farmer, by the use of

cement and other available building materials, can con-

struct all necessary buildings at comparatively low ex-

pense. Care in planning enables him to do much more

with his money than if he constructed a number of small

buildings without regard to arrangement. The impor-

tance of convenience and sanitation have also been largely

overlooked in the past.

Equipment of the Farm 399

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

Farm Structures, K. J. T. Ekblaw.

Farm Management, G. F. Warren, pp. 355-364.

Cyclopedia of American Agriculture, Vol. I, pp. 162-278.

Farm Management, F. W. Card, pp. 40-47.

Physics of Agriculture, F. H. King, pp. 223-254, 329-553.

Farm Machinery and Farm Motors, Davidson and Chase.

Farm Development, W. M. Hays, pp. 355-384.

Farm Equipment, Ohio Bui. 297.

Cost of Producing Minnesota Farm Crops, Minnesota Bui. 117.

U. S. D. A. Farmers* Bulletins :

No. 303. Corn-Harvesting Machinery.

347. Repair of Farm Equipment.

475. Ice Houses.

481. Concrete Construction on the Livestock Farm.

574. Poultry House Construction.

689. Home Made Silos.

CHAPTER XXXII

FACTORS OF SUCCESS IN CROP PRODUC-

TION

One of the most difficult things in any business is to

maintain a proper balance between its parts. There is a

constant tendency to develop hobbies, which means that

other phases will be neglected. A merchant had a hobby

of keeping his store neat and clean, claiming that an

orderly establishment attracted trade. He was so

particular about scrubbing and putting things in order,

that when customers came in they were neglected;

customers were secondary to cleanliness. He also neg-

lected to give proper attention to buying and to other

important parts of his business. As a result of his hobby

and in spite of the fact that his store was a model of

neatness, he lost most of his trade and became bankrupt.

The farmer, unless he is careful, will give most of his

attention to one or two phases of his business and neglect

the others. He must be constantly on the alert to keep

the business well organized, to have the capital all work-

ing, to practice the right type of farming, to handle the

crops and animals in the best way, and to market to the

best advantage. He must recognize that successful

f&rming is made up of a great many important factors.

440. Size of farm. — In order to make a success in

the production of crops, the farm must be of the proper

size. High yields may be obtained, but unless a consider-

400

Factors of Success in Crop Production 401

able area is farmed it will be impossible to make a good

living. A yield of fifty bushels of wheat to the acre

would be considered excellent; but if the farmer only

bad five acres, the returns would furnish a scant living.

The size of farm that is most profitable depends on a

number of factors, one of which is the kind of crop grown.

Ten acres of strawberries would be a large field, while a

ten-acre field of wheat, oats, or barley would be considered

Fia. 97. — Scattered buildinga increase farm labor.

very small. Whatever the crop, the area devoted to it

should be sufficient to justify the attention of the farmer '

and to give him an income worth while. If the area is

too large, it cannot be successfully handled, and returns

will be decreased.

441. Capital. — Farming is a business requiring capital.

This fact is often overlooked by those who wish to

become farmers. They buy land on credit and then

expect the farm not only to make a living for them but

402 The Principles of Agronomy

also to pay for itself in a very few years. If it does not

do this, they say there is nothing in farming. Every one

recognizes the fact that capital is required to enter the

banking business; yet more capital is often invested in

a farm than in a small bank.

The raising of field crops can probably be done with*

less capital than is required for any other branch of agri-

culture. Dairying and the pure-bred livestock business

require a large initial outlay for stock; fruit-growing

requires the investment of capital a number of years

before returns are expected. Notwithstanding the rel-

atively low capital required to raise field crops, they

cannot be successfully produced without the investment

of considerable money. The land must be purchased or

rented and a suitable seed-bed prepared. Seed must

be planted and the crop cared for during growth, then

harvested and marketed before any returns are secured.

Many failures occur in farming because sufficient capital

is not available. The prospective farmer, therefore, to

be most successful should have at his disposal sufficient

funds to operate his farm in the most efficient manner.

442. Proper type of farming. — The type of farming

followed is as important to success as are the methods

used. In every section some types pay better than others,

and the discovery of the paying type is one of the chief

problems of the man on the land. This has been dis-

cussed more fully in Chapter XXX.

443. Good management. — Farming will not pay

under the most favorable conditions without intelligent

management. There are so many chances for losses

that unless good judgment is exercised failure is sure to

result. In farming, new conditions are constantly pre-

senting themselves; hence it is impossible to lay down

any set rules. The farmer must be constantly alert and

Factors of Success in Crop Production 403

ready to adapt the method to conditions as they exist. In

many of the industries, the work is exactly the same year

after year, and when once learned no diflBculty is expe-

rienced. Farming, on the other hand, is never the same

during any two years. Seasonal variations are so great

that each day presents new problems.

The economical use of horses and machinery — plowing,

planting, and harvesting at the right time and in the right

way — and marketing products to the best advantage,

both call for the highest type of executive ability. It is

not enough to be able to raise good crops ; they must be

produced at a profit. This requires good management.