so tilled that it will bring the largest crops at the least expense of soil fertility; and that these crops be used or fed as near as possible to the land upon which they were grown, the manures and crop residues being returned to the soil. It is important also that the farmer receive a fair compensation for his labor. Crops must be selected that pay the best profits. These will differ in different years and localities. The farmer, therefore, must learn to select wisely and manage well so as to make a reasonable profit on his labor and investments. FIG. 6.-A steel beamed walking plow such as is commonly used by many farmers. The business of farming is constantly becoming more complex. The keen demand for land, the scarcity of labor, the desire for financial gain and the call of the city residents for supplies are acting as a spur for still greater effort. To meet these demands a new science is being developed which aims to correlate the various factors entering into the farmers' business so that it will be certain and remunerative. An effort is being made to so organize the business of farming that it may provide for the needs of the present generation without exhausting the source of supplies for generations yet to come. science is called Farm Management. This new References: Louden's Encyclopedia of Agriculture. 1 CHAPTER II FARM MANAGEMENT 8. Meaning of Farm Management. Farm Management is the art of applying business principles and the scientific principles of agriculture (as discovered by the chemist, the physicist, the agronomist, the animal husbandman, and other specialists) to the organization and operation of a farm. The farm manager is the one who plans the farm, arranges the cropping scheme, provides the equipment and actually transacts the business and sees to the operation of the farm. The term is a new one and it is important that students of farming get a clear understanding of its meaning. Because of the close inter-relation of farm management and soils, farm crops, live stock, and other agricultural subjects, people often confuse the terms and gain erroneous ideas concerning farm management. Farm management lies within the field of rural economy. There is confusion of thought in the use of these terms also. Questions which relate to the single farm as a unit or to a group of farms operated under the same organization are interpreted by some writers as matters of farm management. Those which relate to a group of farms operated separately, or to a community, are matters of rural economy. To state it differently, those things that have to do with the organization and operation within the individual farm are treated from the restricted point of view of farm management. Those that have to do with the external relations of the individual farm to the group or community are treated from the broader viewpoint of rural economy. 9. The Relation of Farm Crops to Farm Management. The farmer must grow crops on his land either to sell or to feed to his live stock. This makes it necessary for him to know how to prepare the land, sow the seed, cultivate the crops and harvest and store the product. In gaining this knowledge he studies the questions from the viewpoint of the agronomist and considers only what will be necessary to provide the best conditions for the growing crop. The farmer must also decide what crops he will grow. One farmer will want to grow corn, another will grow cotton, and still another will grow hay, wheat or potatoes. Usually he will grow several different crops. He will need to decide how much of each one should be grown. In deciding these questions he will study the questions from the viewpoint of the farm manager. As an agronomist, the farmer is interested only in how to grow the crop. When the crop is mature and harvested, the problem is completed. As a farm manager he still has to settle the question of what to do with the crop. It may be sold. Would it pay better to feed it to live stock? If so, what kind of live stock will give the best returns for the feed used? These are farm management questions. 10. Relation of Animal Husbandry to Farm Management. Most farmers grow some live stock. They must know the nature of the animals they wish to grow, the kind of food they eat, how to prepare it for them and when to feed them. They should also know how to select the best animals and to what purpose the various classes of animals are best adapted. In answering these questions they study them from the viewpoint of the animal husbandman and consider only what is best for the animals. The farmer must decide, however, what classes of stock he will grow. On some farms dairy cows will be best, on others beef cattle and hogs will be a desirable combination. There are farms on which horses and sheep with some poultry will be preferable. There are also the questions of how much live stock the farm will supply feed for, or what to do with the surplus when more is produced than is required for the live stock. In answering these questions they are studied from the view point of farm management. 11. Relation of Rural Economy to Farm Management. The management of a farm includes the buying and selling of products. It is important that the farmer have a knowledge of markets and of values, and that he know when to buy and sell. Often coöperative marketing offers the best opportunity for disposing of products at a profit. So long as the farmer is concerned only with the business enterprises relating to his own farm, he is within the field of farm management. When the business activities and social welfare of several farms or an entire community are collectively considered, the question becomes one of rural economy. Farm management deals with the problems of the individual farm from the business point of view. Rural economy deals with the problems of a collection of farms or an entire community. FIG. 7.-The Percheron draft horse originally imported from France is the most common motive power in use on the farms of the United States. 12. Studying Farm Organization. The student of farming is taught how to grow crops by the agronomist, how to grow live stock by the animal husbandman. He learns how to know insects and combat them from the entomologist, and how to coöperate with his neighbors in selling his crops or his stock, from the rural economist. Finally, from the viewpoint of a farmer, he will need to select a specific farm, make plans for its arrangement into fields, select the kind of stock and crops that it will be best to raise, and determine how much of each should be raised, and how to dispose of the surplus produce. He must provide the buildings and equipment, estimate the capital required and the labor necessary to operate the farm. The farm is thus organized into business form and its operation is simplified. This art of farm organization is learned from the farm manager. 13. Meaning Made Clear by Questions. "How shall I grow corn?" is clearly an agronomy question. How to select and grow cattle, is just as clearly a question for the animal husbandman. "Shall I grow corn? or some other crop? or cattle? Having grown corn, shall I sell it? or feed it to cattle? or to hogs?" are farm management questions. If questions similar to the above are put to each problem presented there should be no difficulty in distinguishing the viewpoint from which it should be attacked. 14. Definition of Terms. In the pages following, reference will be made to the terms, "Capital," "Inventory," "Farm Receipts," "Farm Expenditures," "Farm Income," "Labor Income," "Farm Enterprise," "Farmstead." An explanation of these terms is given below. 15. Capital. Capital, for convenience of discussion, may be divided into two classes, (1) fixed capital, including land, buildings and permanent improvements; and (2) operating capital, including teams, implements, live stock for productive purposes, values in seed, feed, fertilizer, cash for labor and miscellaneous expense in operating the farm. There is a tendency on the part of farmers to tie up most of their capital in fixed forms, leaving too little for operating capital. 16. The Inventory is a detailed list of all of the farm property with values assigned. An average of the values at the beginning of the year and at the close is considered to be the value of the |