The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1932-02-24
Proof of the Pudding


Proof of the Pudding
So much has been published In re.
ent years about the ACCESSIBILITY o.
adopting the Cow, SOW and hen sys.
EN-" of farming that it is good, once
n q while, to have something def
lite regarding the results of this sys.
EN-.
Such report recently was issuet
" County Agent A. l.. Norling o
county, who assisted a mum
yer of farmers in keeping books ant
ecords. The acreages titled ranget
rom a half section to 1850 acres.
Commenting on the returns, Nor
ing said:
There seemed to be very lit
tie relationship between size Of
farms and net farm income. One
of the largest of the group, over
10 quarters, had a net farm In
come of minus $195, while an
other of about the same size re-
turned a net income of $l,87l
with which to pay for the opera
tors labor and return OH his in
vestment. The smallest, Of 800
acres, produced a net figure of
$3.50.
while the larger farm offers
a greater opportunity for a large
return in good years, the expense
Of operation is such that it also
suffers the greatest losses in poor
years.
THE two main sources of farm
income in Mclean county are
from sales of crops and sales of
livestock products, and with few
exceptions the livestock farmers
made greater net income in 1880
than the grain farmers. One of
the exceptions was a farm where
the yields were above the average
and in addition produced more
than quarter section Of alfalfa.
a considerable part of which was
cut and sold for seed.
Another important factor
which appeared to have an effect
on net income was the invest
ment in machinery per crop acre.
The average was $5.40 worth of
machinery for each acre of crops.
The highest of the group had in
vested $12.40, with the lowest at
SLIGO. The larger investment in
machinery seems to be a consid-
cradle burden unless the farmers
have sufficient acres of crops so
that these machines can be used
over a longer period during the
year. On the other hand, it Is
very probable that too low an in
vestment in machinery will not
allow the greatest amount of eff
ficiency in production.
1.-The efficient use of labor,
both horse and man, was another
important factor as far as profits
and losses were concerned. The
operator who keeps his supply of
horses down to the minimum
when he is using the tractor
stands a better chance of coming
out ON the right side of the ledger
at the end Of the year.
"These individual farm records
pointed out that the keeping of
livestock is not In itself guar
antee of successful returns, since
the quality and productive ca
pacity Of the livestock seems to
be Of great Importance. Poor
livestock results in failure more
often than the raising of cash
crops alone. The number of pigs
raised per SOW; the percentage of
lambs raised; pounds of butter
fat per cow and the efficiency of
poultry production are very i'm
portant places to look for weak
points in the farming business.
These records covered only
one years business and in order
that the strong points and weak
points may be brought out more
forcibly it is necessary to have
more than one years records.
Many farmers in the county are
keeping farm records but the
practice is not general enough.
Every farmer in the county
should keep record of his bust
ness in order that he may study
his different sources of income
and be able to find the strength
and weakness in his farm organi-
zation."
The report Is a frank and fair
.atement of the results obtained by
representative farmers in our neigh
oring county and is not intended as
Propaganda either for or against any
ertain system of farming. Therein
es its real value, for the proof of the
udding is in the eating and it is
LIST as unfair to say that livestock
arming should dominate the agri-
ultural scheme as to say that agri-
ulture can succeed without livestock.