The Lexington progress. (Lexington, Tenn.) 1884-current, 1922-01-06

mess as 1t 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 10
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-
phate, 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 record. II the farm Is a hill
farm one would be fairly safe in pre-
dieting good yields If the soil has not
been allowed to wash away. An ex-
animation Of the corn field will show
al once whether best use Is being made
OF the soil by high yielding variety
In the same way that crop yields In
fluence profits so do returns per head
Of livestock. The relative Importance
of the two will depend upon the pc:
cent Of farm receipts from each. One
may be fairly safe, though not abSo-
mtely so, in jcdglng on these points:
Whether a purebred sire Is in use;
whether animals are properly ana
economically fed as judged by sucn
points as pasture for hogs, silage for
dairy cows, etc. keeping of records,
such rs dates Of breeding, milk yields,
etc.
The returns from both the crops
and livestock will he somewhat in
fiuenced 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 COST
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 anu
teams. This can be estimated by TIE
number OF days of productive labor,
nm item which Will be hard to obtain
accurately on most farms. Some
teams work one-Lhird Of the time,
while Others work two-thirds or
more. The number Of acres OF titled
crops per man and team to the
thoughtful farmer, would indicate the
same thing. A man ard team should
handle about fifty cultivated acres
a year or better. TIL distribution OF
labor throughout the season can be
seen al a glance at the rotation and
diversity Of enterprises, AID their
connection one with the other
Another signboard on every farm 10
the implement shed, which tell some
what whether the farmer is substitute
ing horse labor for man labor and
how much horse power he rs able to
get with each man. The layout Of the
farm, 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 II controls ex-
pense Of labor. although II may In
fiuence the character of the animals
crop yields, etc, indirectly.
Organization Of Farm A. A Unit
The organization Of the farm 40 Q
whole may be the key 70 success OF
failure on any particular farm. Diver
sification In crops and livestock is not
enough. Each must At into the sys-
ten. The rotation must it the live
stock and vice versa II requires no
detective 70 determine this point The
farm should produce the necessary
foods animals and feeds, feeds for use
In the home ant on the farm
There should be ,arden, ample pas
ture legume hay. small grain, corn.