The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1921-01-22
lnefficiency and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Types but True Ones.

types OUT true OneS,,
these same farmers could make more
money with higher yields. Profits in
crease at least until yields are OBJ
tanned considerably above the aver
age for the region, but beyond this
limit very high yields are liable to be
obtained at the expense of farm prof
its.
Quality of Live Stock Important.
On farms where live stock is an i'm
portant enterprise, the quality of the
stock is very important. On major
ity of farms. except in the South and
certain of the Western states, more of
the crops are fed to live stock than
are sold direct. On many farms the
animals are the market for the crops,
hence the production Of these Is a
most important factor in farm profits.
The best Of corn and hay crops will
count for little when fed to animals
that make returns below the market
prices for these crops. On the other
hand, good live stock on the individual
farms may not be profitable if not fed
| and cared for economically.
The exceedingly diverse nature of
farm operations makes wide opportun-
| ity for inettiCiency to enter into their
performance. In a factory with mod
ern machinery man is expected to do
a certain amount of work, and in
many instances the machine sets the
pace for him. Generally the worker
on the farm must be his own boss and
must set his own pace. He must also
work under most adverse weather con-
ditiOns at certain times. Often a
great deal Of work must be devoted
to things which add little or nothing
to the profits of the business. 1t re-
quires twice as much time for some
men as compared with others to do a
certain kind of work. Work may also
be so organized that given amount
of effort accOmpllshes more than the
average. The efficient use of horse
labor is also very important and bears
a close relation to size Of business
On the one-man farm the horses must
necessarily be unemployed every time
the farmer finds it necessary to dc
work not requiring horse labor. Oh
the larger farms the work can be 81
arranged as to have one man keep thu
horses busy while others attend t
the work where horse labor is no
needed.
Weii-Balanced Farm Profitable.
A well-balanced farm business il
nearly always profitable The farm
that are as good or better than til
average of their community in all fOu
of the factors here mentioned seldom
fail to make a good profit. Thus, /
a farm Is devoted to type of farm
ing adopted to its conditions, if it
as good or better than the average Il
size of business, yield of crops, produc
ton of live stock, and efficiency in tn
use of labor, and is adequately an
, economically equipped, 1t is almos
certain to be profitable. The weak
est factor Is the one that needs after
ton In improving the business. If tn
, quality of the live stock is high, greal
er Improvement in the farm bushes
can usually be obtained by deVotin
attention to developing the size OF tn
business or sale of cash crops, or IL
creasing labor efficiency, rather tina
by further improving the quality Q
} live stock.
; The Department Of Agriculture ma
recently prepared bulletin" A Met
cd of Analysing the Farm Business
, which contains valuable infOrmatic
: for farmers who wish to organize the
r operations on an economic basis. Tn
bulletin and other printed matter G
r the subject may be had by intereste
t persons free.