Dresden enterprise and Sharon tribune. (Dresden, Tenn.) 1907-1997, 1921-12-16

Certainly 1t Is essential N every case
TO keep in mind the controlling factors
and to weigh carefully their relative
Importance In the success or failure
Of the farm under study.
While one may be q truck farm ana
another a general farm, the points Of
Judgment would be the same, except
that the different points may be given
more weight In one case than in the
other.
Some of the general things that in
dicate the success or failure Of any
farm operations are: The quality Of
the farm business, the organization Of
the farm as a whole, the size Of the
business and the system Of marketing
Each point should he studied, begin
ming first with the quality of the bus
mess as it is affected by crop yields,
returns per head Of livestock, quality
of the products and use Of labor Of
men and teams:
QUALITY OF THE FARM BUSINESS
The quality of the farm business is
determined by crop yields per acre,
live stock returns; the quality of pro-
ducts produced; and utilization of the
labor of both men and teams
Almost any successful farmer Is
growing one-fourth to One-third more
crops per acre than his neighbors, be-
cause of the manurial treatments Of
the land such as the use Of lime, phOS-
plate, legume crops, stable and green
manures. Knowing the treatments in
these respects you could predict in
Tennessee about what the crop yields
would be without seeing the crop or
having a record. II the farm Is hill
farm one would be fairly safe in pre-
dieting good yields II the soil has not
been allowed to wash away. An ex-
animation of the corn field will show
at once whether best use is being made
of the soil by high yielding variety.
In the same way that crop yields in
fuence profits so do returns per heal
of livestock. The relative importance
of the two will depend upon the pei
cent of farm receipts from each. One
may be fairly safe, though not abs0-
lutely so, in Jcdging on these points:
Whether a purebred sire is in use;
whether animals are properly and
economically fed, as judged by sucn
points as pasture for hogs, Silage for
dairy COWS, etc; keeping of records,
such as dates of breeding, milk yields,
etc.
The returns from both the crops
and livestock will be somewhat in
fluenced by the quality of the products,
on two apparently similarly managed
farms.
The labor Of men and teams Is the
most expensive single item in the cosC
of the production of crops for market
or for feed. Therefore the quality
Of the business Is in direct proportion
to the efficiency in use OF men and
teams. This can be estimated by the
number Of days of productive labor,
an item which will be hard to obtain
accurately on most farms. Some
teams work one-third Of the time,
while others work .twO-thirds OF
more. The number of acres of titled
crops per man and team TO the
thoughtful farmer, would Indicate the
same thing. A man and team should
handle about fifty cultivated acres
a year or better. Tie distribution OF
labor throughout the season can ba
seen at a glance ut the rotation and
diversity Of enterprises, and their
connection one with the other
Another signboard on every farm is
the implement shed, which tell some
what whether the farmer Is substitute
ing horse labor for man labor and
how much horse power he is able TO
get with each man. The layout of the
farm,s such as arrangement Of the
fields, their distance from the build
ings, etc. may be a prime reason for
the success of one farm as compared
with another, because it. controls ex-
pense Of labor, although 1t may In
tluence the character of the animals
crop yields, etc, indirectly,
Organization Of Farm As A Unit.
The organization Of the farm as
whole may be the key to success or
failure on any particular farm. Diver
uireatloD IN crops and livestock is not