P R IN C IPLES O F R URA L

EC O N O M IC S

T H O MAS N I XO N CA RV ER, P H D H
,
LL D .

D AV I D A . W ELLS P R O F E SS O R O F P O LIT I C AL E C O N O M Y

I N H A R V ARD UN I V E R S I TY

GI NN A N D CO M PA N Y
0
N EW Y K
OR o
CH ICA G O 0
L N
O DO N

D A LLA S CO L U M US
B S A N F R A N C I SCO
 P
CO Y RIG H T, 1911 , BY T H O M A S N IXON CARVER
EN TERED T T N
AT S A IO ERS
’
H ALL
m mo ms
4 .
'
RR sRR vnn

( i t l un g -u Du “
G IN N AN D CO M PA N Y 0
P RO
PR I BTO RS BOS T O N US A .
H e w ho sow s the g round w ith ca re an d dzl
zgen ce acquires
’

a g reater to k of religion me it than he

s c s r ould g ain by
c

the rep etition f ten thou and p ray ers

o s . ZO ROASTER
 P R E FA C E

T hough griculture is our oldest and by far our largest and

a

most important industry it has only recently occurred to us in

,

the U nited States that we had a rural problem N ations like .

,

individuals are wont to prize the things they do not have rather
,

than the things they have A griculture was so natural to our

.

conditions an d established itself so easily that we took it as a

, ,

matter of course an d gave our attention to the development of

industries which did not show a disposition to grow naturally .

A ccordin gly during the fi rst century of our national existence

, ,

our economic policy was framed mainly in the interest of the

urban industries The logical result of this arti fi cial fostering
.

of manufactures an d commerce was the rapid building up of

reat overgrown cities an d the cre ation of a group of urban
g
soc ial problems for which we were woefully unprepared During .

the next twenty five years these problems occupied the attention
-

of economists an d students of social science almost to the ex

clusion of everything else It is only du ring the last decade that
.

we have awakened to the fact that there is a rural as well as an

urban problem The agricultural colleges and the universities
.

began offering courses on agricultural and rural economics and ,

there has been a remarkable development of interest in agricul

ture in the high schools of the country which augurs well for
,

the future of rural civilization in A merica .

The present treatise is written in the hope that it may d irect

attention toward some of the salient f eatures of the rural problem .

It emphasizes the public an d social aspects of the problem

somewhat more an d the bu siness aspect somewh at less than
, ,

do mo st treatises on this subj ect A s a partial defense for his

.
vi P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I CS

p resumpt ion in writing on so l arge an d di ffi cult a problem wi th ,

so little to guide him the author may be allowed to mention that

,

he grew up on a farm very near the center of the great agricul

tural region of the upper M ississippi Valley that he later farmed ,

independently on the Pacifi c coast that he has made an effort ,

to keep in touch with agriculture and rural life ever since hav ,

ing in addition to the ordinary methods of study traveled a

, ,

good many thousand miles on horseback an d with a bicycle

am ong the farms of this country an d of Europe an d that ,

he has been for several years teaching the subj ect of rural eco
nom ics to classes varying in size from seventy fi ve to a hundred -

students in H arvard U niversity .

The author desires to express his thanks to many of his for

mer students for their helpful suggestions ; to a brilliant group
of young instructors in agricultural economics in several of our
leading universities particularly Professors H C Taylor of the
, . .

U niversity of Wisconsin J L Coulter of the U niversity of

, . .

M innesota and G eorge F Warren of Cornell U niversity ; to

, .

D r L G P owers of the Bureau of the Census ; to S ir H orace

. . .

P lunkett the leader in the economic regeneration of Ireland ;

,

to D r H oward L G ray of H arvard U niversity for valuable

. .

criticisms ; to M iss A E Gardner of Cambridge M assachu

. .
,

setts for help in preparing manuscript ; an d most of all to

, , ,

his wife for her merciful but unerring criticism .

T N CA R
. . VER
C AM B RI D GE , M ASSA C H U SE TTS
 C O N T E NT S
P AG E

B I B LI O G RA P H Y
CH APTE R I G EN E R A L P R I N C I P LE S .

I W AY
. G TT N G A L N G Th ubj
S OF E I IV I . ematte r of e c on omics 1 ;
s e ct ,

W m f li l ih
ar as a d ;E mi
e an s o ve oo , 2 c on o c an d un e c o n o m ic me th o d s 2 ; ,

P urp ose of l
aw an d g ov e rn me n t , 3 ; C l ass ifi c atio n o f e c o n om ic me th o d s 4 ; ,

Th e fu dam n e n ta l i du t i
n s r e s, 5; C h an g in g th e e n v iron me n t 6 ; Why man ,

d o minate s n ature , 7 ; Th e p asto ra l 8 ; I n e flic ie n cy of th e hun tin g

s tag e ,

an d fishin g tag 9 ; Tran sc e n d s e, l e n t imp ortan c e of ag ric u ture 1 0 ; W h

y
agric ul tu e is l i g g oun d 1 0 ; E t ac tin g a l i in g f o m oth e r me n 1 1
r os n r , x r v r , .

I I F A R M I N G A s A W AY O F G ETT I N G A L I V I N G C n d iti n of ag ic ul tural

. . o o s r

s uc 1 3 ; W h e e in th e fa me i in d e p e n d n t an dwh
c e ss , r e i he i ot 1 4 ;
r r s e er n s n ,

S aso n al c harac te r of ag ric ul tu e 1 7 ; D ome tic

e harac te r of agric ul r , s c

tu e r1 8 ; F a me rs g e n e rall y s e lf m
, r p l y e d I 8 ; R e ac ti n o f b us in e s s -
e o , o

up on l ife 2 0 ; R e latio , f th e e xe s in farming c ommun iti s 2 2 ; The

n o s e ,

ru al d i t ic t th e e d b e d of th e p o p ul atio n 2 ; A ssump tio n oi u b an

'

r s r s e s
5 ,
r

s up e io ity 2 6 ; I o l atio n th
r r , me ac e f fa m l ife as c on ge stion is of
s e n o r

c ity l if 27 e, .

C H A P TE R II . H I S TO R I C A L S KETC H OF M O D E RN AG R I
C ULT U R E
I . TH E EA R LY STA G H u ti g t u i ES . n n no n v e rsa l , 29 ; O ur own an c e s to rs

p ro b b ly h
a er s d m 3 0 ; O ig i f th d m
e n, r n o e o e stic atio n of an i mal s , 3 1 R e ac
tio n o f th e p as to ra l l if up ha a t 33 ; R ti up i ilizati n 3 3
e on c r c e r, e ac on on c v o ,

R e ac tio n up o n f mily l if 3 4 ; P p ty in la d 3 5 ; V illag

a e, mmu ro er n , e co

n itie s , 3 5 ; C o mmu l f mi g 3 6 ; P i t p p ty i l d 38 ; Th
na ar n , r va e ro er n an , e

op e n -
fie l
d s y s te m
, 38 ; Th e tw o fi e ld s s te m, 3 9 ; Th e th re e fi e l
d sy s
-
y -

te m , 39 ; La k c d d l
o f in iv i ua in itiativ e , 4 0 ; imite n um e r of c rop s , 4 0 ; L d b
Th e man orial
41 ; e s c rip tio n of a m
s y m
an or, 4 1 ; O rig in of th e
ste , D
man or, 44 ; In fl e xib ility of th e man oria s ste m, 4 5 ; e c a of th e manor, l y D y
45 ; e gin n ing s of c o m
B me rc ia ag ric u ture , 46 ; I nc osure s, 4 6 l l l .

II T H E. B G NN N G
E I I N N GL
S O F M O D ER E G
I SH A RI C RE db O ur in e t U LTU .

e d t E gli h
ne ss g i ul
o tu 4 8 ; O
n u i d b t
s d t th
a rc u t i s re , r n e e n e ss o o er co n re ,

4 8 ; E g li h i d b t d
n st th N w W n l d 50 ; T an iti n t th m d n
e e ne ss o e e or , r s o o e o er

sytm f u l
s e my 5 Th g wth f t a y 5 ; N w
o r ra e c on o p 5 , 1 e ro o en nc , 2 e c ro s, 2

vii
v 111 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

P AG E

C l ove r an d turnip s , 53 ; G re at rura l e n te rp ris e s , 53 ; P ara ll l d e e v e op l

me n t in oth e r in du t i
Ag ric u tura imp rov e me n t ; J e th ro Tu , 5 5
s r e s, 54 ; l l ll
Turn ip Town s e n , 5 5 ; C o e of
”
o h d
ham, 5 6 ; G e nt e me n arme rs, k H lk l f
5 6 ; A rth ur o u Y
n g , 5 7 ; Th e r e e in g of iv e s toc ; E n i
g sh re e s b d l k l b d
of c attl 5 7 ; B k e, a e we ll an d th e L o n g h o rn s , 59 ; T h e C o in g ll b roth e rs

an d S h orth orn B j ami T mp ki

c att e , l 60 ; en n o n s an d th e H f d
e re or s , 61
Th e Th ugh b
o ro d 6 D aft h 6re , 1 r ors e s, 2 .

II I . B EG I NN I N GS O F A M ER ICA N AG RI C U LTU R E . The main p e rio d63 ; s,

W hat we ow e to the I n ian s, d 64 H ow th e l

c o o n is ts g ot an l d , 64 ; Th e
la d y t m f V i ginia 64 ; H w th la d wa
n s s e o r , o e n s s urv e yd e , 65 ; Land spe c u

lati 66 ; Th l d y t m f N w E gland
on , e an s s e o e n , 66 ; C ommo n s , 6 7 ; an L d
sy t m f th midd l l i 6 7 ; Th l b
s e o e e c o o n e s, e a o r s up p , 68 ; I n e n turely d d
se rv ants , 69 ; N e g ro l
s av e s , 69 ; Ear ly e xp e ri me n ts , 70 ; Li v e s toc k , 7 1

Rura llf d i e urin g th e c o o n ia l l e ra, 7 2 .

IV . T H E E RA OF NA T N AL D
IO EV E L P M NT
O E . 1 . From 1 7 7 6 to 1 833 Th e .

Con q ues t of th e Great Fores t Th e . f

s h i tin g of th e f ro n tie r,
7 4 ; T h e p u ic bl
l d p li y 7 4 ; T iti f m fi
an o c , i lt i l p l i y 7 4 ; Th
ran s on ro a n an c a o a so c a o c , e re c

t gul
an y t m f u yi g 7 5 ; All d i l t u 7 7 ; Th i f th tt
ar s s e o s rv e n , o a en re , e r se o e co on

i d u t y 7 8 ; Eff t
n s r l y 7 9 ; Th mul 8 ; W tw d mig ti 8 ;
, ec o n s av e r , e e, 1 es ar ra on, 1

F m impl m t 8 ; Ag i ultu l i ti 8 ; I mp m t i li
ar e e n s, 2 rc ra s oc e e s, 2 rov e en s n ve

t k ; th h
s oc 8 ; Sh p 83 ; H g
e o rse , d th p k p k i g i d u t y 83
2 ee , o s an e or -
ac n n s r , .

2 Th P i d of T
. e sf m ti
er o M g itu d f th
ran h g 8 4 ; C u
or f a on . a n e o e c an e, a se s o

th te f m ti 86 ; Th p i i 86 ; Ag i ultu l m hi y 8 7 ;
ran s o r a on , e ra r e s , rc ra ac ne r ,

Li t k hv e s oc 8 8 ; H g 88 ; Ab d
,
— o rse s ,d f m 88 ; S h p d o s, an on e ar s, ee an

ca ttl 9 0 ; De,i y i g 9 a r n , 1 .

3 H
. P i d f P Ve t E p
er o i P o g i t h
es zoaraN th u h k d by '
x an s on . ro re ss n e or nc ec e

th C i il W
e 93 vE p i f f m
ar, 94 ; A g i ultu l di g i
x an s on o ar are a, rc ra so r an z a

ti on, 9 6 ; A g i u l tu l d i t t 97 ; R
r c il d 9 8ra
; M h i y 99 ; Th
sc o n e n , a roa s, ac ne r , e

rolle r p ro c e s s , 99 ; C orn g row in g , 1 00 ; C att e ran c h in g , 1 0 1 l T he c att e l

t ail
r , 1 02 ; Dai ying r , 1 04 ; R e org an i atio n z of th e c otto n in ustr d y , 1 06 ;

Agric u tura l l c re d it , 1 07 .

4 . Th e P eriod of Reoeg an zz atzon

’ ’

. Tran sitio n f m e xt
ro e n s iv e to in te n s iv e
f mi g
ar n , I 10 ; Stoc k rais in g , I 1 1 Th e mig ration of th e wh e at b lt e , 1 13 ;

G rowth of te n an c y , 1 14 ; Agric u tura l l du e c atio n , 1 1 5 .

C H AP TER I II . TH E FA CTO R S OF A G R IC ULT U R A L P RO

D U CTIO N
I . LAN D As A FA CT O R O F A G RICU LT U RAL P RO D U CT I N D e p d O . en e nce

of ag ric u ltu re up o n are a, 1 1 7 Law of d imi i hi g n s n re turn s , 1 1 8 ; An ag ri

c u tural manufac turing an d c o mme rc ial p o l ic y 1 1 9 ; D e p e n d e n c e

l w . a ,

of man ufac ture s up on mark e ts 1 2 0 ; D e p e n de n ce of ag ric ulture up o n ,

 C O N T ENT S 1X

P AG E

l d
an 1 22 ; Rura d i ti gui h d f m u b
l as s n s e ro r an migrations 1 2 5 ; Rural ,

mig ration s t w d bu d tl d 6; U b an migration s are toward

v
are o ar a n an an , 12 r

wi d er mark e ts , 7 12
; S h ifti g f m u l t u b n ro r ra o r an in du t i s r e s, 1 2 9 ; Re a l
l
tio n of c o o n i atio n to natio na g re atn e ss, 1 29 z l .

II . WAY S O F EC O N M IZ IN G LA N D
O . I mp ortan c e of th e que s tio n , 1 30 ;

C aus e s of was te l d
an , 132 ; Bad p h l d itiy s ic a
33 ; S t y l
c on d o n s, 1 on an ,

I 33 ; W e t lan d , 1 39 ; Th e e x am p l f H ll a
e o d 4 0 ; D y l d o 4 ;n I i , 1 r an , 1 2 rr

g atio n , 1 2
4 ; D ry f mi g
ar n , 1 4 7 ; Bad c h mi l diti 5e0 ; A lkca
al i c on on s, 1

l
an d , 1 50 ; Sa t l l d iti
mars h e s 5 , 1 5 2 ; Bad p o itic a l c on on s , 1 2 .

I I I W AY . N M N G LAN D ( NT N U D ) G tti g la g
S OF ECO O I ZI CO I E . e n a r er

p rod u t p c 55 ; S u b t itu t i
e r ac re ,
g h y y i l d i
1 g f l ig h t y i l d i g
s n e av -
e n or -
e n

c ro p 5 7 ; E f fs, 1t t h t d d f l i i ecg 6 on; V g t b l e m

s an t ar o v n , 1 2 e e a e vs . ea

d i t 63 ; I t i ulti ti 66 ; H d w k 67 Sm ll f m
e , 1 n e ns ve c va on , 1 ar e r or , 1 a er ar s,

1 68 ; M hi d l b ore 70 ; M re p it l 7 ; M a o re rs , 1 i t ll ig 7 o re c a a , 1 1 o re n e e nce , 1 2 .

I V LA . A A FA T BO R AG U LTU RAL P D U T N E
s C OR IN RI C RO C IO . co n o

mi i g l b z n m l g p du t p m
a or e an s 75 ; aW h y i
ar e t i ro c er an , 1 n e n s ve

c ul ti ti i t lw y
va on mi l f l b
s no 7 6 ; W hy th f m
a a s e c on o ul ca O a o r, 1 e ar er c

ti tva e s hi d b t l d 7 7 ; W hy m l d i b tt th l
s s e c on -
es an , 1 o re an s e er an e ss

l d 7 8 ; E p im t l p f 8 ; W t l b
an , 1 x er en a 8 4 ; Th u m
ro o s , 1 2 as e a or, 1 e ne

p l y od 8 5 ; T h e imp p
, 1 l y m p l y d 8 5 e; Th im p
ro f tl y erm p l y de o e , 1 e er ec e o e ,

1 86 ; Th l u t ily idl 86 ; D i ip t d
e vo n ar gy 8 7 ; S h ll w e, 1 ss a e e ne r , 1 a e e c on

o mi l b ze l d 88 ; H w th lt ti p
a or o r an , 1 t it lf 89 ; o e a e rn a ve re s e n s se , 1

A d qu t e p it l a e ca y 94 ; I fii ia y f p
n e c e ss ar t f m i g , 97 ;
1 ne c e nc o e asan ar n , 1

S i tifi k
c en wl d g 99c ; A p g no i tt
e i tu d e, 10 ro re ss v e a e, 2 0 .

V C A P T A A A FA T
. I N AGL U LT U AL P D U T N W h t
S C OR I RI C R RO C IO . a

are e c o n o mi g d ; P du c d oo m s , 2 02g d 04 ; Wh t ro c e rs
’
an c on su e rs
’
oo s, 2 a

is ca p it l 4 ; M y a d, p i
20t l 07 ; R l t i one f b ti an t ca p a , 2 e a on o a s ne nce o ca

it la 8; I , wh t20 p it ln i p d u t
ai 0 9
se nse ; H w p it
ca l i a s ro c ve , 2 o ca a s

in c re as e d ; W y f , miz i g i th u
2 10 f m
a s o y C d it
e c ono n n e se o on e , 21 1 re ,

212 ; O g iz ti f h g
r an
3 ; aT h ifton o
3 ; S u
e xc ity 4 an
; T e, 2 1 r , 21 ec r , 21 axa

tio n , 2 1 5 ; Th e l
aw of ro
p p o rtio n s , 2 1 6 .

C H A P TE R I V . M AN A G E M E N T A S A FA CTO R I N AG R I C U L
T U RA L P RO D U CTI O N
Th e man ag e r as e c on o miz e r , 2 24 .

I . F U N DAM E NT L A P RO B L E M S, O R P RO BLEM S OF I N V ES TM NT Ow E . ne r

s h ip o r te n an c y , 2 26 ; C as h o r s h are te n an c y , 2
3 1 Sa l id m g
ar e an a e rs ,

2
34 ; W hat d
to p ro uc e , 2 3 4 ; S tap e p ro uc ts w l d . s p e c ia l ti e s, 2 3 5 ; Re a
sons fo r di
mp e ting an d n o n c omp e tin g c rO p s
v e rs i c atio n , 2 6
3 fi ; Co , 237 ;
R otatio n o f c ro p s 2 3 9 ; Larg e me d ium or small s c al e farming ,
-

, 2 39 ;
S up e riority of me diumsc al e farming 2 4 1 ; A dvan tag e s o f larg e -

,
-
sc a e l
x P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

P AG E

p ro du ti c on , 2 4 2 The di ad antag f la g cal e fa ming 44 ; D a

s v es o r e s -
r , 2 e r vs .

c h pl b
ea a or, 2 4 8 ; D isad antag f mall al fa ming 249 ; Th quip
v es o s -
sc e r , e e

me nt of th e f m ar , 2 56 ; P owe r,
5 6 ; A n ima p owe r,
2 l 2 57 ; C omp arativ e
d
a van tag e s of hors e s an d oxe n , 2 5 8 ; Th e mu e , l 2 62 ; M e c han ic a l
p ow e r, 2 63 ; Live stoc k , 2 66 ; Too l s, 2 68 ; B uil ding s , 2 69 ; P ro bl m e s of

s up e rv is ion an d a dmi i t n s ration , 2 7 0 ; S c ie n tifi c manage me nt 2 7 1 , P ro b

l e ms of buying and se ll ing , 27 2 ; Th e middl e man , 27 2 P arc e l s p os t, 2 73 ;
H ow to buy , 2 7 4 ; Cre it, d 27 5 ; S tore dit 7 6 ; B k dit 7 7 ;
cre , 2 an c re , 2

Coo p e rativ e c re dit , 278 ; Th e Raiffe i

se n y t m 79 ; Th S hulz
s s e , 2 e c e

D e l itzsc h syste m 280 ; P obl e ms of , r se ll i g 8 ; Sp ul ti i f m

n , 2 2 ec a on n ar

c rop s 2 84 ; M ark e ts an d fairs 28 7

, , .

C H A P T ER V . TH E D I ST R I B U TI O N OF TH E A G R I C UL
T U RA L I N CO M E .

Th e in c ome of th e ag ricu tura l

l la c s se s , 289 .

I . WA G ES . V lu a e , 2 90 ; M a g i al p du
r n ro c tiv it y , 2 93 .

II .NT Th diff tial lw f t 99 ; R t d t mi d by

RE . e e ren a o re n , 2 en as e er ne

m g i l p d u ti ity 99 ; Th
ar na l ti f t t th p i f p du t
ro c v , 2 e re a on o re n o e r ce o ro c s,

3 0 T1h i g l t 3 0 e s n e ax, 2 .

I I I I NT . T Wh t i i t t d wh t i it p id f 305 ; W iti g 309

ER ES . a s n e re s an a s a or, a n , .

IV P .T Wh t p fi
RO F I t 3 5 ;SR i.k 3 6 ; W h t b m f th a are ro s, 1 s , 1 a eco es o e

p ir ce
p id by t h uam 3 9 e co ns e r, 2 .

C H AP TE R V I P RO B LE M S O F R U RA L SO CI A L LI FE.

Th u l p pul ti
e r ra 33 4 ; T ho f m i ly b u ild
a on , 33 7 ; R u l m ig a ti e a e r, ra r o n,

33 8 ; A d q u t ni ma e 33 9 ; A a e
g bl i a l
nc ol if 3 4 e, ; Th n a re e a e soc e, 2 e

co u t y h u h 3 4 3 ; Wh t i
n r c rc il , i 355 ; T h m p l a f D s soc a se rv c e , e e xa e o en

m k 3 5 7 ; Th
ar , u ty h l 3 59 ; P e co n rp l g a lly g t w hsc t th y oo , eo e e ne r e a e

w t m t 3 6 ; Th
an os t ug h
, 1ig h b h d 3 63 ; Th t d d f li
e o ne or oo , e s an ar o v

i g 3 64 ; Ru al p t
n , d r ti 3 66
s ; T h or s an
g g 3 96 ; S h ll
re c re a o n s, e ran e, a

u l p
r ra p l t th i
eo w t
e se d d h ll th y i
e r om it t it y n s an
p p l ar s, or s a e a e c eo e,

3 7 0 ; F m i g tal
ar k i g n fi ld vsf m .b i ti 3 7 5 ; A
n b t as l d a e or a on , se n e e an

l di m 3 7 7 ; Th
or s , id t l d l d l d 3 7 8 O ganizati f a
e re s en an or as e a e r, r on or

p urp ose , o r organi atio n z for its own sa k e, 3 8 0 .

I N D EX
 B I BL I O G R A P H Y

I . GEN E RA L WO RKS
L
TA Y OR, H . C . Agricu turalE con omics ( N e w
l York ,

AN D RE W ,
A P . . Th e In fl ue nce of Crop s up on B usiness in Ame rica, ”

Q aa r .
f oa m E con ( M ay . .
,

BA I LE Y L H , . . T he P rincip l es of Agricu ture ( N e w Y ork , l C y lo

c

p e dia Of American Agricu ture , l V ol IV ( N e w ork,

. Y
BER NA RD FRA N , ul tu ( P a i CO I S Le s s s t
.em es de y c re r s,

B R E NT A N O L U D WI G J O SE P H Ag a P litik ( S tuttg a t
, . r r -
o r ,

B R O O K S W I LLIA M P Ag i ul tu e ( S p i gfi l d
, . rc r rn e ,

B UCH E N B E R GE R AD O LP H Ag a w n u d Ag a p litik ( L ipzig

, . r r e se n r r o e ,

B U R K ETT C W Ag i ul tu e f ,
B ginn .
( B oston . rc r or e e rs ,

C A T O D Ag i Cultu a
. e r r .

C O L U M E LLA H u ban d y (t an l at d L nd n
. s r r s e , o o ,

CA R V E R T N an d the , Ag i ultural E con mi

. Am E n A o rs . rc o cs ,
”
. co . ss oc .

Q ua A
( p
r il . r ,

CO O KE SA M U E L
, T he Fou dati n f S ie n tifi Ag i ul tur ( L n do
. n o s o c c rc e o n,

I S9 7 )
C R O NBA CH , E LS E . D as landwirtschaf tli he c B e trie b sp ro bl m in
e de r de ut
sche n Okon omie bis
N ational z ur M itte de s X IX . J ah hu d
r n e rts ( W ie n ,

D AVE NPO RT , E GE U NE . T he P rin cip l e s of Anima B ree ding

l : T hremma
tol
ogy ( B oston , D omesticate d Animals and P lan ts ( Boston ,

D IC KSO N ,
A D AM . A T re atise of Ag ricul ture ( Edin b urgh ,

G o LT z , T H EO D O R , FR EI H E R R V O N D ER . V l or es ung e n u e r b Agrarwese n
un d ( J
Agrarp o itik
na l e ,

H A TC H K L Simpl Exe ci e illu t ati g S me Application f

, . . e r s s s r n o s o Che m
i t y t Ag i ul tu e (W a hi gt
s r o rc r s n on ,

H I L GAR D E W S il ( N w Y k
, . . o s e or ,

H O P KI N S C G S il F tility and P ma t Ag i ul tu e ( Boston

, . . o er er ne n rc r ,

J A M ES C C P a tical Ag i ul tu ( N w Y k
, . . r c rc re e or ,

xi
xii P RI N CI P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I C S

J O U ZIE R , E . Economie rura e l ( P aris,

M EI T Z EN , A . Agrar P o itik -
l .

P H ILI P P O VI CH , E G E U NE V ON . La p o iti ue l q agraire ( trans ate l d f m th ro e

Ge rman , P aris,

Q U A I NT A N C E H W T he , . . Influe n ce of Farm M achiner y on d

P ro uction
an d Lab or ( N e w Y ork 1 ,

R O B ER TS ,
I P . . T he Farmstea d ( N ew York ,

R OS C H E R , WI L H E L M . N ationalOkonomik des Ac ke r baues ( Stuttgart ,

T E AER, A LB R E C H T . T he P rincip le s of Agricu ture l ( t a

rn l atsd N w Yek , e or ,

1 84 6 )
T H UN E N , J H . . V ON . D er isol
irte S taat in B ez ie hung auf Landwirtschaft
und Okonom
N ational ie (R ostoc k , I

VA RRO D e R R ustica
. e .

WE S T S I R E D WA R D O n
, . the Ap p ication l of Capital to Land ( R e p rin t,

B al timo e r ,

II . A G R I C U T URA L L G EO G R A P HY , R ES O U RC E S , AN D
P RO D UCT S
BR U CE RO BE RT Food Supply ( Lon don
,
.
,

CO B U R N F D T he B ook of Alfal
,
fa ( Chicago
. .
,

CRO O KE S , S I R WI LLI A M . T he Wheat P roblem( London ,

D IET RI C H W I LLI AM ,
. Swine (Chicago, 191 o )
.

D O N D LI N GE R P T , . . T he B oo k of W heat ( N e w York ,

E D G AR , W . C . T he Stor y of a Grain of W he at ( N e w Y ork ,

FI S HE R J OSE P H W here
, . shal l we get M e at?

G OO D WI N W , . Wh eat Growing in the Arge ntine Re p u ic bl ( Live rp ool ,

1 89 5 )
G R E N ED A N , J . DU P LE S S I S DE . Géographie agrico e l a France
de l et du
monde ( P aris ,

J O H NST O NE J H S , . . . T he H orse B k ( Chicag oo o,

M A V O R J R p rt ,
. e o on the N orth west of Cana -
da ,
with Specia R e l f er

e n ce to W he at P roduction for E xp ort ( on on, L d

M Y Rc ,
H E R B E RT . The B oo of Com ( N e w
k or Y k an d Chicago,
P L U M B C S In dian C n Cultu e ( Chi ag
, . . or r c o,

S A N D E R S A LVI N H S h th n Cattle ( Chi ag

, . or or c o,

S E RI N G M AX , D i lan d wirt chaftl i h K n ku . e s c e o rre n z N ordamerikas in

G g nwa t un d Zuk unft ( L ipzig
e e r e ,

S H A LE R N S T h Unite d S tat
, . f Am i a V . e es o er c ,
ol. I, c haps . V II an d ix .
 BI BLIOGRAP H Y
TH O M PSON G S , . . T he D airying Industry ( London ,

W E R NE R H D ie , . Rin de rz ucht ( B e rlin ,

W I N G J OSE P H E
, . Sheep Farming in America ( Chicago ,
A lfalfa in
Ame rica ( Chica go ,

W O OD S A F The , . . P resent S tatus of the N itroge n P ro blem Yearbook ,

”

of the Department of Agricu ture , p l . 1 25

I II . A G RI C ULT URA L H I STO R Y

A . GE N ERA L
PRO T HER O ,
R E . . P ionee rs and P rogress of ish Far ing
E ngl m ( L on don ,

1 888 )
ALLE N W F
,
A gricu ture in the M idd e Ages
. . l l .

AS H LEY W J
,
A n In trod u cti
.o n t o E ng is h E
. con om ic H istory , B oo k I , l
c hap i ; B ook II , chap iv
.
( N e w Y o rk , S ur ve s
y , is toric a n d . . H
Econom ic, p p 3 9— 1 66 ( L ondon , .

C AI R D , S I RJ AM ES Engli h Ag icultu e in 1 8 5 0 1 8 5 1 ( London . s r r -

C H E YNEY E D WA R D P S ocialChanges in Englan d in the S ixtee nth Ce n

, .

tury ( P hil ad l p hia 1 8 9 e ,

CO LM AN H E N RY E uropean Agriculture and RuralEconom

, y (B oston and
.

Lon don ,

CUN N I N G H AM W O utl
ines of E nglish Industrial H istory chap viii ( N ew
, .
,

York and Lon don ,

CURTLE R W H R A S hort H istory of E nglish Agricul ture ( O xford

, . . .
,

D A UB EN Y , C H AR LES Lectu es on Roman H usb and y ( O xfo d . r r r ,

G AR N IE R ,
R U SSE LL M H isto y of th E ngli h Landed Inte est ( Ea ly . r e s r r

P e riod) ( Lon don and N ew York , T he sa me ( M odern P erio d) .

G AY , E D WI N F Inclosures in Englan d . in the Sixtee nth Ce ntur y , Qua r .

f oa m of E con (August,
. .

M C D O NA L D , J AMES ,
and SI N C LA I R J A M E S , . A H i tory of s H ere fo d Cattl
r e

L n d on
( o ,

M AY O S M I T H
-
. Statistics and Economics , chap . VII .

R O GE R S , H istory of Ag icultu e and P ices in England

J . E T . . r r r .

S EE B O H M FR E D E RI CK Th E ngli h V illag Community ( L on d n

, . e s e o ,

S I M O N D E D E SISM O N D I J C L Etudes su lé nomi p olitiq ue ( P a is , . . . r

’
co e r ,

1 E ay 4 5 and 6 on C ndition in Scotl

ss an d I el an d and T uscany
s , , o s ,
r ,
.

S I N C LA I R J AM ES A H istory of Shorthorn Cattl

, e ( L on don .
,
x iv P RI N C I P L ES OF RURA L EC O N O M I C S

YO U N G ,
AR TH UR . Ann a s l of Ag ricu ture l an d O the r Use ful A t ( L n d rs o on ,

The Farme r s Le tte rs to the P e op l e Of E ng land ( L d

’
on on ,

T he Farme r s Tour through the E ast of E ng an l d ( L nd A S ix

’
o on , 1

W ee s T our through the N orth of E ng an

k’
l d ( L on d on A Six ,

Wee ks Tour through the S outhe rn Countie s of E ngl and and Wal es
’

L ndon T our in Ire l an d ( B ohu s Lib rary ) ; T rave ls in France

’

( o 1 ,

B ohu s Lib rary)

’
( .

B A M E R IC A N .

FLI NT CH AR LE S H
,
P rogress in Agricul ture 1 7 80 in Eighty .
,

Years P rogress of the Unite d S tates ( N e w York and Chicago

’
,

A R N O L D B W H istory of the T obacco Ind ustry in V irginia from 1 860

, . .

to 1 8 94 ( B a timore , l
B O G AR T ,
E . L . Economic H i t ry
s o of th e U nite d S tates , chaps . i, V, ix,
xvii, xviii, xxi ( N e w York ,

BR U CE ,
P HI LI P A . Economic H i t ry s o of V irginia in the Se ve ntee nth Ce n
tur y ,
V ol I, . chaps . iv— v u ( N e w York ,

CO M A N K A T H AR I N E
, . dustrialH istory of the U nite d S tates pp 3 2
T he In , .

8 — 62 1 7 1 2 4 3 2 5 5 N e w Y o k 1 90
3 , 47 , 54 1 -

, ( — r ,

H AM M O N D , M B . . T he Cotton In dustry P ub A m E con A oo N e w ,

”
. . . ss .
,

Serie s, V ol I , N o 1 . . .

H AR T A B T he D isposition of our P u ic bl Land Q f oa m E con

”
,
. . s, ua r . . .
,

V ol I , pp
. . 1 69 , 2 5 1 .

H I B B AR D , B . H . H i torys of Agricu ture in l D an e County , Wiscon sin

( M adis on ,

M CCO Y , C F . . l
Cu tivation of Cotton , in E ight yY e ars
’
P rogress of the

U nite d S tates ( N e w
Yo k and Chicago r ,

N I M M O J OSE P H Re port in reg ard to the R ange and Ran ch Cattl e B usi
, .

ness of th e U nite d S tates Washington

( ,

O L M STE D FRE D E RI C K LA W A J ourn e y th oug h the B ack Coun try ( N ew

, . r

York ,
A J ourn ey in the S e ab oard S l a e S tates ( N e w York v ,

A J ourn e y through Te xas ( N e w Y o k J ourne ys and Exp lora r ,

tions in th e Cotton King dom( London ,

P I E RS O N , C . W . Rise an d Fa ll of the G rang e r M ove me n t, ”

P op ul
ar

S cien ce M on th l
y ( ece m er ,
D b
N
R A D , B E J AM I Econom ic N N . H i to y
s r since 1 6
7 3 , pp 98 —1 0 ,
9 . 2 07 -
24 2

( N e w York ,

SA TO H i t ry f th Lan d Qu tion in th
, S . s o o e es e U nited States (Ba timore , l
WEE DE N W ILLIA M B E on mi an d S
, . c o c ocial Hi t y
s or of N e w E ng land ,

1 620 1 7 8 9, V ol I, pp 5 3 — 8 9 ; V ol II, pp 4 9 2— 5 07 B
-
. . . . .
( os ton ,
 BI BLIOGRAP H Y xv

IV . P R E S EN T A G R IC U LT U RA L CO N D ITI O N S AN D
T E N D EN C I E S

PRA TT , E A . . T he O rgani ation of Agricu ture ( N e w z l York ,

A LF A SS A, G . La crise ag raire e n R ussie ( P aris, 1 90

A LV O R D H E N R Y ,
E .
"
D airying at H ome an d A b road Yearbook
,
”
of the
D epartme n t of Agricul ture , p . 14 5

B A STAB LE , C F . . S ome Features of th e E conomic M ove ment in Ire lan d ,

E con .
f on m , V ol X I . . .

B EA R , W I LLIA M E . T he B ritish Farme r an d his Compe titors ( L on don

( C o bd en C lub) ,

B EC H A UX , E . La que stion agraire en Irl

an de ( P aris , 1 90

BR I NK M A NN ,
TH . D ie danische Lan dwirtschaf t und ihre E n twic kelung
un te r de m Einfi uss de r inte mationale n K on kurre nz J e na
( ,

CA R L ,
A LF R E D D ie O rg anisation de r l
an dwirtschaf tl
. ic he n Tie rpro duktion
un te r B e riicksichtigung de r Ar e itste i ung und S p e cial isierung b l ( H all e,

1 8 98 )
C H A NN I N G ,
FR A N CI S A . T ruth b
a out l
Agricu tural D e p ression ( L on d on ,

I 89 7 )
CLOT H I ER G EO RG E L Fo st P l an ting and Fa m M anagem nt Y a
, . re r e ,
”
e r

b k f th D pa tm nt of Ag i ul tu e p 2 5 5
oo o e e r e rc r , .

D E FO V I LL E ALF RE D Le mo ce lle m nt ( P a i 1 88
, . r e r s,

D UC LA Ux M M E Th Fie l d of F an
, ( L n d n . e s r ce o o ,

D UN FI NLA Y Ame i an Fa ming and Food ( L o d

, . rc r n on ,

FA Y C R C Op ati n at H om and A b ad ( N w Y k
, . . o er o e ro e or ,

H A GG A R D H R ID ER Ru al Englan d ( London
,
Ru al D e nma k
. . r ,
r r

L n don
( o ,

H O L M ES ,
G EO R G E K . Cause s f
af e cting Farm V alues Yea b k of
,
”
r oo the

D e partme nt of Agriculture , p 5 . 11 ( 1 90

IM B A R T D E L A T O U R J J B , . . . La crise ag rico e e n l France et l

a etrange r
’

( N e v e rs ,

LE GO Y T , A LF R E D . Du morcelle me nt de l a p rop riété en France et dans

le s p rin cip aux Etats de lE urop e
’
( M arsei e , ll
L L
E S I E , C I FF E L . Lan d S y ste ms an d In ustrialE conom
d y of Ire land ,
E ng
la d a d C tin ntal C u t i
n , n on e o n r es .

M O U N IE R L D lag i ul tu e n F ance ( P a i
, . e
’
rc r e r r s,

N I C H O LSO N J S T h R l ation s f R e nts W ag

,
an d P ofi ts
. . e e o ,
es , r in Agri
cul tu an d th i B a i g
re , n Ru al D e p p ulati n ( L n don e r e rn o r o o o ,

P L U N KE TT S I R H O RA CE I e lan d in the N w Ce ntu y ( Lon don

, . r e r ,
1 90
xvi P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

Report of the Unite d State s In dustrialCommission, V ol X I . .

NT GE NIS FLO U R D E La p priété u ale n F ance ( Paris

S AI -
,
. ro r r e r ,

TAY LO R H C D cline f Land owning Farm

, . e s in Englan d (M adison
. e o -
r ,

VA N D ERVE LD E E La questi n ag ai e n Belgiqu ( Pa i 1 90 , . o r r e e r s,

WI LLIA M S E E The F ign in th Farmya d ( Lon d n

, . . ore er e r o ,

WI N FREY l H l dings M ovement E n f n m

P rogress of the S mal
. o ,
”
co . o .
,

V ol XV I
. .

V . A G R IC U T L U RA L P RO B LE M S
A . P RO B L
EM S OF FA RM MA N AG EM E NT
CAR D , F . W . Farm M anage men t ( N e w York ,

ADAMS , E D WARD F . T he M o dern Farme r in his B usiness Re l ations (San

Francisco, 1

A L D R I CH W I L B UR , . Farming Corporations ( N ew York ,

B A G O T A L A N The
, . P rincip les of Ci il E ngineering as app li d t
v e o Agricul
ture and Estate M anag e me nt ( Lon do n , 1 8 8
Certain Ancie n t Tracts conce rn ing the M anage me nt of Lan de d P rope rty
L on don
( ,

CO TTO N J S , . . R ange M anageme nt, ”

Yearbook of th e D epartme n t of

Ag icul tu
r re , p . 225

H ALE J H ,
. . T he B usine ss S i de of Agricu ture l . M assachuse tts P ub lic
D ocume nts ( N ew York ,

H U NT T F H ow to choose
, . . a Farm( N ew York ,

Re port of th e Unite d S tates In ustrial Commission , V ol X, pp ix

d . . an d

lxiv ; an d V ol V I , .
pp 5 9 .
—1 .

TH U R
R O G E RS , AR G L
T he B usiness S i
. . de of Agriculture ( Lon don ,

S P I LLM A N W J Cropping S yste ms for S tock Farms Yearbook of th e ”

. .
, ,

D epartme nt of Agriculture ,
8
p 3 5
. S y te ms
s of Farm M anag e
ment in the U nited States, ”
Yearbook of the D epartment of Agriculture ,

P 3 43 ( 1 90 2 )

B . LEM
P RO B S OF R U RAL LIFE IN GE N ERAL
B UTTE RF IE D , L KE N YO N L . Chap ters in R uralP rogress ( Chica go, 1 908 )
The Coun tr y Church an d the Rura P rol blem(N ew York ,

AN D E RS O N , WILB E RT L . T he Countr T own y .

BO LT O N , B . M . Hygi nic e W ate r S up p ies for Farm

l s,
”
Yearbook of th e
D epartme nt o f Ag i ul tu rc re , p 3 99 .
( 1 90 7 )
xv iii P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

P RO B Y N , J . W .
, an d othe rs . S y tms e s of Land T e n ure in Va i u ro s C oun
trie s L on d on
( ,

R U TTE R , F R . . Fore ign R es tric tions on Ame rican M e at, ”

Yearboo k
of D epartme nt of Agriculture p 2 4 7
th e , .

W A L KE R C S Is there a D istinc t Agricul tural

, . . P ro blem? ”
P ub A me r
. .

E con A ss oc .
, p 5 6 . .

W A LLA CE , A R L an d N ational
. iz ation .
( L on d on ,

VI . N EW O R S P E C I A L O P P O RT U N I TI E S I N A G R IC ULT U R E
H ARWOO D W , . S . The N e w E arth ( N e w York ,

CH I LCO T , E C . . D ry Lan d Farming in the G reat P ains l Are a, ”

Ye arboo k
of the D epartme nt of Agricul ture p 45 ,
. 1

CO LLI NS T B Th ,
l . Y k . e N ew Agricu ture ( N e w or ,

CO NN H W Ag i ul tu alB a teri l gy ( P hilad l p hia

, . . rc r c o o e ,

H ALL B O LTO N A Littl Land and a Li ing ( N w Y k

, . Th e v e or , re e

Ac s and Lib ty ( N w Y k
re er e or ,

KRO P OT KI N P Fi l d Fa t i and W k h p ( B t n
, . e s, c or es , or s o s os o ,

M AX W E LL G H Th H m oft s , . . e o ec r er .

M O O R E H E B a k t th e Lan d ( L n don
, . . c o o ,

N EWE LL F H I igati n in the U nit d Stat ( N ew Y k

,
. . Th rr o e es or , e

R l amati n of th W t (W a hi gt n
ec o e es s n o ,

S P I LLM AN W J D i ersifi d Fa mi g in th C tt n B l t Y a b k f
, . . v e r n e o o e ,
”
e r oo o

th e D p a tm n t f Ag icul tu e p 1 93 ( 90
e r O ppo tu itie in Ag i ul
e o r r , . 1 r n s rc

tu re , Y a bo k f th D epartm n t of Ag i ultu p 1 8 1
”
e r o o e e rc re , .

TE RRY T B O
, u Farm in g . h w w e mad a
. R un d w n Fa m b i g r , or o e o r rn

b th P fit and P l a u e ( P hilad l phia

o ro e s r e ,

WHITTA K ER G E O R G E M O ppo tu iti f

, D ai yi g in N w Eng lan d . r n es or r n e ,

Yearbook of the D epartme nt of Agriculture , p .

4 08
 l de
P un r

I . D es tructive S wi d ling
n

C un t f iti g
o er e n

Ad ul t ati
er f g od
on o o s

Uneconomica
l M n p lizing
o o o

M arrying we alth
Inheriting we al
th
2 N e utral Be nefiting through a rise in
land l
v a ue s

Farming
M ining
1 . P rimar y d
in ustries Hu n ting

Fishing
Lumbering

II mical
E con o
2 . Secon dary In dustrIe s
.

T e aching
3 . P e rsonal or pro f
ess iona l Insp iring
service G overnin g
Amusing
e tc .
 P R IN C IPL ES O F R U R A L
EC O NO M ICS

C H A P T ER I

G EN ERAL P RI N C I P L ES

I . W AY S OF G E TT I NG A LIV I N G

Th e j
sub ect matter of econo studymics
of m a.n s e The
fforts
’

to get a living which is the subj ect m atter of economics m

, ay ,

well be considered one of the most serious an d important

topics which can possibly engage the attention of the student .

We may be gin this study with the rather commonplace observa

tion that the race must get its living out of the materialworld
which surrounds it ; that is its living must ultimately come
,

out of the soil and the water But when we consider man as
.

an individualrather th an as a race we fi n d that he sometimes

,

makes his living directly out of other individuals and not ,

invariably out of the soil and the water In a primitive or .

savage state unrestrained by a sense of j ustice or by a code of

,

laws he usually followed the method which promised the l argest

,

returns for the least effort If war and plunder o ffered much
.

more attractive opportunities he resorted to war and plunder .

If hunting animals rather than men o ffered an equally good

opportunity he hunted anim als
, But when neither of these
.

methods proved profitable enough he resorted to the herding

,

of animals somet
, imes to the herding of men under the form
of slavery sometimes to the cultivation of the soil and the
,

se l ing of de sirabl e cro ps

ection , plantin g an d h arvest
, .

1
2 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

War as a means of liv elihood The terms. plunder war an d

are usually applied to e fforts of one nation tribe or community , ,

as a whole to get land wealth or some other economic advantage

, ,

from another community as a whole Where the same meth ods

.

are practice d by the members of a n ation tribe or community , ,

against their own fellow citiz ens they are called murder robbery , ,

an d theft Cannibalism an d slavery have seldom been practiced

.

except against members of outside communities — against people ,

to whom one did not feel any of the obligations of a common

citizenship It is obvious that such methods of getting a livin g
.

are destructive rather than productive The world as a whole

.

could obviously never be enriched by war an d plunder for ,

example though the successful party may be enriched if the

,

plunder is rich enough to more than balance the cost of the war .

Even within the same n ati on tribe or community there are

, ,

sometimes practices which enrich one man or group of men at

the expense of others S uch practices are always the mark of a
.

weak and ineffi cient or of a corrupt government and are grow ,

ing less and less in proportion as governments become effi cient

an d honest There are also practices by means of which men
.

get a living by serving other people or the community as a whole .

These include the commoner industrial and business practices

and the leading forms of profession al an d personal service The .

fewer there are in any nation who get their living at the ex
pense of others and the more there are who get their living by
,

productive and serviceable practices the better it is for that

,

nation and the more it will prosper

, .

Econom ic and uneconom ic meth ods A ccordingly the fi rst an d

.

fundamental distinction to be made among di fferent ways of

getting a living is that between the uneconomic or unproductive
methods and the economic or productive methods The une co .

nomic methods of getting a living are sometimes destructive an d ,

include al l those occupations in which one s success depends

’
 G EN ERA L P RI N C I P L ES
3

upon one s power to destroy to injure or to deceive War

’

, , .
,

plunder robbery and fraud of all kinds are included in this

, ,
”
class These methods are called uneconomic because when
.
,

on e individual secures something by any of these methods no

one else is benefited and some one is sure to be injured O ther .

methods are not positively destructive but are nevertheless un ,

productive in the sense of returning to society no real advantage

for the living received G etting rich by marry ing or inheriting
.

wealth or through a rise in land values would come in this

, ,

cl ass The economic or productive methods of getting a living

.

’ ’
are those in which one s success depends upon one s power to

produce or to serve A ll productive industries an d all useful

.

trades and professions belong in this class They are called .

economic because when one individual gets something by any

,

of these methods no one else is inj ured an d some one is

,

always ce rtain to be bene fi ted People who m ake their living .

by these methods do not impoverish other people but tend to ,

enrich them The richer a man gets by any of the productive

.

methods the richer he makes the rest of the world an d in pro ,

portion as the Whole community or the Whole world adopts

these methods in that proportion will the whole community or
,

the whole world prosper whereas the opposite is true of the

,

uneconomic methods .

P urpose of law and gov ernm ent With the progress of civili .

z ation with the growth of a sense of justice an d a percepti on of

,

what is good and what is bad for a people with the development ,

of systems of law and governmental control there is a tendency ,

more an d more to prohibit the uneconomic methods and to leave

only the economic methods open to individuals A government .

may be said to be just and efficient in proportion as it distin

g u ishes sh arply between these methods a n d a s it succeeds in
suppressing al luneconomic methods N o government has yet .

attained pe rfection in either of these particul ars but some are ,

 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O NO M I C S
4

making continuous progress . H owever,

every government is
first concerned with the repression of the uneconomic meth ods
within its own territory They sometimes allow an d even or
.

g an iz e u neconomic methods in o ther territories th at is they , ,

sometimes engage in wars of conquest Progress in the dire c

.

tion of suppressing this particular uneconomic method comes

very slowly .

Even within their own te rritory various forms of deception are

frequently allowed by modern governments but these meth ods ,

need not be considered at any great length The sturdy beggar .

who disguises himself as a cripple in order to appeal to the

sympathy of the passers by the counterfeiter and the confi dence
-

man who take advan tage of the ignorance and the cupidity of
their victims and the gambler who takes advantage of their in
,

e xpe rience and their inability to grasp th e l aws of probability ,

are wel lrec ognized types which the laws of most civilized coun
-

tries are try ing to supp ress But the manufacturer and seller of
.

worthl ess nostrums under the n ame of medicine of shoddy or ,

adulterated goods under the n ame of pure goods the writer an dthe ,

ub lisher of sens ati on al falsehoods under the n ame of news the

p ,

teach er of irrational supe rstitions under the name of reli gion ,

e ve ry one in fact who p ro fi ts by deception

, ,
belong in the same
,

cl ass . N eedl ess to say activities of th is description tend to th e

,

impove rishme nt ra ther than the prosperity of al lexcept those

who practice them ; they are uneconomic an d the more me n ,

there are practicing thes e methods upon their fellow citiz e n s ,

the worse it is for the country as a whole an d the poo rer it

wil lbec ome
m
.

Cl a fi cation of econom ic meth ods The economic ways of

.

g e tting a li v in g m ay be di v ide d into th re e p i

r nci pa l cla sses calle d ,

p rim ar
y ind u s tries se cond, ar
y indus tries an d p e r so na,
l an d p ro

fess ional service The primary industrie s sometimes ml

. led ,

extractive industries are those which are en gaged in extractin

, g
6 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

with few doubtful exceptions they manufacture some form

an d ,

of clothing ; while higher races have allsucceeded in modifying

their natural surroundings to such a degree as to have created
for themselves a new and better environment .

Changing th e environment It has been a favorite literary .

device to represent some one as falling into a Rip V an Winkle

sleep on the eve of a socialor political revolution and awaking
after the revolution is accomplished to fi n d himself in a n ew ,

world though in the old place For the purpose of showing how
,
.

far our civilized life has changed from th at of primitive man we ,

may get along with a much simpler device Let us imagine that .

a philo sophical savage has been whisked through space an d set

down at one of those points where modern civilization has taken

on an acute form Let us imagine him on the busy corner of a
.

great city where pavements have displaced the native turf where
, ,

the ground beneath is honeycombed with cellars subways , ,

sewers conduits etc where many storied buildings rise into

, , .
,
-

the air on every hand and the sky is obscured by elevated rail
,

ways and wires poles an d other obstacles O r imagine him in

, , , .

a law court where the notorious John D oe an d Rich ard Roe are
,

having one of their interminable disputes adj udicated amid much

learned disputation of counsel and the citing of many ancient
precedents and modern instances O r picture him in a stock .

exchange where men in every stage of corpulency and physical

unfitne ss are furiously buying an d selling intangible rights to

g ive or receive inta ngible evidences of ownership in intan g ible

forms of property and allthe while deceiving themselves into
,

thinking that the world is fed an d clothed by such operatio ns

as these In the effort to imagine the surprise and perplex ity of
.

our philosophic savage we may ourselves arrive at a concepti on

of the extreme complexity an d artificiality of that which we call
civilized life M oreover we shall see th at it is allconnecte d
.
, ,

directly or indirectly with the work of getting a living

, .
 G EN ERAL P RI N C I P L ES
7
In his pursuit of a living man has changed the surface of the
,

earth and made it over to suit his own needs .

Wh y man dominates nature M an as a race has succeeded

.
, ,

in achieving this result by virtue of the fact th at he has known

how to control an d direct the forces of nature H e has observed .

the sequence of cause and e ffect he has seen that certain desir
,

able results followed ce rtain preceding conditions an d has ,

therefore taken measures to create those conditions in order

that the results might follow H e has been able to utilize cer
.

tain mechanical principles like the elasticity of the bow the cut
, ,

ting power of the ax the lifting power of the lever etc ; an d

, , .

these have given him the beginnings of a mastery over nature

w hich he has followed up by a more and more complete domi
n ation until now he is beginning to realize th at he can live in a
,

w orld almost of his own m aking At least he can remake the .

world in which he lives creating for himself a n e w an d better

,

home where more and better food grows than grew before
, ,

where arti ficialshelters with artifi cial heat and light take the
, ,

place of bushes and caves and where clothing protects the body
,

fro mcold an d heat thorns an d insects a world also from which

,

d angerous beasts h ave been and dangerous insects and microbes

,

doubtless soon will be exterminated and where artifi cialmeans

, ,

of locomotion supplement if they do not displace the natural

, ,

means .

There is a philosophy to which the student of economics

,

ought easily to incline which regards this task of subduing the

,

earth and making it a better and more comfortable home for

himself as the first an d greatest duty of man on earth This .

philosophy would test the soundness of allconduct Of allsocial ,

insti tutions and even of allmoral codes by this question : Do

, ,

th e y help in the great task which the human race has before
it or do they hinder ? If they help they are good an d sound
, ,
.

I f they hinder they are unsound an d bad But this work of

,
.
8 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

subduing the earth is only the larger aspect of the work of get
ting a living ; for getting a living means as indicated above , ,

extracting the means of subsistence of comfort and of happin ess , ,

out of the material world which surrounds us .

Th e pastoralstage A mong those peoples who origin ally got

.

their living by hunting and who therefore subsisted largely upon

,

anim al food the next stage of industrial development was usu

,

ally the pastoral This was a stage in which men got their living
.

principally by herding and breeding animals which they had

mmed and domesticated This was more economical than hunt.

ing for several reasons In the fi rst place the people protected
, .
,

their useful animals from beasts of prey ; again they drove ,

away the w ild and less useful anim als which might consume

the grass needed by their own animals By these methods .

larger numbers of usefulanimals were enabled to live in a given

territory an d thus more ample subsistence was secured N ot only
,
.

was the subsistence more am ple it was also more reg ular in its
supply and more easily accessible .

The pastoral industry consisted as already indicated in giv , ,

ing a preference to certain selected typ es of animals an d in

excluding other animals which would interfere with the ir
multiplication and growth It was eventually found howeve r .
, ,

that certain plants were more useful than o thers either as forage ,

for the animals or as food for man and that these plants could ,

only be increased by waging war against other plants now called ,

weeds which contended against the useful ones for the posse s
,

sion of the soil When men began to give the preference to

.

these useful plants to prepare the soil for them and to destroy
, ,

the useless ones in order that the useful might multiply an d

grow agriculture was bo rn That is what agriculture consists of
, .

to this day This was an improvement over the mere herding

.

of animals as herding had been over hunting By enabling more

, .

useful plants to grow than had grown before subsistence was ,

 G EN ERAL P RI N C I P L ES
9

re atly increas e d and the limit is not yet reached P eoples

g , .

who never made their living by hunting wild animals but by ,

gathering wild herbs and fruits probably developed into the ,

agricultural stage directl y without having passed through the

pastoral stage .

Inefliciency of th e h unting and fi sh ing stage That the bar .

barous method of getting a living by hunting an d fi shing is very

ineffi cient as compared with agriculture may be shown by the
following considerations It is the opinion of those most compe
.

tent to judge th at there were never more than

,
Indian s
in that part of the present territory of the United States which
lies east of the M ississippi and the M issouri rivers By their .

methods of getting a living which consisted mainly of hunting ,

an d fi shing even this smal

,
l number could e ke out only a meager
e xistence .Each tribe was forced to be on its guard lest its hunt
ing grounds be invaded by other tribes an d its source of sub
s istence thereby cut off But this same territory now supports
.

about people and most of their food an d a good

,

part of the materials for their clothing are produced on its

farms N o country of equal area however rich by nature is
.
, ,

capable of supporting a population such as this by hunting

an d fi shing alone .

O f al l the extractive industries farming has become in ,

al l civilized countries vastly the most important In certain

, .

sm all communities lumbering and mining may for a brief ,

period overshadow farming ; but for large areas and over long
, ,

pe riods of time none of the other extractive industries can even

,

rivalfarming M oreover lumbering as distinct from forestry

.
, ,

which is a kind of farming an d mining tend to exhaust once ,

an d for al l the store of n atural resources which they are engaged

,

in extracting O n the other h and farming may last for inde fi

.
,

nite periods by reason of the fact that if wisely managed the

,

soil m ay be conserved an d renewed an d even improved For ,

.
IO P RI NC I P L ES O F RUR AL EC O N O M I C S

this reason agricultural communities are usually characte riz ed

by their stability whereas lumbering and mining comm un i
,

ties usually called camps in this country are characterized by

, ,

their instability .

Transcendent im po rtan ce of agricult ure A s comp ared with .

the secondary industries agriculture is still overwhelmingly the

,

most impo rtant if we consider the world at large or any consid

, ,

c rable section of it which is self supporting But agriculture is

-

gradually losing this position relatively at least for reasons which

, ,

will be noticed l ater Even now there are certain sections an d

.
,

even whole countries which manufacture a great deal more and

, ,

produce on farms a great deal less than they consume exchang , ,

ing their surplus manufactures for the surplus agricultural prod

ucts of other sectio n s or countries where l and is more abundant

and popul ation less abundant In such places agriculture may

.

be for a time forced into a subordinate position

, , .

Wh y agriculture is losing ground A gain as civiliz ation .

,

advances an d m en come to dem and fi ner an d still fi ner prod

ucts for their use the tendency seems to be for manufactures

, ,

trade and transpo rtation to gain in magnitude an d importance

,

as compared with the extractive industries In order that there .

may be a supply of the fi ner products which the world is coming

to demand the raw m aterials which the extractive industries
,

furnish must be worked over more an d more an d brought to a

higher degree of refi nement This is in general though n ot
.
, ,

wholly the work of the secondary industries and thus the

, ,

magnitude of their work grows in comparison with that of the

extractive industries H owever this demand for fi ner products
.
,

tends also to stimulate certain high types of farming such as ,

market gardening fruit growing milk production etc It takes

, , , .

more work for example to produce the very best quality of

, ,

milk than a poor quality ; and when the market comes to de

mand a higher grade of milk and is w illing to p ay f or it the re
, ,
 G EN ERAL P RI N C I P L ES I I

wil
l be more men employed in dairying and that industry will ,

then grow in magnitude and importance e ven though no more ,

milk is produced per capita than now Thus the gain resulting .

from a higher civilization an d a higher standard of living is not

exclusively though it is mainly on the side of the secondary indus
, ,

tries There are other causes however which tend to stimulate

.
, ,

the growth of the secondary industries at the e xpense of the

primary A mong these may be mentioned the invention of farm
.

machinery which is manufactured in the cities and by means

, ,

of which labor is saved on the farms thus tending to reduce , ,

relatively to the city population at least the number of people ,

living on the farms But whatever may happen in the very

.

distant future it still remains true taking the world over th at

, , ,

ag riculture is the greatest industry .

Ex tractin g a l iving fromoth er m en It was remarked at the .

beginning of this chapter that when we consider man as a race

we fi nd that he must get his living out of the material world .

As an individual however we shall fi nd that even when he

, , ,

is following an economic method of getting a living he does ,

n ot always get it out of the m aterial world an d that his indi ,

Vidualsuccess does not al ways depend upon his ab ility to con

trol or direct the forces of physical nature It sometimes .

depends upon his power to direct and control other men an d ,

sometimes upon his ability to please them Controlling other .

men in the sense of governing them persuading them leading , ,

them in the righ t direc tion an d stimulating them to higher

,

endeavor is of the greatest possible assistance in the tas k of

,

subj ugating nature an d remaking the earth an d they who are ,

abl e to do this are among the greatest of men Even though .

such men frequently h ave little knowledge of the naturalworld

an d little aptitude for the actual work of controlling and directing
physical forces nevertheless they know men they understand
, ,

the human heart an d they are experts in directin g the forces

,
12 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

which govern human society The work of pleasing men .

,

even of amusing them may also help in this great task if it

,

enables the workers to return to it with n e w vigor and

enthusiasm .

It would not be possible however to draw any sharp dividing

, ,

line between those occupations where individual success depends

upon skill in controlling physical forces an d material things and ,

tho se where it depends upon s kill in controlling social forces

and men The s uccess of almost every person unless it be
.
,

that of the pioneer in an uninhabited wilderness depends in , ,

some slight degree at least upon his ability to adapt himself to

,

social as well as physical conditions — upon his ability to deal ,

successfully with other men as well as with things A nd there .

is scarcely any one unless it be the politician whose success

, ,

does not depend in some slight degree at least upon knowledge

of physical forces and the properties of things together with ,

some skill in applying that knowledge N evertheless there .

,

are certain occup ations where success depends p rimaril y upon

power over things an d to a slight degree upon power over men
, ,

an d vice versa The farmer the sailor the mechanic the e n

.
, , ,

g in ee r an d,
the experiment al scientist m ay all be put in the
former cl ass In the l atter we sho uld probably put in addition
.
,

to the politician who is the example p a r ex cellence the lawyer

, , ,

the actor the preacher the teacher and the salesman

, , e very , ,

one in fact wh ose active work consists m ainly in talkin g or

, , ,

whose success depends mainly upon being keen j udges of

human n ature .

Upon this topic the words of Thomas Carlyle are not onl y
instructive but inspiring as well .

T women I honor an d n o third First the toilworn Craftsman th at with

, .
,

e arth made Im
-

p l e me n t l ab orious ly c on q ue rs th e E arth an d makes he r man s ,

’
.

V enerable to me is the hard H an d ; crooked coarse ; wherein notwiths tand ,

l
ing ies a cunning V irtue , in de feasibly royal , as of the Sce p te r of this P l
ane t .
14 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

social intercourse It is for this reason and for this reason only
.
, ,

that urban people have generally found occasion to reproach

rural people for their lack of urbanity .

This characteristic however is becoming less noticeable in

, ,

the case of the modern commercial farmer than it was in that of

the self suffi cing farmer The self suffi cing farmer m ade his
-
.
-

farm produce nearly everything which he and his family con

sumed H aving little to buy or sell an d few occasions for travel
.
, ,

he had few points of contact with other men therefore he had

little to gain by soci al polish and few opportunities for acquiring
,

it The tendency is however toward greater and greater spe

.
, ,

c ializ ation in agriculture toward a system under which each farm

,

produces only those crops for which it is best suited U nder .

this sys tem each farmer of course produces a great deal more of
these special crops th an he can possibly consume H e must .

therefore sell allor the greater part of what he produces an d ,

wi th the proceeds buy the other goods which he needs This .

calls for a great deal of buying and selling ; it brings him more
an d more into contact with the world of men as well as with the ,

world of material things and it is forcing him to become more

an d m ore familiar with its movements its m anners an d customs , ,

its markets its political and commercial policies and its scie ntific
, ,

discoveries Therefore this old distinction between rural and

.

urban people based upon the farmer s lack of social polish is

,
’

tending to disappear and may possibly disappear altoge ther

,

with the l apse of time .

Wh erein th e farmer is independent and w h erein h e is not .

These considerations bring us to the question of the so called -

independence of the farmer I n the days of the self sufiicing

.
-

system of agriculture the farmers were less depe ndent than an y

other clas s upon commercial social an d political condition s
, , ,

conditions existing in the world of men Industrial di sturb .

auces fi nancial panics commercial depressions an d al

, , l such ,
 G ENERAL P RI NC I P L ES 1 5

hap penings were of little moment to those who got their living
out of the soil Viewed from this standpoint the farmer led an
.
,

independent life But on the other hand happenings in the

.
, ,

physical world were of the utmost concern to him and he ,

was in fact more dependent upon these th an any other class

, , .

Floods droughts storms untimely frosts backward seasons

, , , , ,

an d a multitude of such conditions continually threatened to

render his labor of no avail or to destroy the fruits of it Con .

tin ualwatching of we ather signs made the farmer with the pos ,

sible exception of the sailor the most expert of allj udges of ,

weather an d made that subj ect together with crops the two
, , ,

perennial themes of rural conversation Rural people need not .

feel sensitive upon this point These are topics of vastly more .

weight and interest than th ose which commonly form the basis
of conversation among urban pe ople A side from the work of .

g uarding aga inst loss by bad we ather the farmer h ad to w age ,

continuous warfare against weeds vermin predato ry be asts and , ,

birds various forms of blight upon his crops and disease among
, ,
’
his animals Thus it will be seen that the farmer s was a one
.

S ided independence he was independent of those things which

th e business man of the city m ost dreaded such as changes ,

of fashion loss of good will or credit new competitors fi nan

, , ,

c ialp anics and a multitude of other changes which might force

,

him into bankruptcy l of them ch anges in the world of

al ,

men many of them mere psychological changes The business

, .

man of the city thinking only of his own peculiar cares and
,

trials has Often envied the farmer his independence But on

, .
,

the other hand the business man concerned himself very little
,

about ordinary changes of weather an d such things as worried

the farmer N othing short of a tornado or a flood severe

.

enough to destroy property ever interfered with the regularity

of his work The farmer thinking only of his own peculiar
.
,

cares an d trials often envied the city m

,
an his independence .
16 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L ECO N O M I C S

’
But the farmer s independence is not so one sided when h e -

ceases to be a self suflicing farmer and becomes a commercial

-

farmer ; that is when he ceases to live directly upon the prod

,

ucts of his farm an d begins to live upon the pro fi ts of farming .

To be sure he is still compelled to watch the weather Wet .

and dry seasons continue to affect his crops ; disease blight , ,

and pests still attack them an d storms still destroy them ; but ,

he is now learning how to reduce their power to do him inj ury .

H e is learning to drain his land and to adapt his methods of

cultivation to the character of the season to spray and use other ,

means of preventing inj ury by pests ; but he is still and must ,

continue to be in more direct and immediate contact with the

,
’
vary ing an d uncertain manifestations of n ature s power than
the members of any other class O n the other hand the fact .
,

that the farmer is coming to live upon the profits of farming ,

rather than upon the products themselves increases his depend ,

ence upon the markets an d market conditions A nything there .

,

fore which affects his customers and their power to purchase

, ,

affects him also .

At the same time even merchants an d manufacturers are

,

coming to realize as the railroads and fi nancial interests have

,

long realized a vitaldependence upon those weather conditions

,

which affect farm crops In our interlocking industrial system .

no large interest can be seriously affected without also affe cting

many others in some degree A fi nancial writer in one of our .

leading reviews wrote a few years ago as follows , ,

T hat es ti mates of th e outturn of home an d f oreign harvests shou ld at

this se ason of the y e ar be awaite d with inte re st is p er ect f ly natural
. H ar
v es t re su tsl p rovi e d the one e sse n tia l f ac tor in econom ic an d in dustria l
p g
ro ress which is wholly b yon d th cont ol f man H uman agacity may
e e r o . S

in u e wise u
s r c n y l gisl at
rre ci n ; it may i
e ease th utp ut of gol d ; it m
o ay
n cr e o

avo id p litical mp licatio

o co ; it m ay d e l p x
nsi i
t ng t a de at h om e ; ti ve o e s r

may creat n ew t ad ab ad ; but it an n t

e r e ro at ab un dan t h ar es ts c r o cre e v o

pre v e n t a crop fail u u p n w hi h a

re ,l te n ati a
ot rtain j uncctures n e arlr
y ve , ce ,
 G EN ERAL P RI N C I P L ES 17

lof th e
al fi ve oth e r influe nce s cite d above depe nd With . al
lth e increase ,
during the three p as t ge nerations of othe r factors going to make up p ros
,

p e rit or adv e rsity it is al

y m os t as true tod ay as it w as a c e n tury ag o th at
the a e rage n ation s in dustrial we lfare d epe n ds c hiefly on the raising of an
v

ab un dan t crO p an d its sale at fair price s

l
.

S easonal ch aracter of
The mention of the agricul
ture.
dependence of the farmer on weather an d other climatic con
dition s Suggests another impo rtant characteristic of agriculture
as a way of getting a living that is its seasonal character , , .

This applies not only to the changing of the seasons from spring
to summer from summer to autumn and from autumn to
, ,

winter ; but even during the same day the n ature of the work
changes from hour to hour It is never possible in the temper .
,

ate zone to work day In and day out week in an d week out at
, , ,

one simple operation repeated indefi nitely as is commonly done ,

in almost every mechanical industry O n a farm there are things .

which have to be done at certain h ours of the day and quite ,

different things at other hours ; and so from day to day from ,

week to week from month to month and from season to season

, ,

the work is constantly changing These are norm al ch anges .

such as can be predicted in advance O n any ordinary farm .

there are a multitude of operations widely different in their ,

nature requiring the use of different powers or different kinds

,

of skill O n account of its seasonal ch aracter therefore the

.
, ,

work of the farmer is more diversifi ed than that of any other

large cl ass of w orkers .

I n addition to these normalseasonalchanges necessitating ,

’
regular changes in the farmer s work there are always to be ,

expe cted a certain number of abnormal or unforeseeable changes

or interruptions in the regul ar work A sudden change of the .

weather for example may necessitate a complete change in the

, ,

farmer s plans for the day an d force him to do a kind of work

’

1 Th e N ation ( N ew York) , V ol 7 2 .
p 4 64
. .
18 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

which he had not planned to do at all The work of the farmer .

,

more than that of any other class calls for versatility and ,

resourcefulness H e must always be ready to decide what is to

.

be done next when these numerous interruptions occur T he

, .

worker in a factory on the other hand has fewer interruptions

, ,

of this kind H e learns one particular kind of work an d may

.

keep at it for months and even years without any abrupt change, , .

This requires neither versatility nor resourcefulness but merely ,

patience an d dexterity .

Domestic ch aracter of agriculture A gain the work of the .

,

farmer is carried on in direct connection with the home an d

the family In this particul ar it differs widely from allthe other
.

large ind ustries such as mining manufacturing etc There are

, , ,
.

still a few small shops an d stores where the b usiness and the
home are united an d the work of the household is not sharply
,

separated from the business of getting a living ; but thes e

are survivals of an older system an d are not now charac

te ristic of these industries as a whole But it is quite the com .

mon thing especially in this country for the farmer to live on

, ,

the farm and for different members of the family to particip ate
,

more or less in the common work of the farm or of supporting

the home an d the fam ily There is therefore no such sh arp .
, ,
"
distinction between business and the h ome or between b usi ,

ness ideals an d the ideals of private life in the country as there

is in the city When however the farmer turns trader he fre
.
, , ,

quently imitates the practices which urban traders too generally

follow and departs from the ideals of private life In such cases
, .

he is very much inclined to j ustify himself with the re mark ,

’ ”
T hat s business Those who make this remark virtually ad
.

mit that the standards of business are different from those of

ordinary life .

Farmers general l
y se lf employ ed M enti o n has already b e e n
-
.

made of the so called independence of the farming class T h e re

-
.
 G EN ERAL P RI N C I P L ES 19

is another sense in which the farmers as a class are in a very ,

real sense more independent than any other large class They
, .

are the most independent in the sense that in al lhighly civilized ,

countries the vast majority of them are their own employers

, .

P erhaps the most important distinction of al lbetween agriculture

an d other large industries is th at agriculture is still an d will ,

probably continue to be; an industry of small units ; whereas

other large industries such as manufacturing mining and
, , ,

transportation as well as commercial an d banking enter

,

prises seem to be tending at the present time toward l arger

,

an d larger establishments There is it is true also a counter

.
, ,

tendency too frequently overlooked in these other industries ;

,

but in spite of this the large establishments especially in our

, , ,

g rea t cities seem gener

,
ally to h ave the adva ntage over the
smaller ones But no such tendency is showing its elf as yet
.

in agriculture an d it is not likely to unless something at present

,

unforeseeable should occur to give the mamm oth farm an advan

tage which it does not now possess over the small farm A ccord .

ing to the census of 1 9 1 0 it appears that the very large farms

are diminishing in number This indicates that the y are less
.

productive than those of medium size This characteristic of .

ag riculture is a matter of great importance because it means ,

that a large proportion of the men engaged in this industry

are their own m asters and the heads of independent concerns .

In an industry of large scale production or where large estab

-

lishme nts are the prevailing type the opposite is true a ve ry

, ,

s m all proportion of th ose engaged being their own masters or

h eads of independent concerns .

A ccording to the census of 1 8 5 0 there was one farm for

!

1 4 rural residents that is persons not living in cities of

, ,

more than 8 000 inhabitants ; but according to the census of

1 900 there was one farm for eve r y 9 such persons The .

differe n ce may be accounted for in part by the larger families

20 P RI N C I P L ES O F RU R AL ECO N O M I C S

of that earlier period ; but these fi gures signify at least that

there is as yet no tendency toward such a concentration in
agriculture as has taken pl ace in m anufacturing trade an d , ,

transportation That these farms were generally of respectable

.

size is shown by the fact that in 1 900 there was one farm of
fi fty acres or more for every I rural residents When we .

consider that living in towns an d V illages of less than 8 000

inhabitants there are vast numbers of people who are not farmers
at al l we sh all see how generally true it is that agriculture is
,

still an industry of small units M oreover as Shown by the .

,

above fi gures the size of the unit is certainly not increas ing
, ,

but appears to be decreasing slightly though this may be only ,

temporary or accidental O ne is therefore safe in saying on

.
,

the basis of these figures that there is no other l arge indus

,

try where the individual has so good a chance of becoming his

own employer or of being the head of an independent business
,

unit as in agriculture Certainly there is no other large industry

, .

where so large a proportion of the men engaged are actually

self employed an d where so small a proportion are in the posi
-

tion of employees For high Spirited men an d for men of

.
-

independence an d initiative this will always be an attractive

feature of the agricultural industry But there is little in this .

industry to attract two other classes of people Those with .

a liking for specul ative risks who are wi lling to risk everything
,

for large prizes will fi n d little here to attract them It is not

, .

a fi eld for vast enterprise nor are vast fortunes made in it

, .

A gain they who have little initiative

,
they to whom the
question of what to do next is always a painful one will
always prefer industries where questions of this kind are solved

for them by bosses foreme n an d superintendents

, , .

Reaction of business upon l ife The two last name d charac .

-

te ristics of the agricultural industry combine to produce a most

profound reaction upon the life an d character of ruralpeople .
22 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

farms not only feed the cities with their materialproducts but ,

they also furnish the cities with men an d women .

Rel ation of th e sex es in farm ing commun ities O ne of the

.

most important of allthe characteristics which distinguish rural

from urban life is the greater interdependence of the sexes in
the former M ost of our present notions as to what is proper
.

work for men and women have been handed down to us from
”

our rural ancestors The idea that the proper work of women
.

lies mainly within the walls of the dwelling while that of me n

,

lies without is a natural result of rural conditions Though

, .

there is a great deal of light work to be done about a farm ,

there are always kinds of work which require the somewhat

higher average muscular development of masculine workers .

Where there is live stock to be h andled th ere are also kinds of

,

work which require masculine courage an d resourcefulness as

well as muscularity There are very few farms in fact where
.
, ,

al lthe outdoor work could be carried on profitably by women

al one It is true that on farms where highly specialized agricul
.

ture is practiced there is room for the use of considerable female

labor out of doors but these farms are exceptional A gain on
, .
,

the small peasant farms of Europe and on a few of the small

,

negro farms of our Southern states a great deal of work is done

,

by women But peasant farming is a low type of farming usu

.
,

ally carried on by very ine ffi cient methods the purpose bein g

,

to make as good a living as possible from a tra ct of land too

small to permit of an e fficient application of labor an d tools .

S uch farming is usually accompanied by a l ow stan dard of livin g

on the part of the farmer an d his family O n e result of this

.

necessity for masculine labor in the country is that there are rela
tively few opportunities cert
,
ainly much fewer th an in the city ,

for a woman to make an independent living for herself outside

of the household A n unmarried woman is therefore at a much
.

g reater dis advantage in the count r

y than in the towns a n d cities .
 GEN ERAL P RI NC I P L ES 23

At the same time an unmarried farmer is at a still greater

disadvantage In most cases he must live on his farm
. in all ,

cases it is to his advantage to do so The sparseness of the .

agriculturalpopul ation m akes it impossible to depend upon board

ing houses The geometrical as well as the social conditions of

.

farm life dictate that there shall be an independent household

on every farm N o such set of conditions exists in the city The
. .

unm arried business man an d the unm arried business woman

‘

may su ffer moraland social loss but they can scarcely be said ,

to be under the sl ightest disadvantage in a purely business sense .

The farmer needs a wife as a part of his business equipment

because on the farm the home is a part of the business an d
, ,

the business a part of the home A ccordingly there are in the .

,

coun try very few of those old unm arried m ales who infest the
,

business an d professional circles of our cities The sexes need .

one another in the work as well as in the life of the country .

Partly for this reason an d partly because of the more wholes ome
,

and norm alstyle of living in the country there is a m ore whole ,

some attitude of the sexes toward one another than is found in

the ci ty particul arly in certain business an d professionalcircles

, ,

where the artific ial itie s of life are most abnormally developed .

Finally farming is almost the only occupation left where the

,

child can un der wholesome conditions contribute a share of the

, ,

work necessary to the support of the family of which he is a

p a rt
. Where children work at other o ccup ations the conditions
are us ually so abnormal an d so morally or physically unwhole
,

some th at a strong prejudice has arisen against child l abor as

,

such There are stronger obj ections to child idleness than to

.

chil d labor A certain amount of work un der w holesome con di

.

tions is necessary for the physical mental an d moral develop , ,

ment of the average child The farm furnishes those condition s

. .

In the fi rst place the chil d can work with the parents learning ,

from and be ing guided by them In the second place the work .
,
24 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I CS

of the farm or the farm household includes many desultory ope r

ation s commonly kn own as chores which do r
,
iot req uire long
,

hours or continuous an d sustained attention For this kind of .

work the child is physically an d mentally adapted since he is ,

what might be called a desultory creature whereas he is un ,

adapted for any work which requires continuous attention to the

same operation hour after hour and day after day A gain a .
,

part at least of the farm work is done out of doors an d c hil ,

dren do not suffer from close confi nement as they do in stores ,

mines an d factories
,
.

Because of the help which children can without harm to ,

themselves render in the work of the farm they can pay in part
, , ,

at least the cost of their upbringing

,
This is an other reas o n
.

why marriages are as a rule earlier and families larger in the

, ,

country than in the city It is sometimes insinuated th at s uch

.

motives ought to have no place in the problems of marriage an d

of family life Such insinuations however are based upon an
.
, ,

idealism which is not only impractical but vicious N o o n e .

need apologize for this admixture of economic an d ro man tic

motives when he understands that all sound romance has an
economic foundation N o pure form of socialor domestic life
.
,

no high type of morality has ever been developed am o ng

,

any people except where it has been organized around so me

kind of productive work The ideal of production for a com

.

mon family purpose — oi building a family an d perpetu atin a

, g
prosperous productive family estate instead of subtracting from
,
—

the dignity of family life is really one of the greatest factors in

,

adding dignity to it Where there is no purpose of this k ind

.

there is nothing to deserve the name of marriage H owever .

,

when the economic motive becomes perverted as it sometimes ,

does an d the children are looked upon as fi nancial resources for

,

the benefit of the parent alone an d the income is devoted mai n ly

,

to his own selfi sh grati fi cation it is quite a different thing

, .
 G EN ERA L P RI N C I P LES 25

The delibe rate determination to found a family or to perpe t ,

uate one already honorably established an d to preserve its ,

traditions is not as general as it ought to be either in the

,

country or the city Such a motive appeals only to men an d

.

women of mental an d moral substance to such men an d

,

women as will always be the natural leaders of their commu

n itie s until civilization begins to decline through mo ral decay .

B ut the opportunities for the carrying out of that determina

tio n are be tte r in the coun try than in the city The reason is .

fo und primarily in the greater economic solidarity of the ru

ral as compared with th e urban family to the fact that ,

th e rural home is p art an d parcel of the rural business and

th e rural estate .

Th e rural districts th e seed bed of th e popul ation It has .

be e n said that the greatest socialdistinction is not that be tween

lab orers an d employers but that between the people who dwell
,

in the city an d those who dwell in th e country There is no .

doubt that the tendencies of city life are quite different from
those of the country City life tends to develop ideal
. s stand ,

ards sentiments and manners different from those of rural

, ,

life an d thus to separate city people from ruralpeople If this

, .

tendency could go on unimpeded for a great many genera

tions it might produce wider differences than it does ; but it
,

is checked by the fact that the cities have to be continu ally

replen ished from the country In any modern city it will be
.

f ound th at many of the most prominent people come from the

c ountry and that the great majority of them are descended
,

f rom parents or grandparents who lived in the country While .

this continues there can never be so wide a distinction be

twee n city people and country people as woul d otherwi se
oc cur for the reason that city people are themselves mostly
,

country pe opl e recentl y come to town that is within two three

, , , ,

o r at the most four generations

, , .
26 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

Assumption of urban superiori

ty If we look at the matter .

historically however we fi n d that there have been times when

, ,

this distinction was a very real one It is surprising how m any .

Opprobrious terms there are doubtless coined by city people

, ,

H eathen
”
which at one time meant merely countrym an .
,

pagan ,
”
boor vill ain an d even peasant as that word
,
”

,
”

is frequently used all having originally about the same mean

,

ing in different languages are examples which show in wh at

,

poor esteem the countryman was held at one time or another by

his cousins from the city But this low esteem has frequently
.

been merely the result of a failure on the part of those who get
their living out of other men to appreciate the men who get their
living out of the soil .

This failure is sometimes due to a lack of appreciation of th e

real virtues an d the many excellent qualities of those who till
the soil A n ancient occupation pursued by countless genera
.
,

tions accumulates a vast fund of wisdom an d skill much of

, ,

which escapes the p ages of the written book being transmitted ,

from father to son on the thin air of oral tradition or of living

example S uch an occupation is agriculture Working in fl int
. .

has been called the Oldest trade in the w orld but tilling the soil ,

has fi rst claim to that distinction unless the word trade is to ,

be applied to special mechanical occupations only In co u se .

q ue n ce of its antiquity a n d its universality there h as develop e d

a body of rural l ore an d technic which has no counterpar , t

anywhere else but which is entirely underestimated by if not

, ,

absolutely unkn own to the urbanite ,

But because so much of .

it is learned outside of scho ols by the actual process of doing ,

rural work father an d son working together generation after

,

generation it does not commonly go under the name of

,

M oreover the m arvelous technic of ruralwork is

”
learning .
,

acquired in such a commonplace wa th at we frequently re gard

y
it as a matter of course an d do not appreciate that it is rcal
,
 G ENERAL P RI N C I P L ES 27

technic There are probably no instruments known to any craft

.

which are more perfect in their adaptation with more fine ,

points upon which excellence in their form and construction

depends than some of the S impler implements of modern hus
,

bandry The common plow is an example The shaping of

. .

th e moldboard so as to give the m aximum e ffi ciency with the

minimum resistance is a problem of the utmost nicety It is .

a problem to which Thom as Je fferson himself gave years of

thought and calculation Though this part of his work has not
.

’
attracted so much of the world s attention as th at which he

devoted to the problem of the best form of government it is ,

n ot quite certain that it was less imp ortant .

These considerations should combine to give character an d

dignity to rural life an d work at least in the minds of those
,

who see deeper than mere superfi cial culture or manners or , ,

arts of expression an d are able to appreciate the rel ative value

,

to the world of various ways of getting a living .

Isol ation th e m enace of f arm life as congestion is of city lif e .

A t the same time these considerations should cal l our attention

to som e of the real dangers of rural life The sheer isolation
.

of farm lif e has a depressing e ffect upon the intellectuallife of

those who require the stimulus of excitement an d contact with
other men to keep their minds active Such people frequently
.

sin k into a state of mental inactivity and moral torpor which

h e lps to j ustify some of the epithets which have been applied to
th em . This is a danger to which a new country such as ours is
pe c uliarly open Where the conditions of life are as easy as
.

th e y have be en in this country up to the present time even very ,

in e ffi cient specimens of hum anity have been able to h old their

own against competition If they are fortunate enou gh to get
.

po s se ssion of l and which does not attract more progressive

farmers they may live unmolested for generations A ccordingly

, .

on e fi nds in out of the way places in di fferent sections of our

,
- - -
28 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L ECO N O M I C S

country a degree of ign orance in eflicie ncy an d moral degener

, , ,

acy which it would probably be impossible to fi n d in any of the

countries of western Europe The stern competition of those

.

old and thickly populated countries makes short work of allsu ch

incapables an d sends them speedily to the almshouse or drives ,

them to crime and thence to prison or the gallows We must

, .

look forward in this country as our population increases and

,

land comes to be in greater and greater demand and the con ,

ditions of life become harder and harder as they inevitably will ,

for weaklings to the unpleasant prospect of a centu ry or so of

,

weeding out .

These country slums seem to be so far as conditions outs id e

,

the individual are concerned the product of isolation j ust as

, ,

the city slums are in the same sense the product of over
, ,

crowding Though the fundamental conditions in both cases

.

are pers on alan d n ot environmental yet the environment has its

,

influence in one case as well as in the other The effect of iso .

l ation upon weak characters is to destroy allrespect for tradition ,

authority or social convention Society tends to break up into its

, .

atomic elements an d each individual to become a l

, aw unto him

self following his weak and vacillating will sometimes toward

, ,

amiable nonmorality sometimes toward vicious l awlessness

,
The .

weak character without any of the restraints which society fur

,

nishes to strengthen it loses its sense of social obligation an d is

,

governed by whim an d caprice or becomes suspicious morose

, , ,

an d impatient of res traint or interference .

 0 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
3

stage without having known anything resembling a pastoral in

dustry It is n ot improbable that in a few cases such as the an
.
, ,

cient P h oenicians commerce developed directly out of fi shing

, .

The Ind ians of N orth A merica before the coming of the white
,

man had never domesticated any animals except the turkey and
,

the dog The domesticated turkey played such an insigni fi cant

.

part in the Indian economy and in so few places that so far as

, , ,

the present discussion is concerned it may be ign ored altogether , .

The dog was used chiefly in the chase though occasionally for ,

food an d therefore belongs to the economy of the hunting

,

rather than to that of the pastoral stage We do not fi nd in these .

two cases even the semblance of a pastoral economy ; that is to

say there were no Indians in N o rth A merica who ever derived
,

any appreciable part of their subsistence from the herding an d

breeding of domesticated animals Even after the coming of the .

white man the horse was for many years the only domestic
animal added to the wealth of the Indians an d he like the dog , , ,

was used mainly in war an d the ch ase an d therefore belonge d ,

also to the hunting economy O n the other h and agricul ture

.
,

was everywhere practiced except in the far north where it ,

was impracticable A mong some tribes such as the P ueblos

.
,

an d the nations in M exico the art of cultivating the soil had

,

reached a tolerably high state of development Therefore .

we may safely say that the Indians of that part of N o rth

A merica now c omprised within the territory of the U nite d
States were passing directly from the hunting an d fi shin g
into the agricultural stage without passing through the pas toral
stage at all A ccording to another view they had fo rmerly
.

been agriculturists but had taken to a hunting life be c aus e

,

of the abundance of game especially after the relatively lat e

,

increase of the bison .

Our own ancestors probably h erdsmen H owever it see ms to .

,

be well established that our own ancestors the peoples of we stern ,

 S KETCH O F M O D ER N AGRI C ULT UR E 3 1

Asia an d Europe ,
generally passed through a pastoral stage
of development be fore they became tillers of the soil There .

fore the study of the development of agriculture as w e know it

must include a study of the pastoral life an d economy The .

life of the early H ebrew patriarchs as described in the book of

,

Gen es is was distinctly pastoral When A braham left Ur of the

, .

Chaldees an d migrated westward into the country now called

Palestine he was a herdsman a cattle rancher di ffering from
, , ,

the cattle ranchers of our Far West in several particulars but ,

mainly in that he had no settled abode but dwelt in tents an d ,

moved about with his flocks an d herds seeking pasturage In .

this respect his life resembled very closely that of the modern
Bedouins who are still in the pastoral stage It was not until
, .

the soj ourn in Egy pt that the H ebrews became perforce tillers , ,

of the soil .

The colder climate of Europe would not have permitted

the precise style of life led by the H ebrew patriarchs an d the
modern Bedouins N evertheles s it is generally agreed th at
.
,

the E urope an races in their early home before the dawn ,

of recorded history were primarily herdsmen The earliest

, .

G reek and Italian settlers in their respective peninsulas were

probably migrating herdsmen seeking pasturage for their flocks
an d herds They came driving their cattle before them an d
.
,

b ringin g the ir women children an d such household goods as

, ,

th ey po ssessed in rude carts drawn by oxen At a much later

, .

date the people of northern Europe were still subsisting on the

p ro ducts of their herds though in the
,
time of T acitus the G er
man s were beginning to practice a rude type of agriculture as ,
’
we re the Britons at the time of Caesar s invasion It is almost .

c e rtain that Irel and rem ained a pastoral country until toward

th e seventh century of our e ra .

Origin of th e domestication of animals It is probable that .

th e p ra ctice of domesticating animal s began with the keeping

3 2 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

of pets H aving captured a young animal it occurred to some

.
,

savage to amuse himself by playing with it If food was suffi .

cie ntl y a bund a nt he

,
might ea sily prefer to keep it as a per
manent pet rather than to sacrifice it to his own appetite .

When a number of pets were kept in the same village they ,

would soon form the nucleus of a herd and in the course of ,

years would multiply Then it would not require very great

.

intelligence to see the advantage of having a herd of this

kind to fal l back upon in times when game was scarce A .

g rca t m a ny individu a l anim a ls from these herds would u n

doubtedly escape an d take to their n atural wild life O nly the .

tamest animals or those most attached to their human m asters

, ,

would remain in domestication A gain we may well believe .

,

that when it became necessary to slaughter any of these pets

for food it would be the least tam able which would be sacrifi ced
, ,

rather than those with milder dispositions This process of .

selection going on generation after generation that is the ,

elimination of the less tamable and the preservation of the more

tamable would eventually result in the breeding of a tame or
domestic variety of the animals in question differing in m any ,

respects from their wild cousins .

It is worthy of remark that our branch of the hum an race

‘

has not reduced a single new animal to domestication sinc e the

beginning of recorded history every one of our farm animal ,
s

having been domesticated so long ago that we have no histo rical

record of the time place or circumstances under which it was
, ,

l
accomplished . This ought to give us a new respect for our p re
historic ancestors even though they were igno rant of many
,

things which have been discovered since and which we there , ,

fore have had an opportunity to learn

, .

1 Th e e
z b a may b e a p ossibl e e xc e p tion to thi tate me nt indi idual an ima ls
r s s , v

o f th at s p e c ie s h a in
g
v b e e n tam e d B ut it.c an sc a c e ly b e aid th a
rt it h as y et s

be c ome a d ome stic an imal in g e ne al use P e t se a lion wol e s rats e tc are

r . s, v , , .
,

n ot re ally d om e sticate d an im al The i wild n atu e h as n ot b e e n b re d out

s . r r .
 SKETC H O F M O D ER N AGRI CULTURE 33

if e upon character While this tra ns

Reaction of th e pastorall .

formation in the character of our domestic animals was taking

place ,
similar transformations were taking pl ace in the character

of th e ir masters Those individ uals or those tribe s who were

.

first to perceive the advantage of possessing flocks an d herds ,

and to availthemselves of that advantage would prospe r out of,

p rop o rtion to their less a stute neighbors In the

. intense struggle
for e xistence which al ways took place among savage tribe s the ,

advan tage would be on the Side of those who availed themselves

of th is more abundant and more perm anent source of food .

Those who were too lazy or too stupid to profit by this advantage
would be exterminated or what amounted to the same thing
, , ,

would be driven from their lands by their more prosperous an d

more powerful neighbors Thus the land would come to be
.

pl e d entir ely by men of this m ore advanced an d more inte l li

p eo

g ent t y pe,
by a process of selecti o n simil ar in some respect s to
that w hich produced a domestic variety of animal Even at the .

prese nt time there are even in the most civilized communities

, ,

revers ions to the wild type of man Criminals of the more

.

brutal type anarchists and even a certain bellicose typ e of

, ,

social ist
,
the whole underworld of revolt in fact are in ,

rebe ll ion against the restraints an d institutions of civilized soci

e ty. They are the untamable animals Of the human herd .

Reaction upon civil iz ation But the transform ation was not
.

limited to the character of the individual men ; it affected also

“

t he ir l aws an d institutions their religion an d their ideas of

, ,

mo rality O ne of the first of these changes to occur was the

.

d ev e lopment of a new concept of property When men began .

t o priz e their herds as a source of income an d to live O ff

th e produce of them th e concept of capital was born
,
By the .

c o n cept of capital is meant the idea of a fund of weal th as a

s o urc e of income ,
a fund which had to be guarded an d pre

se rve d for the sake of the income an d whose preservation

,
34 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

r quired some self control an d foresight otherwise it would be

e -

eaten up in times of hunger and thus th e future source of income

cut off .When one man or one group of men had succeeded
in building up a herd we may be very sure that neither would
,

be willing to share the fruits of labor peaceably with others .

Whereas under the economy of the hunting and fi shing stage

, ,

there was very little private property and practically no private

capital the transition to the pastoral economy brought with it
,

the institution of p rivate capital an d gave it great prominence .

Wealth came to be estimated in terms of cattle an d the posses ,

sion of large wealth as well as prowess in battle or the hunt

, ,

became the basis of distinction .

Reaction upon famil y lif e With the perception

. of the
desirability of capital an d the profit to be derived therefro m ,

came also a perception of the value of labor on the one hand ,

an d the desirability of being attached to a wealthy flock own e r

on the other Particularly was it seen that women and chil dren
.

were valuable aids to the herdsman an d women saw the advan

tage of being attached to a herdsman who was capable of sup
plying them with food clothing an d shelter rather than to a
, , ,

hunter who at best was able to provide only an uncertain liv ing .

This situation gave rise to what is known as the patriarchal

family which took the place of the somewhat loose and indefi n ite
,

typ e of family life which existed in the hunting stage Un der .

the patriarchal family the flock owner was the supreme h e ad ,

his wives were virtually his slaves were usually purchased fro m
,

their fathers while his ch ildren even his m arried sons w ere
, , ,

subj ect to him so long as he lived except th at he might sellh is

,

daughters as wives to other herdsmen in which case they bec ame ,

subj ect to their new masters The whole household frequ e n tly
.

numbered many individuals children grandchildren an d g reat

, , ,

grandchildren They were allattached to the herd an d un der the

.

authority of the herdsm an their oldest living male ancestor

, .
 S K ETC H O F M O D ERN AGRI C ULTURE 35

Out of the patriarchal family developed the tribe a large ,

g ro up of rel ate d families cla iming descent from a common

male ancestor O ne significant fact regarding patriarchal
.

soc iety is that it was based upon kinship rather th an upon

neighborhood or residence in a given geographical area It .

would never have occurred to a member of such a society or

trib e that you were entitled to a sh are in his government or his
religion merely because you happened to be his neighbor or to
live in the same territory Unless you were born a kinsman of
.

his you were not a member of his tribe an d you could

, ,

n ot have his religion unless you were m ade a make believe -

kin s man by the process of adoption .

P roperty in l and . While private capital came to play an

impo rtant part in the pastoral economy there were only the ,

b eginnin gs of property in land The idea that one man had a

.

b ette r right than another to pasture his flocks upon a given

p ie c e of la nd would at fi rst h ave seemed m o nstrous indeed .

H owever by mutual agreement it came to be understood in

,

so m e cases that each herdsm an or the head of each pastoral

g r o up w a s t o r estrict his c at tle to certa in la nds Thus in .

G en e s is x 111 we are told how Abraham an d Lot agreed to

s e parate an d e
,
a ch to restrict himself to a given territo ry because ,

lan d was getting scarce or rather because their herds an d

,

h e rdsmen were getting so numerous as to invite quarrels This .

was a beginning of the idea of prope rty in land for whenever ,

me n begin to think in terms of mine and thine they are

be ginning to think in terms of property H owever in this case .
,

it was not strictly private property but rather group or tribal

,

p r op e rty
,
f or th e p atriarchal family was a considerable group ,

of which the patr iarch was the head .

V illage com munities As this process went on and families

.

w i n to tribes an d tribes increased in numbers e ach tribe

g r e , ,

would be more and more restricted in its area When a defi nite .
3 6 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

a rea with definite boundaries came to be the domain of each

tribe the wan dering life gave way to settled life generally in
, ,

sm al lvil l
ages surrounded by wood l and an d pasture For many .

years the property remained tribalrather than individual As .

members within the village still further increased an d the ,

expansion of the area of pasture land became impossible som e ,

more productive method of securing food became an absolute

necessity This was found in the growing of crops It has
. .

been estimated that an area of land suflicie nt for the support of

one hundred people by pasturing animals will when brou g ht ,

under ordinary tillage support from three to four times as

,

many In the beginning tillage was con fined to small fi e lds

.

of specially fertile l and usually near the vil lage the outlying
, ,

lands rem aining in pasture an d woodland At fi rst these fi e l

ds
.

may have been cultivated in common and the produce shared

in common but before the beginning of recorded history the
,

system of p ure communism had been given up in some parts of

Europe an d soon after in other parts though a modifi e d type
, ,

of communal farming persisted until well within the historical

period This was a type Of farming in which the lands were
.

the common property of the village community but in which ,

each family was allotted a share upon which to grow crops for
its own subsistence .

Communalfarm ing A fter the pastoral tribe had lived a set

.

tle d vill age life for a few generations gradu ally the old idea of
,

kinship as the basis of organization began to give way and ter ,

ritoriality that is residence within a given territory

, began
to be the basis The village broke up into families somewhat
.

resembling the modern family This change was helpe d on by

.

the growing interest in tillage The idea that he that willnot

.

work shall not eat is very deep rooted So long as allthe cattl
-
. e

of the village were herded by the common labor on the common

lan d it was not easy to di stinguish the product of one m
’

, an s
 8 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS
3

pasture on the stubble the individual family having exclusive

,

use of its allotment only for the purpose of growing a crop .

P riv ate property in l and G enerally it came about that the

.

same families would be allotted the same portions of the culti

vate d fi elds year after year and eventually generation after , ,

generation until each one began to regard itself as havin g a

,

right to its permanent allotment Thus was private property in .

land established within the cultivated fields long before commu

nalproperty in the p asture an d woodland was given up This .

latter form of communal prope rty has persisted in some plac es

”
down to the present time under the name of rights of comm o n .

But long after the institution of private property in the c ulti

vate d fi elds was de fi nitely established it generally remain e d a ,

limited form of prope rty ; that is to say the family owned its ,

fi elds only for the purpose of growing crops After the c rops .

were harvested the villagers still had the right to turn their
’

stock upon the stubble as upon a common pasture The .

meadowland for the cutting of hay for the winter forage was
, ,

reallotted annually for a long time after the a able l and had
r

ceased to be reallotted after it had in fact becom e private

,
—
, ,

prope rty After the hay harvest this meadowland was thrown
.

Open like the stubble to the herds of the vill age

, ,
.

Th e open fi eld sy stem A s a system of land ownership th is is

-
.

sometimes called the m ark sy s te m but as a system of agriculture ,

it is usually called the ope n fi e ld system Even after the arable

-
.

land had become the private prope rty of the di fferent fam ilies
of the village it was not separately fenced but held in great
,

open fi elds These fi elds were subdivided af ter a most inge nious
.

and interesting system While each family might own a con

.

side rable acreage its land did not lie in a body but in a at
, g re

many small strips usually of one acre each Thes e ac re strips

, .

were usually though not always a furlong ( furrow long ) in

, ,

length an d four rods wide being the amount which on e pl

, , ow
 S KET C H O F M O D ER N AGRI CULTURE 39

te am was supposed on the average to be able to plow in a day

, , .

The acre strips be longing to the different families lay side by

side separated from one another only by n arrow grass paths
,

cal led bal ks At the ends of a group of these acre strips were
.

unplowed strips called headlands where the plow teams turned , .

Thus in the same furlong or group of acre strips every family , ,

in the village might own its strip while each family would own ,

similar strips in a great many different furlongs A s suggested .

above this arrangement was probably for the purpose originally

, , ,

of equalizing things by giving each family a share in land of

every grade or quality .

Th e tw o fi eld sy stem Farmers everywhere discovered very

-
.

early that continuous cropping tends to wear out the soil and
cause it to decline in productiveness This would lead them .
,

after a few years of cropping to abandon one fi eld an d clear ,

another for cultivation A fter a time it was discovered that.

when a fi eld had been idle for a few years a part at least of its ,

original fertility was restored Thus one of t he great laws of .

agricultural production was discovered before the beginning

of the historical period n amely that tho ugh continuous cropping

, ,

will wear out the soil yet an interval of rest tends to restore
,

its fertility A t first it is probable that there was no system

.

in the practice of cultivating l and until it was worn out an d

then abandoning it The V illagers would cultivate a piece of
.

land untilthey made up their minds that it would be better to

abandon it an d clear another piece for the plow Eventually .
,

however a regular system was adopted This is known as the

, .

two fi el d system
”
-
This S imply consisted in dividing the plow
.

land into two parts an d growing crops on each part in alternate

ye ars allowing each to lie fallow during the off years
,
.

d sy stem This was followed by another dis

Th e th ree fi el -
.

cove ry namely that a change of crops does not exh aust the soil
, ,

quite so rapidly as a continuous repetition of the same crop .

 0 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I CS
4

Afte r this was discovered it was found possible to grow crops

for two years on the same fi e ld an d l e t the l and l ie fal low
the third year and stil l preserve its fertility This gave rise .

to what is known as the three field system Under thi s ar

-
.

rangement the pl owland was divided into thre e parts A fal l .

grain (wheat or rye) would be sown on the l an d which had l ain

fallow during the previous summer In the fol lowing sp rin g .

the stubble of the previous year s crop of fall grain woul d be

’

plowed and sown to spring grain (oats or barley) and the lan d ,

which had grown spring grain the year before woul d be all owed
to l ie fallow Thus each fi eld in turn would be sown one y car
.

with a fall crop the next year with a sprin g crop and th e th ird
, ,

year would lie fallow This system be ing somewhat more p ro

.
,

ductive than the two fiel d system tended to displ

-
ace it th ough
, ,

very slowly in some parts .

Lack of individualinitiative Un der either of th ese syste ms

.

the individual family while owning its l

, and and its crops had ,

comparatively l ittle independence It was compelled to fol . low

the rotation prescribe d by the commun ity to have its crop har ,

vested by a pre scribed date in order that the cattle might be

turned out to pastu re on the stubble and in a mul titude of other
,

ways was bound by the l aws and customs of the vill age S o me .

h istorians tell us that the plowing was done cooperative l y wi th ,

large teams cons isting of eight oxen to which each family ,

contr ibuted one or two oxen though it is probabl , e that no

un iform rule ex isted on this point cert ain ly not as to the siz e
,

of the team s .

gra in . that is whcat,

,
r e , oat
y s , or harl
ev . Very fe w fruits or

garde n vegetables were grown by or kn own to the common

farming cl ass Th e ir food was n ecessa rily l imited in variety
.
,

consistin g m ain l
v of bre ad porridge milk butter chee se and
, , , , ,
 S K ETC H O F M O D ERN AGRI C ULTUR E 4 1

ra re luxury but nearly every farmer kept bees and honey was
, ,

th e refore almost the only form of sweetening in common use

Though this diet lacked variety it seems to have bee n fairly ,

abundan t The coarse and monotonous food was generally

.

washed down with home brewed ale or beer at least in the

-

more well to do families

- -
.

Th e manorial sy stem The communalform of ru ral organi

.

z ation under which these developments of the agricultural in

dustry took place was gradually replaced by a new form known

as the m anorialsystem This was a change in the form of land
.

ownership rather th an in the system of farming The manorial .

system succeeded the mark system of ownership but the open ,

fi eld system of farming accompanied both It is not po ssible to .

fi x upon any date as marking the end of the communal or mark

system an d the beginning of the m anorial system
,
In England .
,

the country in whose agricultural history we in this country are

most interested it probably began about two centuries before
,

the N orman Conquest ( 1 06 6 The practical completion

of the movement followed speedily after that event for the ,

N ormans found the manorial system a convenient basis for the

re organization of the kingdom Not only were the existing .

m anors granted to the followers of William the Conqueror but ,

th e entire k ingdom was surveyed and divided up in the same

way In the winter of 1 08 5 — 1 08 6 a general survey of the king

.

dom was ordered an d was carried out during the following year
, .

This is known as the Domesday S urvey and the results were ,

re corded in what is known as D omesday Boo k This is the first .

rec orded agricultu ral survey on a thoroughly comprehensive

scale and is probably the most complete su rvey ever m ade of

,

th e agricultural resources of any nation .

Description of a manor If we will imagine one of the village

.

communities as h aving become the pri vate property of an over

lord and the vi l

, lage rs as having become his here ditary te nants
 P RI N C I P L ES O F R UR AL EC O N O M I C S
4 2

un der the name of Villeins farming the land very much as ,

they had been doin g un der the commu nal or the mark syste m ,

but pay ing rent in kind or in service to the lord we shallhave ,

a gen eral idea as to what the manor was l ike H owever the .
,

lord of the manor was not simply the owner of the land ; he was
al so the ruler of the l ocal com munity holding courts and e n ,

forcin g the l aws H e was al so responsible to the king for c e r

.

tain duties an d se rvices From one point of view he may be

.

looked upon as an o ffi cer of the loca l government under th e

king receiving instead of a salary from the king a grant of the
, , ,

land with th e right to collect rents therefrom I n many case s .

,

however his function as an o ffi cer of the local government was

,

assumed by himse lf without any authority fro m the king Be in g .

the most powerf ul man in the neighborhood in a time of tur ,

bul e ncy or of ine ffi cient administr

a tion of l aw he assum e d a ,

position of l eadership or of authority The rents which the te n .

ants had to pay m ay therefore from the same point of v iew be

, ,

looked upon as their taxes for the support of the local g overn
ment or the local ruler Sometimes however one man or in
.
, ,

cluded many villages especially after the N orman Conque st

, .

These tenants were of various classes most numerous of wh ich ,

were the ville ins Each v illein held a tract of arable land usu
l
.
,

ally about thi rty acres bes ides a sh are of the meadowlan d an d
, ,

had the right of pasturing his stock upon the common s and
of cutting wood in the forest very much as he had done un der
,

the communal system H e was however by no means a free

.
, ,

man H e was attached to the land he tilled and could not

.
,

leave it without the lord s consent H e could be sold with the

’
.

lan d but not apart from the land like a common slave At
, .

the same time he was compelled to pay certain rents in kin d ,

1 Th e wor d ll
v i e in meant a villag e r , or on e who ive l di l
n th e vil, o r v il
lag e.

an d we n t o ut f m th i
ro s surviv or of th e ol
d v i ag e c o ll mmunity to til
lhis al
lot~

ment of land or to work for the lord on the demesne l

ands .
 S KETC H O F M O D ERN AGRI C ULTUR E 43

but in Engl and he paid his rent principal l y by performing labor

for the lord l
.

The l and of the manor was not al llet to tenants Certain por .

tions calle d the demesne l

, ands we re held and farmed directly ,

by the lord himself or under his general management and they ,

were cultivated by the l abor of the villeins an d smaller tenants .

These smaller tenants were called bordars crofters cotters etc , , , .

,

an d held ver y sm all tracts usually a bout fi ve acres U pon the , .

demesne land kept by the lord for his own use crops were sown ,

harvested and threshed by the labor of these tenants Each vil

, .

lein was compelled to work two or three days a week through

out the year for his lord besides certain special days in harvest ,

time There were a number of other duties enforced upon the

.

vill e ins all of which were more or less profitable to the lord
, .

The villein was obliged for example to take his grain to the , ,
’
lord s mill to be ground to take his cows to the lord s bul l to ,
’

allow his sheep to lie a part of the time on the l

’
ord s land for
th e sake of the manure S ometimes special contributions of .

honey one of the most important articles of luxury of th at

,

1 The f ll d esc ription f mA h l y En g ish Ec on omic

l Hi t y
’
o owing ( ro s e s s or , P art
I , p 6 ) giv e s
. an e xc e ll e nt p ic ture of an En g ish l manor:
The re was a vi ag e stre e t, an d al ll
ong e ach side of it the h ouse s of th e cu tivators of l
l l l d d
the soi , with itt e yar s aroun the m: as y e t the re we re n o scattere d armh ouse s , suc h as f
l
we re to ap pear ate r S tre tc hing away romthe vi ag e was the arab e an d, divi e d usu
. f ll l l d
l
aly into three efi lds , sown on e with whe at or ry e , on e with oats or bar e y , whrl e on e was l
lf ll
e t fa ow The efi lds we re again subdivide
. into what we re usua y ca e d
fur on g s , ”
ll ll d l
f l l
an d each ur ong in to acre or ha f acre strip s , se parate , n ot by he g e s , b ut b y
-
ba ks d d l
of un p oughe l d f
tur ; an d the se strip s we re istribute among th e cu tivators in such a d d l
way that each m an s h o in g was m
’
ld
a e up of s trip s scatte re up and d
own th e th re e d d
ld
fi e s, an d n o man h e ld d
two a j oin in g p ie ces E ac h in ivi ualh o e r was boun to cul . d d ld d
tivate h is stIip s in acc ordan ce with th e rotation of c rop s ob se rve by h is n e ighbo rs d .

l fi ld l
Be side s the arab e e s th e re we re a so me a ows , inc ose for h ay harvest, an d ivi e d l d d dd
in to portion s by l ot or rotation or c ustom ,
an d a te r h ay h arve s t th rown O p e n ag ain for f
l
th e catt e to pasture up on In most cas e s the re was a so some p e rman e n t p asture or
. l
d l
woo , in to which the catt e we re turn e , e ithe r without stint or in n umbe rs p rop or
”
d
tione d to the exte nt Of e ach man s h o ding
’
l .

fi ld d
S upp osing such e s an d me a ows we re own e in c ommon by a g roup of re e me n, d f
d
the con ition of thin gs wou ld
be what is ca e th e ma rk sy stem But th e man oria sys ll d . l
te mwas some th in g ve ry iffe re n t ; for in a m d
an or the an was re gar e as th e p rope rty, l d dd
n ot of the cu tivators, but of a or l l d .
 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS
44

period ,
of eggs poultry or ale were required The l
, , an d held .

by the villein remained intact generation after generation U pon .

his death it went to one son ; the others sought positio n s else
where as craftsmen in the towns servants in the lord s h ouse
’

, ,

hold and sometimes as soldiers Under the man o rial sy stem

,
.

there were considerable numbers of freeholders oc cupy ing a

position somewhat above that of the villein but as tim e went ,

on the difference between these two classes became an uncer

tain one and tended to disappear .

Origin of th e manor The process by which this tran sforma

.

tion of a village community into a man or came about is some

what complicated In a general way it may be said to h ave been
.

the result of three practices ( 1 ) Even under the com mu n ity sys
tem the king had certain rights in the way of taxation or serv '

ices from the village H e sometimes granted these righ ts to a

.

monastery as a convenient way of endowing it or to a p rivate ,

individual as a mark of favor ( 2 ) In those turbulen t times .

it was not always easy for a plain tiller of the soil untrai n e d in ,

the profession of arms to protect himself against marauders

,

or more formidable invaders H is safest plan was frequ e ntly

.

to put himself under the protection of some expert fi g hte r or

powerful leader agreeing to pay him certain services or re nts
,

in return for his protection ( 3) It became the practice for a

.

time to buy off by gifts of money the Danes who were har
, ,

assing the country It was necessary to raise this money by

.

taxation under the name of Danegeld It was useless to try to

, .

collect it directly from the common villagers ; it was coll ected

rather from the monasteries an d the lords who in turn found ,

ways of getting it out of the men under them being in fact , , ,

given considerable authority in the matter Thus the power .

an d authori ty of the lords grew an d the libe rty of the v illa e rs

,g
dwindled until we fi nd them in the position of the vil le in s as ,

just described .
 6 P RI N C I P L ES O F RU RAL ECO N O M I CS
4

or the substitution of money rents for services rendered by

the villeins to the lords ; and inclosure or the fencing in of
,

tracts of land comprising either the old open fi elds or the com
mon p asture These practices in turn accompanied if they
.
, , ,

were not brought about by a change from a self suflicing sys

,
-

tem of agriculture to a commercial system .

Beginnings of commercial agricul ture In the early days .

of the manor it was a self suflicin g unit producing practically

-

everything it consumed and buying practically nothing from the

outside world But with the general progress of trade an d in
.

dustry which followed upon the restoration of settled pol itical

conditions this self suffi cie ncy gave way to a certain de gre e of
,
-

interdependency to the custom of selling produce fro m the

,

manor and buying goods from the outside world Roads we re .

being built towns where crafts men plied their trades were grow
,

ing up and money was beginning to circulate Thus it happ e ned

,
.

that certain villeins more successful or more intelligent th an

,

their neighbors began to make bargains with the lord agre e ing
, ,

to pay him a certain sum of money every year if he would

relieve them of the necessity of working for him on his land .

With the money thus received the lord would then hire laborers
to work on his land in place of the villeins whom he had re
leased Wherever this change was possible it was foun d to
.

work better for all concerned The villeins were free to put
.

all their time on their own l and an d the lord could empl
,
oy a
permanent force of l aborers upon his l and This enabled both .

sides to work more systematically and regularly and fre ed ,

them from the continuous interferences of the older system ,

which must have proved not only unprofitable but exce e dingly
vexatious besides .

Inclosures But when crops began to be sold for mo ney or

.
,

when farmers began to think in terms of money the concepts ,

of profit and loss became much more defi nite and concrete and ,
 S KETC H O F M O DER N AGRI C ULTUR E 47

the motive for reducing cost of production became much sharper .

Then it began to appear as it had never appeared before how

, ,

wasteful the old open field system was where each family culti
-

vate d a l arge numbe r of acre an d h alf acre strips scattered about-

over the open fi elds The movement began to make headway

.

toward the consolidation of these scattered holdings into more

compact forms A t fi rst this was probably done by mutu al con
.

sent though the lords seem to have been the leaders in the
,

movement The demesne lands cultivated by the lords were the

.

fi rst to be consolidated an d inclosed but since they were some , ,

times scattered about also in acre strips among the holdings of

the v illeins these consolidations involved considerable rearrange
,

ment of allthe holdings A gain the villeins were sometimes

.
,

persuaded to accept additional arable land or some other advan ,

tage in pl
, ace of their rights in the common pasture Thus the .

lords were enabled to convert portions of the pastureland into

arable l and an d to inclose the rest In these an d other ways
.

the process of inclosure went on and the old open fi eld system
,
-

gradually disappeared This change did not take place however

.
, ,

without a great deal of opposition especially in the later stages

, ,

an d a certain amount of political and social controversy was

waged over the policy of inclosures It is not improbable th at.

many injustices were done and it is certain that evils frequently

,

resulted from this change but there is not the slightest doubt
th at the change was in the direction of a more e flicie nt agricul
ture and that it prepared the way for the improvements which
,

were to follow M odern agricul ture could have developed only

.

on consolidated farms an d not on scattered acre and half acre

,
-

strips It was now possible to vary the size of the holding

.

according to the capacity of the tenant an d the needs of agri

culture It was also possible for superior farmers to profit by

.

their own intelligence since they were no longer bound by the

,

fi xed rules of the community and for new crops to be introduced

,
4 8 P RI NC I P L ES OF RURAL EC O NO M I CS

instead of fol
lo wing
the rigid system of rotation prescribed
under the two fie ld or the three fi eld system In short it made
- -
.
,

p o ssible the individualistic system of agricultu ral econom

y .

11 . TH E B EG INN IN GS OF M O D E RN EN GLIS H A GRIC U LT U RE

ish
Our indebtedness to Engl agricul
own agricul
ture . O ur
tu ral history is more closely related to that of Grea t Britain
than to that of any other part of the world Not only did the .

A merican colonists bring with them the rural customs and

practices of the mother country but they continued for a long
,

time e ven down almost to the present to look mainly to E ng

, ,

land for improvements in almost everything agricultural except

farm machinery in which we have led the rest of the world
, .

Ne w and improved varieties of fruits grains an d vegetables , , ,

and more especially superior breeds of live stock have gen

, , ,

orally come from Engl and and S cotland ; in fact it has n ot ,

been uncommon in some parts of this country to designate im

proved and cultivated varieties of our garden an d fi eld crops
an d of our live stock by the general n ame of E nglis h
”
.

Thus English hay meant anything but wil d hay English fruit ,

almost any kind of grafted fruit ; English cattle horses e tc , , .

,

almost anything except common scrub stock While this was .

not always a strictly accurate use of terms it indicated in a ,

general way our indebtedness to the more highly develop e d

agriculture of the mother country especially during our p io ,

neer period when our energies were devoted less to improv

,

ing our crops an d herds than to the gigantic task of subduing

the continent an d bringing it under cultivation .

Our indebtedness to oth er countries Though France hel p ed .

us to win our political independence and gave us some of our

best politicalideals She contributed little to our agriculture e xcept
,

the P ercheron horse ; the French coach horse which is really ,

not yet an established breed and owes its best qualities to the
,
 S KETC H O F M O D ER N AGRI C ULTURE 49

E nglish Thoroughbred ; and the Rambouillet variety of the

M erino sheep which had in turn been borrowed from S pain
,
.

Though the Dutch laid the foundations of our largest city and
gave us some of the best feature s of our system of popular
education their most valuable contributions to our agriculture
,

are buckwh eat white clover an d the H olstein cow

,
S pain gave
, .

us our monetary unit the dollar but contributed nothing special

, ,

to the improvement of our agriculture except the M erino sheep

an d some of the progenitors of the A merican mule G ermany .

an d the S candinavian countries h ave given us a great m any

sturdy farmers and every country is indebted to Germany for

,

certain scientifi c discoveries which have indirectly benefited agri

culture as well as other industries but aside from the O lden ,

burg coach horse and a few special varieties of grain and fruit ,

she has made no signifi cant contributions toward the direct

improvement of our agriculture We h ave borrowed from m any .

n ations in fact but allof them together have scarcely contrib

,

ute d as much as G reat Britain to our agricultu ral development .

From that country we have imported every one of our leading

breeds of cattle except the H olstein an d the Brown Swiss all l
,

our l eading breeds of sheep except the M erino in its different

varieties several of our leading breeds of swine and a few

, ,

breeds of poultry To her we owe the S hire the Clydesdale

.
, ,

an d the Su ffolk among d raft horses an d the Thoroughbred , ,

which is the fou ndation of al l our saddle and driving horses .

I n addition we have brought from G reat Britain most of the

common garden an d fi eld crops except those which were indig
e n ous such as corn potatoes an d tobacco an d also cotto n
, , , , ,

wh ich obviously could not have come from so cold a country as

E ngland the common cultivated varieties being imported from
,

the eastern hemisphere though certain species are n ative to

,

1 Sin c e th e is la d n s of J e rse y an d G ue rn se y are un de r th e B ritish fl ag , th e

J e rsey and Gue rns e y l
catt e are inc ul ddu e n de r B ritish b re e d s .
 0 P RI N C I P L ES O F RUR AL EC O N O M IC S
5

A merica Because of th is dire ct re l

. ationship be t ween B ritish
agricu l ture and our own it is important that we know some
,

thing about the development of agricul ture in the mother

c ountr especi al
ly du ring the pe riod immediatel rec ding
y , y p e

and contemporaneous with our colonial era .

Engl ish indebtedness to th e New Worl d The man orialsys .

tem having fallen into d ecay as desc ribed in the p re ceding

,

section and the open field system havin g be gun to give way
,
-

before the consolidation of holdings and the growth of in clo

sures English agriculture was j ust entering upon a n ew pe riod
,

of development at the time of the founding of the fi rst Eng

lish colonies in A merica It is probable howeve r that the
.
, ,

N e w World its elf had indirectly co ntributed so mething to that

awakening The vast quan tities of S il ver and gold particularly
.
,

silver which flowed into Europe as the result of the S panish

,

conquest and exploitation of M exico and various South A merican

countries greatl y increased the circulating medium of the civ
,

iliz e d world and brought on a pe riod of rising prices The .

E nglish managed to get a S hare of this treasure not only by

the peaceful methods of trade an d commerc e but by the methods ,

of war and piracy A period of rising prices is generally an

.

advantage to th e farming class particularly at a time when

,

farmers buy little and sell much though sometimes a co rre ,

spon din g disadvanta ge to other cl ass es This pe riod of rising .

prices following the greater abundance of money doubtless

, ,

contributed its share to the progress of English agriculture

during the seventee nth and eightee nth centuries .

Besides having increased the world s supply of the pre cious

’

metals the N ew World contributed seve ral n ew agricultural

,

products to the O ld World during this period particularly ,

Indian corn the potato an d tobacco N either corn nor tobacco

, , .

has ever been l argely cultivated in E ngland the climate bein g ,

too cool and the season too S hort But the potato eve n tual. y
l
 S K ETC H O F M O D ERN AGRI C ULTUR E 5 1

became avaluable crop For a long time however it was re

.
, ,

g arded a s a mer e a gricul tural novelty l,

ater as a garden v e g
etable and not tillabout the middle of the seventeenth cen
,

tury as a field crop But this was about the time of one of the
.

greatest agricultural expansions which England has known and ,

was contempo raneous with the most active period of A mer

ican coloniz ation .

Transition to th e modern sy stem of rural economy M uch .

earlier than this however the Black D eath ( 1 3 4 8 1 3 4 9 1 3 6 1

, ,
—
,

1 36 2
,
1 3 6 8 — 1 3 6 9 ) had nearly depopulated some p arts of rural

En gland an d greatly reduced the supply of agricultural labor .

The o wners of m any estates found their pro fits or rents greatly
reduced as a result of this scarcity of labor and began to cast ,

about for new ways of utilizing their l and Bread being the chief
.

article of diet of the English people in those d ays the arable ,

land was devoted almost exclusively to the growing of grain .

But the di ffi culty of securing l abor enough to sow an d harvest

the grain crop led many landlords to ch ange the arable land into
pasture and resort to the raising of sheep and cattle especially ,

sheep Like every period of reorganization this ch ange was

.
,

attended by m any evils an d much bitter feeling A great deal .

o f the politicalagitation of the ensuing period grew out of the

e conomic changes th at were taking pl ace O n the one side

.

there were many complaints that Engl and was being ruined
by the growth of inclosures an d also by the conversion of
,

arable land into p asture ; and a great m any attempts were

made to stop these practices by legislation O n the other side .

there were compl aints from the l andlords an d the l arger ten ant
farmers th at farm laborers were demanding unusual an d from ,

the standpoint of the employing cl ass exorbitant wages M any

,
.

attempts were m ade to fi x wages by l aw an d to punish with

the severest penalties any agricultural laborer who would

demand more .
 P RI N C I P L ES O F RU R AL ECO N O M I C S
5 2

Th e growth of tenancy A nother result of the difficul

. ty w hich
the lords of the manors had in getting laborers to cultivate their
demesne l ands was th e growth of leases By leasing the ir lands .

in l
arge holdings to some of the more successful farmers s ome ,

times to their own baili ffs the lords were relieved of the difli
,

culty and vexation of dealing with the irritating labor probl e m .

Soon afterwards therefore it may be said th at large scale farm

, ,
-

ing by tenant farmers began and has continued down to the

,

present time as the characteristic English system .

The Statutes of Laborers ( 1 3 5 1 and later) failed to keep wages

down and the condition of hired laborers continued to improve
, .

This sometimes led villeins to abandon their holdings lite rally

to run away an d seek employment as hired l aborers on other

manors If they could evade recapture for a period of years

.
,

they rem ained freemen thereafter A gain the growth of town s

.
,

Opened opportunities for villeins to escape an d seek employment

as to wn crafts men S eeing that so many of their fellows h ad

.

become freemen many of the villeins together with many town

, ,

craftsmen rose in revolt under one Wat Tyler in 1 3 8 1 for the

, ,

purpose partly of throwing Off the last remnants of villein serv ice
which were being exacted an d partly as a general protest agai n st
,

the political an d economic inequalities of the time Though th e .

revolt was mercilessly put down it is the belief of some studen ts

,

of the problem that it had some influence in hastening the break

up of the manorial system an d brin ging on the system of agri
culture whereby free farmers leased lands from l andl ords Th is .

is the system of fi xed money payments in place of services .

Under this new arrangement the position of the tenant as well

as th at of the agricultu ral l aborer continued to improve .

New crops Following this se ries of changes there were man y

.

minor changes an d improvements in agricultural methods an d

products N ew crops such as hops began to be cultivated an d
.
, , ,

many fruits and vegetables which had formerly been con fi ned to
 P R IN CI P LES O F R URAL ECO NO M I CS
54

A rru mher of g rra t ag ria dmralwriters be gan to p ihl

s h hooks
'

on various branc hes of husba n dry . F1 1111 growing in crmse d in

ac e in the
were to take p l eig htee n th ce n tury .

as we llas in ag riculture in Eng l and In fact it is doubtfulif any

.

ua rte r of a c entury , e ithe r be f ore or since , has se e n mo e a id

q r r
p
and far reac hin g
-
the manufacturin g in dus trie s than
c ha ng se in
apse d betwee n the Ye
that whic h e l a rs 1 7 6 0 an d 1 7 8 5 At about .

the former yea r be ga n the e ra of canalbuilding un der the l e ad

ership of the gre a t e n gineer B rin dley whose dictum that the,

became histm
"
naturaluse of rive rs i
s to feed navigabl
e canal
s ic,
thoug h the more rece nt de ve lopmen t of the railway has de stroyed
is original importan ce A t that time the buil
. ding of canal s

g rea tly c h e a pe n e d t rans ortati

p o n w ith in the ki n g d om I n I 6
7 5 .

“art discov ere d the prin c ipl e which was to mak e the stea m
e ngin e a co mm erc ial success The way was pre pared for the
.

e n larged use of the stea me n gin e an d of machin e r by Roebuck s

’

y
blast furnace ( 1 7 6 0) and the substitution of co ke for charcoalin
sm e lting fo l lowed by Cort s method of puddlin g and roll
’

, in g in
1 7 84 b
, y m ea n s of w h ich the pr o d u ct ion o f ir on w as gr eatly
c heape n e d The n came in rapid succe ss ion a series of e poch
.

makin g in v en tio ns in the textile in dustries the fly in g shuttle

,

in 1 7 60 H argreav e s sp in nin g j enny in 1 7 6 7 A rkwright s

,
’

,
’

spinn in g rol le r in 1 7 6 9 Crompton s mule sp in ner in 1 7 7 9

’

, ,

and Cartwri ht s power l A

’

g o o m in 1 7 8 5 c o tton. fac to r
y wa s

driven by steam for the fi rst time in 1 7 8 5 Wedge wood gave a .

g r e at im p e tu s to th e p o tte ry i
n d us try an d a n um
, ber of other
 S K ETC H O F M O D ERN AGRI C ULTUR E
55

improvements combined to accelerate the industrial revolution

which was taking place .

Agricul tural improvement ; J eth ro Tul l Somewh at earlier .

than this however began a series of rapid agricultural improve

, ,

ments which were even more impo rtant for the economic devel
op m e nt an d prosperity of the kingdom A bout 1 7 0 1 Jethro Tull
.

began to drill wheat an d other crops having invented a drill for

,

that purpose ; an d a little later to cultivate growing crops by horse

power the process being called horse hoeing In 1 7 3 1 appeared
, .

his work entitled H orse H oeing H usbandry which is regarded

-

as one of the most impo rtant agricultural works ever published .

S ome of his theo ries are now regarded as imperfect but the prae ,

tices which b e based upon those theo ries have not yet been m ate
rially improved upon Thorough
. an d deep pulverization of the soil

was the centralidea of his system For this purp ose he not only
.

drilled the wheat but actually cultivated between the rows either
, ,

by hand or horse power While this particular practice of cultivat

.

ing between the rows of wheat and other sm all grain has not been
generally followed since it has been continued with respect to
,

turnips an d other root crops an d is the usual method of growing

,

I ndian corn an d cotton in the U nited S tates This was a further .

step in the direction of the utilization of the fallow l and or ,

rather of doing away with the necessity of fallowing H e even .

argued that the rotation of crops was less necessary under this

system than und er any other and actually grew thirteen succes
,

sive crops of wheat on the same land without m anure getting , ,

better crops than his neighbors who followed the old methods .

“
Turnip Townsh end A bout 1 7 30 Lord Townshend began
.
”

what ca me to be known as the N orfolk system H is two special .

interests were turnips an d the rotation of crops though he also ,

introduce d the practice of marling the light sandy land H e grew .

turnips an d talked turnips so incessantly th at he won for himself

the nic kname of Turnip Townshend In growing turnips he
.
5 6 P RI N CI P L ES OF RU RAL EC O N O M I C S

foll
owed Tull s system of drilling and horse hoeing H is sys
’
.

tem of rota tion covered four years an d included ( 1 ) turn ips , ,

( )
2 barley ( 3) clover an d
,
rye grass ( )
4 whe a t It was said , .

that when he began this system much of his estate was barren
heath but by 1 7 6 0 it was brought to a high state of cultivation
,

an d had increased in value tenfold .

Cok e of Hol kh am The work begun by Tull and Townsh e nd

.

was carried on with even more striking results by Coke of H olk

ham who began about 1 7 7 6 the reclam ation of a body of
, , ,

semibarren land which was des cribed as little better than a

rabbit warren Like his predecessors he grew clover an d turn ips
.
,

an d improved the rotation of crops with the result th at the ,

productivity of his land was more than doubled H e foun d .

that most of the farmers were using too m any horses in th eir
plow teams the custom being to use from three to five H e
, .

found that two were enough It is said that he succeeded in .

maintaining 2 5 00 well bred sheep on land which had formerly

-

supported only 8 00 worthless scrubs H e also became an ad .

mirer an d breeder Of D evon cattle H is estate achieved a wo rld .

wide reputation his annualsheep shearings became great eve n ts ,

men j ourneying from A merica to attend them and Laf ayette ,

expressed it as one of the regrets of his life that he had n e ver

witnessed one H is influence did a great deal to bring about
.

improvements in agriculture allover England and it is e ven ,

said that but for him and his influence England would n ot
have been able to produce food enough to sustain her during
the wars with Napoleon and must therefore h ave succumbe d ,
l
.

Gentlem en farm ers These three men Tull Town she n d

.
, ,

an d Coke did more for English agriculture th an merely to re

cl aim barren l and an d teach better farming to the rural class .

They raised agriculture to the rank Of a learned professio n an d ,

1 e r, A S h o rt
S e e C urtl Hi t y
s or of l
En g ish Agric u ture l ( O xford,
pp . 227 -
2 28 .
 SKETCH O F M O DERN A GRI C U LT UR E 57

made it t ctive and honorable ca reer for gentleme n and

an a tra

scholars Their work and more particularly their example in

.
, ,

spired that long line of gentlemen farmers men of means ,

an d education who have devoted themselves to agriculture with

al lth e zeal and enthusiasm of the artist for his art or a pro
fe ssional man for his profession an d who h ave done so much
'

to k e ep English agriculture in advance of the rest of the world

from that day to this .

Arthur Y oung The writings of Arthur Young and others

.

contributed to the same end A rthur Young the best known .

,

of allEnglish writers on agriculture was a farmer of Suffolk , ,

who be gan writing in this field in 1 7 6 7 and continued for

the next thi rty eight years many of his writings being trans
-

late d into French G erman an d other l anguages

, ,
H e t raveled .

up an d down England and other countries on horseback for

months at a time making ca reful Observations which he pub

, ,
”
l ishe d in his series of Tours From 1 7 7 3 to 1 7 7 6 he made
.

s everaltours in Ireland an d during the years I 7 8 7 to 1 7 9 0 he

,

made three extensive tours in France H is Travels in France .

,
”

p ublished in 1 7 9 2 is his best known work m ainly because he

,
-

described the condition of the people on the eve Of the great

re volution an d his account is still regarded as the best de scrip
,

tion of the actual state O f the country an d the people at the

time of that great crisis H e is the author of the well known
.
-

U
”

p hr a ,
se The m a gic O f prope rty t u rns s and into gold nder .

drainage of wet land began to be practiced in I 7 6 4 by Joseph

E lkington in Warwickshire .

Th e breeding of l iv e stock ; Engl ish breeds of cattl e While .

th ese advances were being made in generalagriculture and the

cultivation of field crops equally striking results were being
,

achieved in animal breeding A ccounts di ffer as to the ch ar

.

acte r and quality O f E nglish live stock at the beginning of this

ri od The p rob abili ties a th at there w as little uniformity

p e . re ,
5 8 P RI NC I P L ES OF RURA L ECO N O M I C S

even in the same neighborhood There was certainl y much poor .

1
an d unprepossessing stock B radley writing in I 7 2 6 divided .
, ,

the cattle of England into three classes according to color — the ,

blacks whites and reds The bl acks he described as the stron gest
, , .

for labor though small and found chiefly in the mountain ous
, ,

districts They were in all probability the ancestors of the

.
, ,

modern Welsh cattle to which the description still applies , .

The whites were larger an d were common in some of the eas tern
and southeastern counties They were probably the basis upon .

which was built the modern breed of Shorthoms through admix ,

ture with cattle imported from time to time from H olland The .

reds were still larger gave richer milk were bred in S omerset , , ,

and were probably the ancestors of the modern D evons .

The French writer Paul D ifiloth classifies the Shorthorns

”
, ,

as a variety Of the N etherl andish race of cattle Of which the ,

H olsteins the Flemish the D anish the O l

,
de nburghs an d others , , ,

are continental varieties The D evons he classifi es as a variety .

of the I rish race of which the Bretons the Jerseys the G uem
, , ,

seys the A yrshires an d the Kerrys are other varieties The

, , .

Herefords are according to this writer a variety of the G e rmanic

, ,

race Of which the N orman cattle of n orthern France an d several

, ,

G erman breeds such as the B re ite nburgs and the M e chle nburgs
, ,

are other varieties .

The evidence in favor of this cl assifi cation is by no means

conclusive There are certain striking similarities between the
.

cattle of the N etherlands an d those of Durham Yorkshire and , ,

Lincolnshire where the S horthorns originated M oreover the

, .
,

evidence is fairly conclusive that the ancestors of the m odern

S horthorns had from time to time been improved by irnportations
, ,

of Dutch blood Whether as D i ffloth suggests the originalca ttle

.
, ,

of these regions were united in a previous geological age and ,

1
Q uote d in C urtle r A Sh ort H istory of En g l ish Ag ric ul ture p
, , . 1 67 .

2 En c y c l opé d ie Agric ol e Zoote c h n ic B ovidé s ( P aris , ,

 S KETC H O F M O DER N A GRI C U LT UR E 59

separated geographically by the formation of the N orth Sea it ,

is imposs ible to say It is probable that the H erefords were built

.

up by the process of ca reful breeding and selection of cattle

from severaldifferent breeds There are some points of resem
.

blance be tween the Herefords and the N ormans and more , ,

remotely between these and certain G erman breeds but whether

, ,

there is any historical connection it is impossible at this distant

time to say It used to be cl aimed th at there were importations
.

from N orman dy and Curtle r states that Lord Scudamore in the

, ,

latter half of the seventeenth centu ry introduced red cows with ,

white faces from Flanders Why such unlike breeds as the

.

D evons the Jerseys the Bretons the Kerrys (which latter three
, , ,

are very much alike except as to color) an d the A yrshire should ,

be grouped together under the same race it is di ffi cult to say ,

except that they occupy neighboring counties and are allpreco

cious milkers except the D evons which h ave been bred prim a ,

rily for bee f an d for working oxen although D evon cows like , ,

most of the others of this group give very rich milk , .

land th e Longh orns Whatever may have been the

Bak ew el .

originalbreeds of English cattle and however the modern breeds

,

may be interrelated it is well known that there was in the M id

,

land counties in the middle of the eighteenth century a breed

, , ,

more or less well established kn own as the Longhorns Robert

, .

Bakewell the fi rst great English breeder began working with

, ,

this breed about I 7 7 5 Though he wrought notable results

.
,

they were soon afterwards eclipsed by the still more remarkable

results achieved by the brothers Charles and Robert Colling with
the D urhams or S horthorns as they came to be called in contra
, ,

distinction to the Longhorns This was not at al lto the discredit

.

of Bak ewell or his methods the undoubted fact being th at the

,

Collings had a better breed Of cattle to work upon .

Bak ewell s greatest success as a breeder was with sheep Even

’
.

less is known regarding the original bree ds Of sheep than of

60 P RI NCI P L ES O F RU R AL EC O N O M I C S

cattle in England but they were said to be a nondescript inie

, ,

rior and unprepossessing lot until B akewell began breeding

,

them according to the principles Of scientifi c selection H e vir .

tual ly cre ated a new breed the Leicesters which according to

, , ,

Curtl er
,
in half a centu ry spread over every part of the U nited
Kingdom as well as to Europe an d A merica and gave E ngland
, ,

H e set an ex
”
two pounds of meat where She had one before .

ample an d a standard for a multitude of followers who have ,

made English mutton proverbial throughout the world It is .

’
pleasant to be able to state th at B akewell s work was appreciated
in his own day ; he was visited by royal personages an d by men
of distinction from allparts of the world H is breeding Opera .

tions were highly profitable an d his income from his animals

be came ve ry large for that day ; yet he died a poor man l argely ,

because O f his unstinted h ospitality an d generosity It was in .

1 7 6 0 th at he began m an aging the estate at D ishley where he ,

spent the rest of his life dying in I 7 9 5

, .

Th e Col ling broth ers and Sh orth orn cattl

e N ext to B akewel l .
,

the Colling brothers did more than any others for the bre eding
industry of G reat Britain Charles the more successfulof the
.
,

two was born in 1 7 5 1 an d began his operations about 1 7 7 0 at

, ,

Ketten near Darlington in the valley of the Tees while his

, , ,

brother established himself at B rampton The real origin O f the .

modern Shorth orn is said to date from the purchase of the bull
calf H ubback by Charles Colling in 1 7 8 5 The exact ancestry .

of this remarkable ani mal is not defi nitely known but it is pretty ,

certain th at he had some Dutch blood H owever the cattle of the .

,

valley of the Tees sometimes called the Teeswater D urhams

, ,

had long been known for their superior qu alities particul arly as ,

milkers but also for their size an d beauty Charles Colling

, .

noticed H ubback running in the common pasture at H ornby .

H e had been sold at the market along wi th his mother to a, ,

blacksmith of Darlington who in turn gave them to his dau ghter

,
62 PR INC I P L ES O F RURA L ECO NO M I CS

mme time betwee n 1 7 00 and 1 7 06 The success of his progeny

.

he l
pe d to remove the prej udic e again st Eastern bl
ood, and the

s uc c e e di ng y ea rs saw m an y other importations Princ e George ,

himse l f be c omi ng active in the encourageme nt Of importation .

Ne xt to the Darley A rabian the most influentialsire was the ,

m u ll e tl( of l o l hi A bi who w lmo c i l B rb

‘

p n ra r an as a st e rta n y a a ,
.

H e was a brow n bay stal lion imported from France where as

-

, ,

the s to ry runs he was so littl e appreciated that he had actual

, ly
draw n a ( art o n the streets Of Paris H e is be l ie ved to have been .

fn a lmlin Barb ary about 1 7 2 4 and the first of his progeny in ,

l in g la mlwas fo ul e d in 1 7 3 2 .

l ll me this ho we ve r there had been considerabl e interest in

e
. ,

rmim s n u l by the p ro ce ss of selection suppl

. emented by fre
, , ,

q m u l im
-

po rtat io n th e re h ad been gre a t im p r.ovem e nt in th e

” Al iv l k Jea m e s l a
s inn d C h a. rles I I h a d b O th bee n h o rse

l w i s an d l
n mlh hail i mpo rted Lastern horses the l atter in [m ,

lu lllll hav in
g
'
s e t“ h is m as te r o f ho rse a b ro ad fo r the pu rch as e

I li ml im-
g an imal
n The re was th e re fo re by the beginning Ofs .
, ,

ll t i gl
u
j i m
l nllt r e n tmy an e xce ll e nt foundation stock to buil d
- ‘

H | mn lh lwn l us tmie ani m e al s m e ntion ed above doubtl ess owe

ll il in l
u -
lm tn e n muc h to that fact as to their own undoubted
-
o

m it Hill in p ile v l the in te re st in the sub ect the annal s of

c «
j ,

l u m lu lim g l t “ n o s uc h stri kin i di vidual achievem ents

i- c u
g n a o

lu ll
u mlli lln r
l ;
up t‘ i tie “ an d itttpmved types as those Of Bake
l
ln l
lli "
hm p -

« mlth e ttl
u tth c a e .

l'mll Inn um
-
H ie ru mZe n :
-
ltitis h
i breeds of draft horses
l. ln ll
l
e
H
p nn in h in t le
i
oent my , though here,
l“ ”t M th e the native stoc k formed

m
l

ll
l the direct (1
l -
n “ H
“ w
 SKETC H O F M O DERN AGRI CULT UR E 63

typ e ,is probably the res ult of crossing stallions from Normandy ,

relatives of the modern Percherons upon the native m ares , .

A rthur Young mentions them as early as 1 7 7 5 The Clyde is .

said to have been the product of crossing Flemish or Belgian

stallions upon native S cotch mares .

Th e English agriculture of the seventeenth an d eighteen th

centuries as described in this section was the type with which
, ,

the colonists who came to A merica during our colonial period

were familiar The use they made of their knowledge an d the
.

new knowledge they acquired in adapting themselves to the con

dition s of the new continent is the subj ect of the following
sections .

I I I B E G I NN I N G S O F A M ER ICAN A GR IC U LT U R E
.
1

Th e main The agricultural as well as the political

periods .

history of the United States is divided into two eras The fi rst .

is the colonial e ra lasting from 1 6 07 to 1 7 7 6 The second is the

, .

e ra O f n ation al development l asting from 1 7 7 6 to the present

,

time . This e ra of national development however is divisible , ,

into four distinct periods : fi rst from 1 7 7 6 to 1 8 3 3 ; second from

, ,

1 8 3 3 to 1 8 6 4 ; third from 1 8 6 4 to 1 8 8 8 ; an d fourth from 1 8 8 8

, ,

to the present time The first e ra being contemporaneous with

.
,

th e colonialera of our political history may be called the e ra of ,

e stablishment It was the time during which the col onists trans
.

p l a nted E urope an methods o f a gri c ulture to A meric an soil an d

re adapted them to the new conditions This readaptation con .

sisted in l earning how to live a wilderness life and to Clear ,

w il d land of trees stumps an d stones It consisted also in

, , .

le arning by experiment what crops were ad apted to the soil

an d clim ate an d what methods of cultiv ation were best cal

,
cu

lated to insure satisfactory returns .

1 F or a ful l e r and mo e de tail e d ac c ount se e the autho s H istorical Ske tc h

r
’
r

of Am e ric an Agric ul ture in B ail e y s C yc l op e d ia of Ame ric an Agric ul ture

’
, ,

V o l I V , pp 39 d
. . . Th e M ac mi ll an C omp an y .
64 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I C S

Wh at w e ow e The first European settlers in

to th e Indians .

A merica were not however thrown absolutely upon th eir own

, ,

resources in learning to readapt their farmin g methods to the

new conditions They learned many of their fi rst and as it

.
,

proved most val uable lessons directly from the Indians Rude
,
.

as were the agricultural methods of the Indians accordi n g to ,

modern standards we must not forget that they taught our an

,

cestors how to grow two crops which were destined to pl ay a

large part in our national economy These crops were tobacco .

and Indian corn or m aize ,

The former was the most importa nt
.

money crop in the Southern colonies during the entire colon ial
p erio
,
d an d rem ained in the lead until 1 8 0 1 when it was out ,

stripped by cotton During our entire history corn has be en the

.

leading agricultural product of the country as a whole and stil l ,

retains that position with no other crop even a close s econ d .

There is no other crop which so distinguishes A meriean agri

culture an d it is doubtful if there is any other single product
,

which confers such distinction on A merica n industry .

How th e colonists got land In the agricultural history of any

.

country one of the fi rst and most important questions is that of

the relation of the people to the land In our earl y colon ial
.

history the land was supposed to be the property of the B ritis h

crown and alltitles were ultimately derived from that sourc e
, .

There was considerable variety Of procedure among the di ff ere nt

colonies in the acquiring of a title to l and In Virgin ia th e .

l and was granted by the crown to the London Company which in ,

turn made grants to private individuals that is after a year or , ,

two of unsuccessful experimenting with a system of common

o wnership .

and sy stem of V irginia

Th e l There were three m ethods by
.

which a private individual might acquire title to land in this

colony O ne was to buy a share of the stock of the Londo n
.

Company known as a bill of adventure

”
, This was practieall y .
 S KET C H O F M O D ER N AGRI CULTUR E 65

e i te entitling one to a share of the profits Of the Com

a c rt fi ca

pany an d to one hundred acres of land with a possible second ,

hundred in addition The second method of acquiring land was

.

by meritorious service M inisters Of religion physicians and

.
, ,

other public servants including those who had performed manual

,

labor were sometimes granted tracts Of l

,
and as a partial reward

for their services to the pe ople of the colony The third method .

’
,

an d the one which after the fi rst four decades became the most
, ,

common was known as head right

, Under this right any .

shareholder who transported to the colony at his own expense

a person bond or free Could secure fi fty acres O f land for every
, ,

person so transported provided such person remained in the

,

colony three years or longer This right was afterwards extended

.

to settlers who were not s hareholders and fi nally came to be so ,

laxly administered that any person could secure a patent by

merely paying a fee to the secretary Of the colony .

How th e l and w as survey ed A fter receivin g a right to l

and
.
,

th e next question was to get located or to have the land surveyed ,

an d to get possession of it The fi rst step was to p resent one s

.
’

c e rtifi cate of head right to the surveyor an d to se lect some

unappropriated tract It was customary to select land adj acent
.

to the shore of the sea or of a river so long as any such l and ,

re mained It was the practice of the surveyor to ad opt the

.

s h ore as a base an d to measure Off a line on this base whose

le ngth depended upon the siz e of the tract to be su rveyed .

F rom either end of this line and at right angles to it lines were
, ,

run bac k to the distance of a mile These two lines together .

,

with the base an d back lines constituted the boundaries of the

,

farm which was thus rectangular in outl

,
ine and one mil e
de ep The bac k lines of the tracts fi rst surveyed formed a base
.

lin e for a new series f tra cts to be l- aid off when al lthe l an d
‘
adj acent to the waterways had been taken up and p atent e d .

1 Cf Bruc e , Econom
. ic Hi t s or of
y Vi ginia
r , V olI , p p 5 3 1 5 3 2
. . .
66 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

Afte r the urvey was made and the patent issued the pate ntee
s ,

was still required to buil d a ho use and settle on the lan d be fore
the titl e was complete .

Land specul ation In the colonial period especial

. ly after the ,

fi rst fe w years a considerable volume of l and speculatio n grew

,

up This usually took the form of securing a grant for a con

.

side rabl e tract and then organizing or otherwise induc ing a

g roup of colonists to settle upon it A fter a part of the tr a ct .

had been settled the remainder would command a higher price

from l ater settlers and thus would yield a pro fi t to the pro
,

motets This method so familiar even in our own day in the

.
,

Far West began very early in our colonial history an d has

,

continued without many variations ever since .

The l and sy stemof New Engl and There were ce rtai n striking .

differences between the land systems of N ew England an d those

of the Southern colonies In the early days in N ew E ngland .

it was not customary to make grants of l and directly to indi

vidualsettlers though a few individual grants were made usu
, ,

ally for conspicuous service The usual method was to mak e a

.

ant to a group of indi vidu al

s who w ished to found a se ttle
g r

ment or town From this group or from the town which they
.
,

constituted the indi vidual membe r rec eived his gran t or al

, l ot
ment which was subj ect to certa in restrictions imposed by the
,

town W eeden in his Social and Economic H istory of N ew

’

.
,

Engl
”
and says that it was the admira ble ec onomic l
, an d te nure

which shaped the early towns ; without this even their re ligious ,

and pol iticalsystems might not have established their distinctive

syste m of living The earlie r towns were practica ll
. y settled as
c hurc h communities ; that is to say the formation of a town ,

am ounted practically to the organiz ation of a church congre ga

tion and the n se ttl ing as a con gregation upon a tract of land
an d ca l ling it a town a town was settl
. ed allme mbers ,

who we re admitte d to citiz en ship were give n grants of l and .

 SKETC H O F M O D ERN A GRI CULTUR E 67

They elected as it were certa in families to Church member

, ,
”
s hip
,
says Weeden an d upon these fell the responsibilities
,
”
O f citiz enship .

The granting of land in considerable tracts to town s which ,

in turn gran ted smal ler tracts to individ ual settlers remained the ,

characteristic form Of settlement in N ew England It was not .

always however a church enterprise Sometimes especially

, , .
,

during the latter part Of the colonial period a private individual ,

or private company would undertake the settlement of a town as

a bu siness ente rp rise expecting to make a pro fit from the sale

,

o f land But in either case the settlement was made in the com
.

pact form (compact as compared with the form common in the

Virginia and S outhern colonies) Of the town an d the town he ,

came by reason of this method Of settlement the Characte ristic

, ,

fo rm of local government in N ew England .

Com mons Though the greater part of the land of a Ne w

.

E n gland town was held in seve ralty by the individual settlers ,

there were common lands reserved for the pasture and woodland ,

an d there was much communal work done in the way Of fencing

an d ditching Town herdsmen were sometimes appointed to

.

herd the cattle of the Citizens upon the c omm on lands Rights .

to pasture cattle upon the commons were usu ally restricted to

the original settlers upon the land In l ater years when new .
,

families came to these towns a distinction grew up between ,

commoners and noncommon e rs

”
This distinction some .
”

ti mes led to di ffi culties It was another phase Of the world Old

.
-

p roblem of the old timers w the newc-

o mers the O d
l families
. as , .

th e new families the n atives who are in possession w the im

, .

m igrants who demand a share or in short of the established vs , , , .

t h e un e sta blished .

Land sy stemof th e middl e col onies In the middle colonies .

th e re was conside rable diversi ty in the forms O f l and tenure .

U nder English domination the land system O f New York

68 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

r esembled that of N ew England rather than that of Virg inia an d

the South But under the Dutch a different system known as
.
,

the patroon system had been developed along the val

, ley of the
H udson Under this system l arge tra cts of land ranging from
.
,

to acres in extent were granted to p rivate indi,

vidual s known as patroons who fo rmed a semifeudal nobility

, .

These patroons were supposed to exert themselves to s e cure

immigrants to settle on their estates and then to rule as h e redi ,

tary magistrates over them receiving their support in the form

,

of rents rather than taxes They were supposed in turn to

.
, ,

support sch ools Churches and other public institution s out of

, ,

the income received from rents .

In P ennsylvania and M aryl and an d to a ce rtain exte n t in ,

N e w Jersey and D elaware the proprietary system of govern

,

ment was based upon the land system The land was granted .

by the B ritish crown to l arge proprietors These in turn made .

, ,

grants to actualsettlers be stirring themselves to attract colonists

,

to their lands I n general these grants were by sale in smal

.
, l
farms to actual farmers who tilled the soil with their own labor ,

though some large grants were made especially in M aryland , .

O n these large grants something resembling the manorial

system of rural economy developed .

The l abor suppl y Q uite as import

. ant as the question of the
relation of the people to the land is the question of the Character
of the labor supply In a country where land is abu n dan t and
.

practically free it is impossible that there should be any consid

,

c rable body of hired l aborers If any laborer can become a l

. and

owner he will n ot work for wages unless the wages are high
,

enough to give him an income approximately as large as he could

make as an independent landowning farmer Where th is is the .

case it will only occasionally and under specialCircumstan ce s be

, ,

pro fitable for a farmer to hire a laborer at such wages T here .

fore the hired laborer is necessarily the excepti on rath e r than

7 0 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

South that gave such tremend ous signifi ca n ce to M ason and

D ixon s lin e which happe ned to be the di viding lin e be twee n
’

two types of rural civ iliz ation There was les s diff erence be
.

twee n the Cities of the two sections though of course even the
,

cities refl ected som e of the characte ristics of the rural life

with which they were surrounded .

Earl y ex pe rim en ts Wh ile the

. ea rly c olonists le arn ed their
fi rst lessons in successful agriculture from the Indians and ,

be gan growing corn or tobacco after the manner of their

teachers they were naturally unwilling to follow the I n dian
,

typ e of agriculture exclusively A ccordingly a great many ex

.

p e rime n ts were tried I n V i

.rginia es p ec ially these exp e riment s

were numerous A n attempt was made to develop the silk in

.

dustry because mulbe rry trees were found growing wild and to ,

develop grape culture an d w ine mak ing beca use wild gra pes were
fou n d an d attempts were also made to grow the fi g the olive , ,

an d other semitropica l fruits J amestown is in about the same

.

latitude as the northern coas t of A frica an d this led the Eng ,

lish people to think of Virginia as a se mitropieal country .

M oreover the early English explorers had usually visite d the

,

N e w World in the summer an d they had no oppo rtun ity to

,

learn how severe the winters were even as far south as Virginia
,
.

But after all their experimenting the S outhern col on ists fell
back upon corn and tobacco as their leading fi eld crop s though ,

European grains vegetables an d fruits were al

, ,
so i n troduced .

Indigo and rice also became impo rtant crops in South Carolina
an d G eorgia In the middle colonies wheat beca me the staple
.

crop though c orn was always gro wn an d European fruits and

, ,

vegetables were cultivated in considerable quantities There .

grew up a considerable export trade in wheat to the West

Indies In N ew England there were no great staple crops
.

produced for export Farmin g was of a more

.

an d products were grown mainly for the l oca l markets .

 S K ET C H O F M O D ERN AGRI C ULT UR E 7 1

Liv e stock . O ne
of the most interesting phases of our colo
nial agricultural history is the live stock industry Allthe do -
.

me stic animals an d fowls now grown in the U nited States ,

except the turkey were first brought from Europe Everywhere

,
.

the hog flou rished running half wild in the woods living upon
, ,

mast and roots and multiplying rapidly in spite of the depre

,

dations of wolves bears and m arauding Indians Early in our

, , .

colonial e ra Virginia barns and bacon acquired high reputa

tion G oats flourished also being better able th an sheep to pro
.
,

te ct themselves against wolves Later h owever as the country .

, ,

became more settled sheep displaced goats as a form of live stock

, .

S heep were grown in al lthe colonies where conditions were suf

fi cie n tl
y settled to furnish protection from wolves C attle were .

naturally be tter fitted than sheep to defend themselves against

the savage denizens of the woods and have been bred in ,

considerable numbers on the frontier ever since the earliest set

tle me n t In Virginia and the Carolinas a flourishing cattle
.

business resembling modern cattle ranching grew up Annual

, , .

roun d ups were held at stated places ( Cowpens) brands were

-

registered and most of the features of the modern business were

,

develope d In N ew England the cattle business was m ainly

.

under the regulation of the towns and each town was required ,

to have its own brand in order that cattle of different towns

,

might be distinguished if they strayed beyond their proper

feeding grounds .

There was little attention to horse breeding in the early part

of the colonial e ra H orses were brought by the fi rst colonists
.
,

but were used almost wholly for riding and as pack animals .

The heavy work about the farms was d one by oxen and there ,

were no roads suitable for carriages In Virginia h orses multi .

plied in the woods and became wild an d were sometimes chased

for sport D uring the l atter part of the col onial period that is
.
, ,

fro m about 7 00 on the more well to do Virginia planters began

1 —
,
-
7 2 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

to give more an d m ore attention to the improvement of the

saddle horse English thoroughbred stock which had recently
.
,

been developed in the m other country was imported and ,

”
crossed upon the so called native stock -
This native stock .
,

partly perh aps through its wild life in the woods had acquired ,

a h ardiness an d toughness which in spite of its diminution in

,

size seem to have fitted it well to serve as a foundation for the

,

improved breed of A merican saddle horses .

In Rh ode Island j ust before the cl ose of the colonial e ra there

, ,

was a much prized breed of saddle h orses known as the N ar

-

ragan sett p acers This once famous breed was supposed to be

.

descended from a stallion imported from S pain Individuals of .

this breed were in great demand not only in the neighboring ,

colonies but also in the West Indies So many were sold and .

scattered th at soon after the War of Independence these horses ,

never numerous disappeared as a recogn ized breed

, .

With the exception of the turkey all our farm animals ,

an d poult ry were imp orted from the O l d World The fi rst to .

reach the N ew World were brought by Columbus to the West

Indies on his second voyage in 1 4 9 3 H orses cattle hogs .
, , ,

goats Sheep asses chickens ducks an d geese are kno wn to

, , , , ,

have been brought at that time D urin g the colonial period

.

there was c onsiderable trade between our own colonies and the
West Indies and it is not improbable that specimens of allthese
,

S panish varieties may have found their way to our S hore This .

is known to h ave been the case with horses cattle hogs and , , ,

sheep D utch cattle were brought to N e w York and Danish cat

.

tle to N ew H ampshire In general however our farm animals

.
, ,

came from the British Isles .

Rurall if e during the col

onialera The ru ral life of this early .

period has Often been described and has be come a part of our
n ational tradition In the South the rural life centered in the
.

plantation . A great plantation with its gal lerie d manor house ,

 SKETC H O F M O D ER N AGRI C ULTUR E 73

its rows of negro quarters an d groups of barns an d shops was

, , ,

in large measure a self sustained community The planter needed

,
-
.

little that could be obtained elsewhere in his own colony or in

the S outh an d conducted his commercial operations directly with
,

England the West Indies and the N orthern col onies

, ,
There .

were a few negroes on every plantation who were trained in the

mech anic arts and a small numbe r of white craftsmen found
,

work in traveling around the coun try doing such j obs as were
1 ”
beyo n d the capacity of the slaves .

In the N orthern colo n ies the farms were small and were Oper
ated mainly by the l abor of the farmer an d his family This .

cal led for a great deal of cooperation among farmers and de

vel ope d a wh olesome social life A ccordingly there were nu .
,

me rous quilting spinning husking an d paring bees house and

, , , ,

b arn raisings logrollings an d simil ar ru ral festivities

, , .

T he farming was everywhere of the pio neering kind Less .

a tte n tion was given to the fi ner branches than to the rough work

o f cl earing the forests reducing the soil to cultivation dete rm

,
in ,

in g what crOps could be raised to best advantage an d in a , ,

g e n e r al w ay cre a
,
ting f arms o ut o f the rough m aterials which
th e n ew continent afforded It would not be very inaccurate to
.

sa
y t h a t the fi rst obj ect of the pioneer farmers was to produce

fa rms an d the second to produce crops

,
H owever every im .
,

p o rta nt crop now grown in the U nited S tates except alfalfa , ,

so rghum an d a few new varieties of the standard grains was

, ,

in troduced and acclimated during the colonial period Thus .

th e pioneer farming of that period laid broad and deep the

fo u ndations of the agricultural devel opment which was to

fo llow The problem of farm management was not how to
.

sav e land since land was abundant but how to save labor
, , ,

sin c e labor was scarce an d the coloni al f armers solved thei r

;
p e c u liar problems successfully .

I Thwaite s, The Co l o nie s, p . 1 02 . Lo ng man s G re e n Co .

 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
74

TH E E R A O F N A TI O N A L D EV ELO P M EN T
1 . From 1 7 7 6 to 1 83 3 . Con q ues t of Me Gre a t Fores t

Th e sh ifting The War of Independence

of th e frontier .

marks an e ra in our agricultural as well as in our political his

tory S hortly after this event a series of epoch making ch anges
.
-

began in agriculture In the fi rst place the frontier moved

.
,

rapidly westward into the great interior valley T he life of the .

pioneers on our frontier wherever that frontier may happen to

,

have been has always retained certain of the essential features

,

which it possessed in the colon ial e ra .

Th e publ and pol

ic l icy The next great epoch making event
-
.
-

was the establishment of the public land p olicy of the federal -

government A t the Close of the Revolution the land was all

.

regarded as the property of the various states By a series of .

acts the greater part of the unoccupied or unsold lands were

ceded to the cen tral government which then began to devise ,

plans for their sale to private individuals N O other policy than .

th at of turning the public d omain as rapidly as possible into

private prope rty for individ ual farmers ever seems to h ave been
seriously considered At fi rst the policy was to sell the lands for
.

the benefit of the national Treasury and the extinctio n of the

national debt By a series of Changes the fi nancial motive was
.

abandoned altogether an d a p olicy was adopted which aimed to

,

put the land in th e hands of actual settlers without any direct

1
profi t to the national Treasury whatever .

Transition from a fi nancial to a social pol icy This Chan ge .

in the land policy came about gradually however an d cove red , ,

more than three quarters of a century Between 1 7 8 3 and .

1 8 00 the public l and was sold only in large tracts 6 4 0 acres ,

being the smallest D uring the next twenty years ( 1 8 0 1 — 1 8 2 0)

.

1 A ve ry full ac c o un t of th is po l i y will b f
c e o un di n an a rtic e l by A . B H art
. :

in th e Qua rte rly j ou rn alo f Econ omics , V ol I . .

 SK ETC H O F M O D ERN A GRI C ULTUR E 75

the smallest tract that the government would sell was 1 6 0 acres ,

and the l owest price was per acre D uring the next .

twenty years ( 1 8 2 1 1 8 4 0) the minimum p rice was

—
p e r

acre an d 4 0 acres was the sm al

, lest tract that could be sold .

In 1 8 4 1 was passed the first general pre emption act with ,

drawing the l ands from s al e to the general public and reserv

in g them for sal e to actual settlers These were allowed to
.

purchase limited areas upon which they had actually settled at

, ,

the fi xed minimum price of 5 per acre The fi n alsta ge .in

the transition was reached with the passage of the H omestead
Act in 1 8 6 2 and its modifi cation in 1 8 6 4 Under this l
, . aw the

actual se ttler who lived on and cultivated the land was given a

title to a tract not exce eding 1 6 0 acres without money and ,

without price S ince the passage of this act there have been
.

num e rous suppl ementary acts like the Timber Culture A ct ,

g ivi n g a limited area of land to an

y one who would pl ant a

limite d po rtion of it in trees and cultivate them for a pe riod

of years ,
the D esert Land Act and others all looking to
, ,

the pop ulariz ation of the land .

The fi rst general ordinance for the sale of the national

domain was passed in 1 7 8 5 The most impo rtant feature of
.

this act was that p roviding for a system of rectangular survey

ing which is still in use The system may be desc ribed as
, .

Th e rectangq m of
sy ste Through a point
surv ey ing .

selected as the initi al point of the system a line is run north

and south and another east an d west The fi rst is kn own there
.

after as a principalmerid ian and the latter as a base line an d ,

fromthese two lines the townships are numbered Each row of .

townships running north an d south whose east an d west bound

,

aries are parallel to the principal meridian is called a range .

,

The ranges are numbered east and west from the principal
meridian Within the range the townships are numbered north
.
 6 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S
7

and so th u from the bas e line The systems of numberin g town

.

sh ips may be Shown by the following diag ram

The township marked
A is 3 north an d in ran ge
3 west and would be des ig ,

nated as Tp 3 N
.
,
R.
3 . W .
,

while that is 3 marked B

south in range 4 east and ,

would be designated as Tp .

3 S .
,
R 4 E
. .

Within the township the

sections are numbered after
the fol lowing order ( Dia
gramI I) always begin n ing ,

at the north east corner .

D IAG RA M 1
Within the section the
quarter sections are designated by their directions from the center ,

being the northwest northeast southwest and southeast quarters

, , , .

Thus if one wished to

describe the quarter
section lying in the
extreme northwest of
the township marked
A in D iagram I it ,

would be done after 3335 .

this manner : N W . .

Q r of
. S e c 6 of T p. .

3 N R .
3,
W of
. th e .

— P M . Within the
.

quarter section each

fo rty acre tract is again
-

designated by its direction from the center of the quarter section .

Thus if one wished to designate the forty acres lying in the

 8 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
7

by bargain and sale and the estates of persons dying intestate

,

were to be divided among their heirs in equalparts By allodial .

tenure is meant the absolute ownership of the land free from ,

allobligations to an overlord king or any one else By f eudal

, , .

tenure is meant the holding of land originally granted by a k ing

or an overlord on condition of the rendering of some service
,

or the payment of some rental which service or rental how

, ,

ever is fi xed in the original grant S uch tenure is perm anent

, .
,

provided the stipulated service is rendered or payment m ade .

This fo rm of tenure differs from the ordinary lease in that the

latter holds only for a limited term and a new contract is made
at the be ginning of every new term Land held in fee S imple
.

is held with out condition or limitation is perpetual and be longs , ,

to the owner his heirs and assigns forever This provision for
, , .

a popular system of l and tenure has determined the fo rm of

land ownership throughout the entire country an d eve n the ,

older states in which certain relics of feudal tenure still sur

,

vive d have S ince remodeled their land l

,
aws after the pattern

set by this ordinance .

Th e rise of th e cotton industry The next epochal ch ange

.

in the agriculturalhistory of this period was the rise of cotton

to the fi rst place among S outhern products During the colonial .

era an d down to 1 8 0 3 tobacco held fi rst pl

, , ace but at this date ,

cotton began to outstrip it and soon left it far behi n d This .

rise of cotton to a position of predominance came about as a

result of several factors working together During th e l atter .

half of the eighteenth century there had been a rem arkable

series of inventions mainly in England for the manufacture of
, ,

cloth These had greatly increased the demand for cotton on

.

the m arkets of the world In 1 7 8 6 the long staple or sea

.
-

isl and cotton was introduced and proved to be well adapted to

the low lands of South Carolina and G eorgia But more im .

portant than allother factors was the invention of the saw g ill
 SKETC H O F M O DERN A GRI C ULT UR E 79

in 1 79 3 This was the first successful device for separating the

.

see d from the short staple or upland cotton

-
This is the kind of .

c otton from which the great bulk of the cotton fabrics of the world

are manufactured and the saw gin m ade its production pro fitable
,

in this country where labor was scarce an d land abundant .

Effect on sl av ery O n e of the unpleasant results of this rise

.

of the cotton industry however was to give Slavery a new lease

, ,

of life . It was already growing unpopular even in the South ; ,

but the profit of growing cotton with Slave labor was so great as
to overcome in the minds of a great m any people whatever
, ,

mo ral obj ections they had to slavery as an institution The pro .

hib ition in 1 8 08 of fu rther importation of Slaves kept the supply

, ,

of this kind of prope rty down to that fu rnished by its natural

in crease The rapid increase in the demand for slaves on the

.

c otton plantations together with this limitati on of supply com

, ,

bin e d to make them a very valuable form of prope rty .

I t has been a common belief that slavery was a means of devel

O p ing the agriculture of the S outh even though it was morally
,

wrong This belief seems to rest upon some such argument as

.

this There were not many white farm laborers or s mallwhite

farmers in the far South to do the work of cotton growing .

Therefore if it had not been for the negro slaves there would ,

have bee n no one to do the work This argument however over

.
, ,

loo k s the probability that it was negro Slavery which kept white
farm l aborers and small white farmers out of the S outh A n im .

mense tide of European immigration began to pour into the

country early in the nineteenth cen tury but it sought the free
,

states al most exclusively There is n o reason except that fur

.
,

nishe d by S lavery why a part of these immigrants S hould not

,

have sought the fertil e lands and favorable climate of the S outh .

But the presence of negro sl avery was a su ffi cient reason Free .

wh ite l aborers h ave generally avoided as they would the pl ague

, ,

ev e r community where they h ve h d to c mpete with l v

y a a o S a e
80 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

l abor an d Share some of the social degradation that attac he s

to sl avery The best cotton growing is now carried on by white
.

farmers who till their own farms and there never was a time , ,

even during the period of Slavery when there were not a few ,

small neighborhoods of this type as oases in the general desert

of wasteful and in e flicie nt Slave cultivation .

The almost complete exclusion of white labor from cotton

growing was by far the most important effect of slavery upon
A merican agriculture Three other e ffects are commonly attrib
.

ute d to it First it is held responsible for the process of

.
,
land

killing by which is meant the practice of growing a few crops

,
”

from a piece of land until its original virgin fertility was partially
exh austed andthen abandoning it for a new andunexhausted tract .

It is doubtful however whether this practice was due more to

, ,

Slave ry th an to the presence of indefi nite supplies of new l and .

If there is a fi eld near by already fertilized by the accumulation

of ages of vegetable mold it is not always profitable to inc ur the
,

expense of fertilizing an Old fi eld It may be cheaper to move .

to the new fi eld This may be shortsighted from the point of

.

’’
view of the nation but it is mere business sense from the
,

point of view of the individual farmer The blame therefore .

, ,

attaches to the nation as a whole which permitte d such a ,

system and not to the individual

, .

S econd Slavery tended to concentrate cotton growing in large

,

pl antations worked by gangs of Slaves under supervision Slave .

labor having no interest in its work must of necessity be rigidl

, y ,

supervised O n e overseer or superintendent can supe rvise the

.

work of a gang as well as that of one or two It would therefore .

be poor economy a s a rule to try to grow cotton with the a

, ,
l bo r

of one or two slaves in competition with plantations worked b y

larger numbers Third the tools an d implements used in South
.
,
'

ern griculture rem ined crude and heavy long after imp
a a rov e

ments had been introduced in the N orth .

82 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

Far mimplements There were few changes in agricultural

.

implements until after 1 8 3 3 The plow and h arrow were al .

most the only tools not driven by hum an muscle The wooden .

plow with an iron S hare was still in use though sometimes the ,

wooden moldboard was protected by strips of iron I n I 7 9 8 .

Thomas Jefferson wrote a treatise on the proper form of a

moldboard of a plow A year earlier Ch arles N ewbold of .

N e w J ersey had invented a cast iron plow h aving the S h are -

moldboard and l and side all in one piece It did not come
, .

into general use at once because some one invented the

absurd doctrine which farmers seem to have believed
,
th at ,

the cast iron plow poisoned the l and SO that crops would
-

not grow Jethro Wood of N ew York a correspondent of

.
,

Jefferson took out patents for cast iron plows in 1 8 1 4 and

,
-

1 8 19
. H e had designed a moldboard resembling somewhat
those now in use .

Agricultural societies Though there were few signi fi cant .

inventions of agricultural implements during the period fro m

1 7 7 6 to 1 8 3 3 there was the beginning of an interest in a
, g
ricul tural improvement which promised well for the future .

A gricultural societies were founded in S outh Carolina in 1 7 8 4 ,

in P ennsylvania in 1 7 8 5 in N ew York in 1 7 9 1 in M as sa , ,

c huse tts in 1 7 9 2 In 1 8 1 0 an exhibition of agricultural p rod

.

nets was held in G eorgetown D C an d another in Pitts fi e l

d , . .
, ,

M assachusetts In 1 8 1 6 a somewhat larger exhibition was

.

held in Brighton M assachusetts These were the fore run ners

, .

of the agricultural fairs which have S ince had such a large

development .

Improv ements in l iv e stock ; th e h orse D uring this pe riod .

there were new importations of improved live stock particul arl yf

,

S horthorn an d H ereford cattle Kentucky M assach use tts am ’ , , ,

N ew York taking the lead The famous sire of A merican: .

trotting horses M essen ger was imported from Engl

, an d tC ZZ
,
‘

-
 S K ETC H O F M O D ER N AGRI CULT UR E 83

P h il adelphia in I 7 8 8 an d the great Justin M organ the sire

, ,

of the M organ breed was foaled in 1 7 8 9 These were the , .

beginnings of special types which might without serious mis ,

repres entation be called A merican breeds With these possible

,
.

exceptions the U nited S tates has produced no distinctive

bre eds of the larger farm animals S everal varieties of pigs .

an d poultry h ave been produced an d what might be called a ,

S pecial breed of the M erino S heep .

Sh eep O ne of the most interesting chapters in the history

.

of A merican husbandry relates to the general introduction of

the M erino sheep The fi rst animals of this breed were imported
.

in 1 7 7 3 but the industry was not yet in a flourishing con

,

dition With the restrictions upon trade growing out of the

.

Napoleonic disturbances in Europe there grew up a necessi ty ,

for a domestic supply of wool A t the same time the Pe n .

insular War created such con ditions in Spain that the herds
of M eri n os which up to th at time had been guarded as a
,

q u a si
-
n ation al monopoly were broken up an d O ffered for ,
s ale .

Ente rprising A merican farmers began buying them an d by ,

1 8 09 there were said to be 5 000 in the country The price .

of M erino wool soared an d the prices of sheep soared still

,

higher There grew up a Speculative craze in M erinos and

.
1
,

some fabulous prices were p aid .

Hogs and th e pork packing in dustry H ogs h ave always been

-
.

a n important agricultural product in the U nited S tates The .

e a rliest settlers in al lthe colonies had found hogs very adaptable ,

multiplying rapidly an d flourishing on the food found in the

f o rest The forests of the O hio valley were especially rich in
.

o a k an d beech m ast an d hogs S pread and flo urished even more

,

re m arkably than they had e ast of the mountains Every frontier .

s e ttl ement was thus provided with an abundant source of animal

1
See C . W W rig ht
.
, W ool G rowin g an d th e Tarif f ,
”
H ar vard Econ omic
Stu dies B
( o ton s , V ol . V .
84 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I CS

food very low cost Corn the chief grain crop of the in
at a .
,

te rior was admirably fi tted fo r the fattening of hogs Therefore

,
.

it was no accident that the prod uction of pork beeame one of the
early agricultural industries of the M iddle West D uring the .

period we are now studying O hio Indian a Kentucky and , , , ,

Tennessee were the principal hog growing states an d Cincin -

nati the center of this region soon became famous as the cen
, ,

ter of a l arge pork packing industry a position which she held

-

until surpassed by Chicago m any years later .

In 1 8 0 5 fat cattle began to be d ri ven across the A lleghenies

to the eastern seaport cities but a good part of the produce of ,

the O hio valley found its way southward fi rst to N ew O rleans ,

an d later to supply the cotton states In 1 8 2 5 the Erie Canal .

,

connecting the G reat Lakes with the A tlantic was opened This , .

marked the beginning of a new outlet for the products of the great
inte rior especially the northern belt of that interior Wheat be
,
.

came the leading export from the N orthwest but corn be ef and , , ,

pork remained the leading products of the O hio River region .

2 . Tl
ze P e riod o
f Tra n sf orma tion
1

M agnitude of Beginning with 1 8 3 3 there cc

th e ch ange .
,

curred Ou A merican soil during the next thirty years one of the
most remarkable agric ultural transformations ever known in
the histo ry Of the world In 1 8 3 3 practically allthe work O f the
.

farm except plowing an d h arrowing was done by hand T h ough .

there had been minor improvements in hand tools and c o ns ider ,

able improvement in live stock an d crops particularly in Europe , ,

yet it is safe to say that SO far as the general Character of the ;

work actually performed by the farmer was conc erned there ,

had been practically no change for 4 000 years S mal l g rai n:j .

was still sown broadcast an d reaped either with a cradl ,

e or th é .

1
S e al o B ail e y C y l op e d ia of A m ic an A gric ul ture ( N e w Y ork 1 909 )
’
e s s c er ,

V ol I V pp 5 8 if
.
, The M ac millan C omp any
. . .
86 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

outbreak of the Civil War the entire acreage in cotton was

1
less than the geographical area of S outh Carolina .

Causes of th e transformation The transformation which took .

place in the agriculture of the N orth was due to several causes ,

any one of which might be called epoch making The fi rst was .

the railroad A t the beginning of this period there were none

. .

By 1 8 6 0 there were miles in operation and they had

penetrated every state east of the M issouri River .

While the markets of the world were brought nearer to the

Western farms by the building of the railroads the markets them ,

selves were growing larger The building of the factory towns.

of N ew England called for larger supplies of food I n 1 8 4 6 .

the English Corn Laws were repealed though the repeal did not ,

go into effect until 1 8 4 9 when A merican foodstuffs began to be

,

admitted to that country free of duty The great Irish potato .

famine began in 1 8 4 6 The continent of Europe was disturbed

.

by the revolutions of 1 8 4 8 and by the Crimean War of 1 8 5 4 .

Finally beginning with 1 8 4 9 an d lasting through the fi fties the

, ,

gold fi elds Of California an d A ustralia were pouring a fl ood of

new gold into the money m arkets of the world to stimul ate
prices much as they have again been stimul ated S ince 1 8 9 7
, .

A nother set of causes were at work in the form of a more lib

eral land policy A S we have already seen the P reemption A ct
.
,

of I 8 4 I favored actualsettlers rather than land speculators The .

famines and political dist urbances of Europe sent a tidal wave

of immigrants hither an d many of them found their way to the
,

Western lands an d took advantage of the P re emption A ct .

Th e prairies A nother factor of gre at importance was the

.

development of prairie farming A t the beginning of this period .

the van guard of the westward moving army of settlers was j ust -

emerging from the great primeval forest which covered the ,

1 Fo r a full e r ac c oun t s e e H mmon d

a , Th e C otton I n ustr d y , P uoh eatzon :
'

of M e A me rica n A ss ociation
( N e w S e rie s), 1 899 , V ol I
. .
 SKETC H O F M O D ERN AGRI C ULT UR E 87

en tire eastern third of the continent and was beginning to settle

,

in the great naturalm eadows of the upper M ississippi Valley In .

this new region the settler was saved the enormous task of clear
ing his land of timber The abundance of this fertile land an d
.

the ease with which it could be reduced to cultivation created

such an agricult ural opportunity both for the landless man an d
the capitalistic farmer as had never been found before and may
never be found again .

Agricultural mach in ery But the most important factor of

.

all was the series of inventions of agricultural m achinery by

mean s of which horse power was substituted for human muscles
as a motor force In 1 8 3 1 William M anning of N e w Jersey
.

was granted a patent for a mowing machine In 1 8 3 3 and 1 8 3 4 .

Obe d H ussey of B altimore an d Cyrus M c c ormick were each

g a
r nted p ate n ts for re aping m achines A fter 1 8 4 0 when
. these ,

machines had been improved and their practicability demon

s trated they began to come into generaluse
,
About the same .

t ime the threshing m achine be gan to be widely used an d very ,

s oon displ aced the Ol d primitive methods It was not hOW .

~

e ver ,
until about 1 8 5 0 th at the thresher an d the sepa
”
r ator ,
that is the machine for beating out the grain an d the
,

m achine for separating it from the straw and chaff were com ,

b in e d These machines were usually run by horse power

.
,

t h ough a steam thresher was beginning to be used before

I 8 64 John D eere m ade his fi rst steel plow from an old saw
.

b lade in 1 8 3 7 .

S carcely less important than the mower the reaper an d the , ,

t h resher were the corn pl an ter an d the two horse cultivator -

w h ich came into use during this period By means of these the .

f a rm
’
er s ability to raise corn was greatly increased Eve ry part .

of the work of growing corn except th at of husking the crop

, ,

Was done by horse power before 1 8 6 4 except in certain sections

,

Where corn is a minor crop In view of the fact that corn is and
.
88 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

a lways has been our principal crop it is doubtf ul whether the ,

grain harvesting machinery effected a greater saving of labor

-

th an did these improvements in the implements for corn pro

duction by means of which horse power was substituted for
,

man power .

Live stock h orses , The Thoroughbred stallion D enmark

.

was brought into Kentucky in 1 8 3 9 an d be came the foundation

of the stock of A merican saddle horses It would be diffi cult to .

estim ate the value to the country Of an event like this it would
doubtless mount up into millions of dollars It was during this .

period that interest in the trotting horse began to take definite

S h ape H eretofore this horse had been prized mainly for rac
.

ing purposes ; now its p ractical importance as a road horse be

"
g a n to be appreci a ted U p to 1.8 4 0 the b ug gy w as pra ctically
unknown the common mode of travel being on horseback
, A .
”

still more important event in the horse breeding industry of the -

"
country was the importation into O hio of the P ercheron stal
lion Louis Napoleon from which time dates a great i mprove
,
”
1
ment in the draft horse Though less spectacular than the
.

trotting horse the draft horse is Of even greater econo mic util
,

ity an d therefore this event is also of incalcul able importance

, .

Hogs H ogs continued to multiply an d to flourish nou rished

.
,

by the corn crops of the Western prairies Cincinnati re mained .

the center Of the pork packing industry until 1 8 6 1 whe n it

-

was surpassed by Chicago which city had become by th e e nd , ,

of this period the greatest market for agricultura l products in

,

the world being the center of the region of prairie farming

, .

Abandoned farms It was during this period also an d as a

.
,

result of the ch anges already described that the agricultural ,

decline in N ew England began A S early as 1 8 4 0 the aban .

don me nt of the hill farms began to attract attention G eneral .

farming on these rocky hills in competition with the prairie

1
B ogart In dustrial H isto y of the Unite d State s pp 24 2 24 3
, r , .
, .
 0 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I CS
9

yoke of oxen It was the smoothness of this prairie l

. and as

much as anything else which led to the rapid development

of farm m achinery during this period when the prairie states
were be ing settled When these states began to be cultivated
.

by means of effective modern machinery an d when the rail ,

roads began to transport the products of these states to the

eastern seaboard it became impossible for the farmer on the
,

hilly lands of the A ppalachian slopes to hold his own in

competition with them .

S h eep and cattle D uring the period now under discussio n

.

there was practically no increase in the number of S heep Cattle .

,

on the other hand increased very ra pidly on the Western prairies

, ,

which furnished natural pastures of high excellence This was .

a pe riod of great activity in the importation of breeding an imals

for the improvement of the native stock These importations .

came commonly from England In 1 8 3 4 the O hio Company .

for Importing English Cattle was organized This company sent .

agents to E ngl and for the selection of the be st specimen s of

the leading breeds of cattle N ineteen head were sent in the

.

fi rst Shipment an d other S hipments were m ade in subsequent

,

years A fter 1 8 4 0 these importations increased very rapidly

.
,

an d surprisingly high prices were paid especially for S hort ,

horns individ ual animals sometimes bringing upwards of 5 000

, .

O ne result of these importations was the rapid improvement in

the cattle especially in the O hio valley There has neve r bee n
, .

a time S ince 1 8 5 0 when herds of S horthorns could not be

found equal to any in the mother country In 1 8 4 0 fi ve bulls .

an d seventeen cows an d heifers of the H ereford bree d were

brought to A lbany N e w York and other importations followed

, , ,

though some had been made earlier notably by H en ry Clay ,

in 1 8 1 7 It was not until a l ater period however th at the

.
, ,

H e re fords began to attain a wide populari ty It was during .

the p eriod of the development of the cattle ranching busin ess -

 S KETCH O F M O D ERN AGRI C ULTUR E 9 1

that they began to be appreciated their special fi tness for range ,

co nditions givin g them a high val ue .

Dairy ing Up to 1 8 5 0 the butter an d chees e made in this

.

country was made on farms but in the next year the associated ,

system of dairying known for a long time as the A merican

,

system was inaugurated This so called A merican system was

, .
-

Sim ilar to the modern cheese facto ry to which farmers over a ,

considerable area brought their milk an d had it m ade into

1
cheese By 1 8 6 1 twenty one cheese factories had been built
.
-
.

This was the beginning of a revolution in dairying which was

carrie d much further during the subsequent period by the de

vel op m e n t of coope rative an d capitalistic creameries .

The census of I 8 4 0 was the fi rst to compile statistics of

agricultur e Consequently we h ave very little complete or ac
.

curate kn owle dge of the agricultural production of the U nited

States p rior to that date The following table S hows the ag .

riculturalexpansion from 1 8 4 0 to 1 8 6 0 the princip al products ,

being given in millions : 1

P RO DUCT

Imp rov e d fa m lan d

r ( acre s )
b
Corn ( us h e s ) l
Wheat ( ushe s) b l
Oats( b u h l ) s e s

Ry ( bu h l )
e s e s

Bu kw h t ( bu h l
c ea s e s )
B l y ( b u h l)
ar e s e s

P tt
o a oe s (bu h l ) s e s

Hay ( ton s )
d
Butte r ( p oun s )
d
Cheese ( p oun s )
Wool (p oun d ) s

Cotton (b l a e s of 4 00 p oun d s )
Tobacc o ( p oun d s )
Rice ( poun s) d
1
Cf Boga rt, Econ omic
. Hi t y s or of th e U n it de State s , p p . 24
3 , 2 44 .
 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
9 2

D uring the preceding period as already mentioned there , ,

had been a beginning made in the form ation of agricultural

associations an d the holding of agricultural exhibitions This .

movement received a great acceleration during the period from

1 8 3 3 to 1 8 6 4 By 1 8 6 0 nearly every state had its agricultural
.

society and almost every county as well N othing perhaps Sig

,
.

n ifi es more clearly th e interest in agriculture during that period

than the rapid development and Spread of the county an d state

fairs These annual gatherings with their Opportunities to see
.
,

what was new in agricultural machinery in live stock an d in , ,

farm products became effective agencies for stimulating im

,

p ro v e me n ts an d spre ading knowledge U ntil the rise of the .

agricultural colleges an d the experiment stations which ac

,

companied them no other agency did so much for agricultural

,

improvement as did these agricultural societies and the e xhibi

"
tions an d fairs held under their auSpidé T Th e N ew York state
fair held in Buffalo in I 8 4 8 opened a remarkable competition
in reapers an d mowers T his exhibition of these machines in
.
,

such large number an d variety is thought by some to mark the ,

real turning point in the transition from hand to machine

1
production .

3 Tne P e riod of Wes tw ard Exp ansion 2

WIza t caus ed t/ze p Though

ex ans ion the exp
. ansion of agri
culture during the period immediately preceding the Civ il War
had been m arvelously rapid it was even more rapid during the
,

period immediately following The Civil War scarcely i mposed .

even a temporary check upon the development of agriculture

in the N orth though it completely disorganized the cotton
,

industry Of the S outh and involved it in temporary ruin D ur .

ing the preceding period agriculture had pretty generally passed

into the commercial stage where farmers were living upon the
,

1 S e e E Le ass e ur A ric ulture U

. v g a
,ux Eté ts n i ( P a is p 48
-
s r , . .

l Baile y s Cyc l op e dia of Ame rican Agric ulture V ol IV p 64

3 S e e a so ’
, .
, . .
94 P RI N C I P L E S O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

Europe, which continued during the years of the war with only .

a slight reduction D uring the decade from 1 8 6 0 to 1 8 7 0 there

.

were immigrants most of whom settled in the g roup

,

of states known as the north Central states that is the sta tes , ,

north of the O hio west of N e w York and east of the M issouri

, , .

This is the group sometimes called the grain states an d its ,

population increased more than 4 2 per cent during this decade .

Ex pansion of farm area D uring the next decade however

.
, ,

that is from 1 8 7 0 to 1 8 8 0 over

,
square miles a terri
, ,

tory equal in extent to G reat Britain and France combined ,

were added to the cultivated area of the U nited S tates This 1

.

increase in the cultivated area was due partly to the increased

effectiveness of labor when it was equipped with the improved
machinery which had come into use partly to the westward migra ,

tion of our native population an d partly to the enormous immi

,

g ratio n of th at deca de This immigr.ation amounted to nearly

persons a n umber not far short of the population
,

of the entire country at the beginning of the W ar of In de p e n d

ence But the immigration was still greater during the succeed
.

ing decade that is from 1 8 8 0 to 1 8 9 0 reaching the astonishing

, , ,

number of M any of these immigrants continued up ,

to 1 8 90 to fi n d their way to the Western farms The following

, .

fi gures from the U nited S tates census will S how the increas e in
the principal grain crops since the census of 1 8 4 0 :

1 B og art, o p . c it ,.
p . 2 67 .
 S KETC H O F M O DER N AGRI CULT URE 95

O ne result of this enormous increas e in our agriculturalpro

ductivity was the increase in the exportation of breadstuffs This .

did not begin on a large scale until after I 8 6 0 but after that,

date it increased by leaps and bounds until within twenty years ,

that is by 1 8 8 0 this country had become the world s

, ,
’

exp orter of wheat O nly a small fraction of the corn

.

ever been exported in the form of corn a greater part bein

,

fed to live stock ; our exports of corn therefore h ave been

, ,

mostly in the form of animals and animal products .

As al ready suggested one of the agencies which brought

,

about this expansion of agricultural enterprise was the H ome

stead Laws ; the policy of giving l and to settlers free of cost

tended to encourage the rapid settlement of the public dom ain .

Anoth er impetus was given by the disbanding of the armies of

the Civil War The throwing of such an immense l abor force
.

upon the m arket would under ordinary conditi ons h ave resulted
, ,

in a gl ut of the labor market and would in al lprobability h ave

, ,

p ro duce d civil d is turbances But Congress

. modi fi ed the H ome
st ead Laws so as to make it very easy for an ex soldier of the-

Union army to acquire government land It was enacted th at.

an hono rably discharged U nion soldier could deduct the time

y
he served in the army from the time which the ordinary set
tler was required to live upon an d cultivate his land before he
could ac quire a title to it Thus the disbanding of the armies
.

coliperated with the rising tide of immigration an d the free l and -

systemto bring about this rem arkably rapid expansion .

Another factor not to be pas sed over lightly was the large
num ber of horses an d mules set free for productive work by the
disbanding of the armies M any of these were sold to farmers
.
,

and add ed to the supply of power necessary to run the farm

m achin e s
. This event is regarded by some as fi xing the date ,

if it can be fi xed of the displacement of the ox by the horse

,

in agricul ture
. Before this period both horses an d oxen were
9 6 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

used but for much of the heaviest work such as breaking the
, ,

sod the latter seem to have been preferred S ince this time
,
.

oxen have continued to be used in s mall numbers an d in back

ward sections but this date may be fi xed upon as the turning
,

point in the transition from the ox to the horse as the typical

draft animal This is a matter of greater importan ce than will
.

appear to the casualreader In agriculture as in manufacturing

.
, ,

the question of power is a question of fundamental importance .

The tra nsition from ox to horse power is a matter of almost

as great importance as that from water to steam powe r in

manufacturing .

Agricul tural disorganiz ation Though this free land system

.
-

did enable the country to absorb the immense labor supply

without glutting the labor market an d producing civil disturb
ance s it produced on the other h and a glut in the market for
, , ,

agricultural produce an d disturbed the agricul tural equilibriu m

not only of this country but of western Europe as well A mong .

other thin gs this resulted in the partial disorga nizatio n of the

agriculture of the eastern states The abandonment of farms
.
,

which had begun during the preceding period now reache d its ,

max imum S o eager were settlers to acquire Western land that

.
,

in many ease s this motive ra ther than the preference for agri
,

culture itself led men to take up land an d to turn farmers .

Instead of acquiring land for the purpose of growing c rops it ,

frequently happened that crops were grown in order that the

settler might acquire l and that is in o rder that he might occ upy
, ,

his time durin g the period which the government req uired him
to live upo n his land Frequen tly if not in the m
. aj ority of
,

ca ses the crops were grown at a loss if the farmer had coun ted
, ,

his own wages as a part of the cost of growing th ese crops .

They were certainly grown at a loss if he had counte d as a

part of the cost the expense nece ssary to restore to the soil
the fertility that was e xtra cted But the farmer coun ted the:
.
9 8 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

un profi tabl
e n es sduring this period more than anything e lse
, ,

which brought about this conditi on of instability and discontent .

Rail roads The period which we are now studying was

.

also one of rapid railway development The substitution of .

steel for iron rails an d the greater carrying capacity of the rail
roads which resulted the development of the great trunk line
,
-

systems the building in connection with them of the granger

,

roads an d the constructi on also of the great transcontinental

,

lines ,
all contributed their S hare toward creating a condi
tion under which the farmers of the Far West could compete
on almost equal terms with those of the east in the supply of
eastern markets The building of the transcontinental railways
.

in particular stimul ated by land grants by the federal govern

,

ment has contributed to this result They were built in ad

,
.

vance of the demand and tended in turn to stimulate a rapid

, , ,

settlement of the Far West .

A long with these improvements in railroad tra nsportation

there was developed a remarkable system of handling grain and
live stock The refrigerator car was brought into use in 1 8 6 9
.
,

an d gave an impetus to the meat packing industry which could

-

now run continuously throughout the year This led beginning .

,

with 1 8 7 6 to the exportation of fresh meats to foreign coun

,

tries The system Of grading an d classifying grain enables large

.

amounts of grain of any speci fi ed grade to be h andled in bulk

at a very sm all expense per bushel The building of immense

.

elevators where grain can be handled and stored where ears ,

can be loaded an d unl oaded in a few minutes an d where ,

S hips can be loaded at the rate of bushels per hour ,

these and a number of other improvements contributed their

share in the general expansion of trade in farm prod ucts and
the opening of a world market to the A merican farmer But .

this tended to produce an agricultural disturbance in Eu rope

S imil ar to that which took pl ace in our own co untry .
 S K ETC H O F M O D ER N AGRI C ULT UR E 99

M achinery . A mong
the more important inventions of agri
cultural machinery during this period the twine binder stands
preeminent Except where the summers are dry as in the semi
.
,

arid p l ains of the West and where therefore the h arvesting

, , ,

may be prolonged over a considerable period of time an d where ,

huge combination h arvesters can be used the harvesting of the ,

crop is a cr ucial point in the economy of grain growing The .

farme r must ask himself n ot how much wheat he can grow

, ,

but how much he ean harvest The amount which he can prof
.

itabl y grow is limited by the amount which it is physically pos

sible for him to h arvest Before the invention of the twine binder
.

harvesting was a much greater problem than it has been S ince .

The amount which could profitably be grown was even more

strictly limited by the physical imp ossibility of h arvesting it .

The invention of the twine binder therefore by increasing the

, ,

am ount which a farmer could h arvest increased by th at precise,

am ount the quantity which he c ould profi tably grow In other .

words it was the twine binder more than any other S ingle m achine
,

orim plement that enabled the country to increase its production

of rain e specially wheat during this period The per c pit
g , ,
a a .

p oductio n of the country as a whole increased from about

r

bushe ls in 1 8 6 0 to bushels in 1 8 8 0 There were also .

num erous minor improvements and the general substitution of

,

Steamfor horse power in th e running of the threshing m achines

during the pe riod now under discussion A l l these improve .

m ents brought about a considerable increase in the e flic ie n c

y of ‘

the thres hing machine H owever al

. lthese things put together
,

have not contributed so much toward the revolutionizing of the

Sain growing industry as did the twine binder
l -
.

The rol ler process Though not an agricultural process the

.
,

r011er process of manufacturing flour was also a great factor in the

agriculturalexpansion of this period Flour made from spring
.

Whea t by the old process was so inferior in quality that many of

I OO P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

our best agriculturists did not believe that there was any future
for the growing of Spring wheat in this country But by the .

new process better fl our could be made from the spring wheat
th an had ever been m ade from winter wheat Conte mpora .

n eousl with this discovery came the opening of the great

y
spring wheat areas of the N orthwest in M innesota an d the
-

Dakotas The p opul ation of these three states more than

.

doubled in the decade from 1 8 7 0 to 1 8 8 0 P rior to this pe riod .

Rochester N e w York had been the great flour m anufacturing

, ,
-

center of the country but its position of leadership was surren

,

dered to M inneapolis the early metropolis of the spring wheat

,
-

country almost as soon as the roller proces s came into use

, .

Corn grow ing A mong the improved articles of m achinery

.

used in growing corn was the check rower T h is device .

attached to a c orn pl anter enabled one m an to do work which

had formerly required two It automatically drops the seed in

.

rows running across the fi eld at right angles to the direction

in which the planter is being driven thus planting the rows in ,

two directions an d permitting of cross cultivation In the some .

what drier regi ons west of the M issouri corn came to be planted
”
by means of the lister a d ouble moldboard plow throwing
,
-

a deep furrow and planting the corn in the bottom by means

of an automatic seeder Though this method of planting does

.

not permit of cross cultivation it has certain advantages chief

, ,

of which is that the deeper planting of the seed enables the crop
to withstand drouth somewhat more successfully than doe s the
shallower planting pra cticed farther east A numbe r of other .

minor improvements such as the weeder the riding cultivator

, , ,

which is merely a perfection of the older horse cultivator an d ,

the two row cultivator drawn by three horses h ave combined to

-

lighten the work of the corn grower and to enable each man to
tend a larger crop The bulk of the corn crop continued to be
.

harvested by hand no sati sfactory machin e having been design ed

,
1 02 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I CS

They never strayed very far from the camp however and when , ,

spring came they were found to be in better condition than when

they were turned loose in the early winter The winds had .

here and there laid bare the cured buffalo grass and the oxen
had fed upon it for nearly four months .

Th e cattle trail The quality of the grass in the no rthe rn

.

plains is somewhat better than that in the Texas ranges an d it ,

was discovered that th e Texas eattl e gained in weight more

rapidly in the north than on their native ground It was .

estimated that a four year old steer would gain 2 00 pounds

- -

on the no rthern ra nges over an d above what he wo uld gain

in Texas M oreover the beef was thought to be of S lightly
.
,

better quality if raised in the north The abundance of these

,
.

northern ranges as compared with the crowded conditions in

,

Texas together with the other advantages just named led to a

, ,

great migration of Texas cattle northward This migration fol .

lowed in general the western edge of the settlements The

, , .

line of this drift n orthward came to be known as the Texas

cattle trail The ranges of western Kansas N ebraska Colorado
.
, , ,

an d Wyoming were fi rst s ought the most northern ranges being

,

avoided because of the danger from the Indians A fter the .

Custer M assacre of 1 8 7 6 the northern Indians eame to be

m ore closely guarded by the federal government an d the great ,

plains of the Dakotas an d M ontana were thereby opened to the

cattlemen These far northern ranges were in some respects
.
, ,

the best of all Consequently the great eattl

. e tr
a il soon extended

up to the very northern boundary of the country From 1 8 7 0 .

to the close of the period we are now considering the great cat ,

tle trail was pretty well marked as the route over which vast
numbers of cattle drifted north from the great breeding grounds
of Texas The migrating cattle were mainly young steers
.
,

besides some heifers taken north for the stocking of the north
ern ranges Inas much as cattle seemed to multiply more rapidly
.
 S K ETC H O F M O D ER N AGRI C ULT UR E 1 03

in T exas beeause apparently cows were more proli fic in the

,

mild e r climate of that state and inasmuch as young cattle grew

,

more rapidly after being moved n orth a territorialdivision of ,

labor grew up The ra nches of the south supplied the young

. .

and immature cattle an d th ose of the n orth m atured them and

,

prepared them for beef The points at which the eattle trail
.

crossed the transcontinental railways became great cattle markets

and shipping points These Shipping points developed some of
.

the most picturesque features which h ave become associated

with our frontier Each became a great rendezvous for eattl
. e

men and cowboys of every kind and description These points .

,

which came to be called cow towns furnished m any exciting ,

scenes an d episodes which rem ain a part of the legend and

tra dition of the Western states an d will doubtless eventually

become fi xed in our national traditions From 1 8 7 0 to 1 8 7 2 .

Newton Kansas was the point where the trail crossed the
, ,

Atchiso n Topeka an d Santa Fe Railroad an d Abilene was the

, , ,

p oint at which it crossed the K ans as P aci fi c These were there .

fore the noted cow towns of that period But as settlements .

moved we stward the cattle trail was forced to shift westward

,

so as to avoid trespassing upon farm l and A ccordingly G reat .

Bend on th e Atchison an d Ellsworth on the Kansas Paci fi c

, ,

beeame the great shipping points A gain D odge City on the .

,

Atchis on and H ayes City on the Kansas Paci fi c were the great
, ,

cow towns .In 1 8 8 5 they were Dodge City as above an d , ,

Ogallala N ebraska on the U nion Pacifi c

, ,
It was estimated that .

as m any as head of cattle were driven to these two

p oin ts for S hipment during the ye a r 1 8 8 4 alone A fter 1 8 8 5 .

the importa nce of the great cattle trail began to decline The .

westward advance of the line of settlements tended to cut

off this line of march but the chief factor of the decline was
,

the competition of the railroads which were built into the heart
,

Of the cattle countr an d which tra nsported the cattle m ore

y
1 04 P RI N CI P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

quickly and almost as cheaply as they could be driven overland .

The following table from the report of Joseph N immo shows

the estimated number of cattle driven n orthward from Texas
over the old cattle trail from 1 8 6 6 to 1 8 8 4 :
1 8 66 1 8 76

1 867 1877

1 8 68 1878

1 8 69 1 8 79

1 8 70 1 88 0

187 1 1 88 1

1 872 1 88 2

1 873 1 88 3

1 8 74 1 1 88 4

1875 1

But eattle ranching did not begin to decline with the decline
of the cattle trail The corn belt has had a great deal to do
.

with the development of the Western cattle ranching business -

This corn belt lies immediately conti guous to the ranching coun
try .Consequently the movement of eattl e in more recent years

has been eastward from the Western ra nges rather than northward
from Texas D uring the latter partof the period we are now con
.

side ring th at is in the e arly eighties cattle began to be s hipped

, , ,

in large numbers from the Western ranges into the corn growing -

regions of eastern Kansas N ebra ska Iowa M issouri an d I llino is

, , , , ,

to be fattened upon the corn crops It was therefore in the .

heart of the corn country rather than in the range country that
the packing houses were built for the slaughtering of ani m als

and the curing of meat products Kan sas City St Jose ph .

, .
,

O maha Chicago an d St Louis became great packing cities

, , . .

O wing to the practice of al lowing hogs to fatten on the drop

pings of the com fed cattle pork came to be in a measure a
-

, , ,

by product of the beef producing industry

- -
.

Dairy ing A s previously stated the beginning of the modern

.
,

factory system of manufacturing butter an d cheese was made j ust

1 06 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

highly skilled European producers A dd to this the fact that

.

butter is a more homogeneous product than cheese an d that in ,

Europe each country or even each locality has its own special
taste in th at article of consu mption an d we have additional rea
,

sons why there is no great demand for the A merican cheese in

Europe A nother important factor in the central
. ization of butter
production in the Western grain states is the introduction of the
silo By means of the S ilo Indian corn can be utilized to furnish
.

succulent food for dai ry cows throughout the winter I n northern .

Europe where corn does not flourish this has to be supplied by

, ,

root crops such as turnips beets etc But corn silage is a much
, , .

cheaper and an equally good ra tion for dairy cows and enables ,

the A merican farmer to produce butter fat at a l ower co st prob ,

ably than any of his European rivals

, Corn Silage is chea per
.

than root crops fi rst because the yield of feed per acre is so me
, ,

what larger but mainly because it requires less labor

, .

Reorganiz ation of th e cotton industry The most violent agri .

cultural change which took place during the period we are n ow

considering was in the cotton growing industry of the S outh
-
.

The Civil War had emancipated the Slaves an d involved in

fi nancial ruin most of the cotton planters This necessitat e d a .

complete reorganization of the cotton industry The stag nation .

which took place during and immediately following th at g reat:

cataclysm produced abnormally high prices for cotton S o me .

thing like a cotton famine had been felt in Englan d durin g the
war because of the blockading of the S outhern ports an d this
, ,

famine could not be immediately alleviated after the re storation

of peace because of the disorgan ization of industry which fol
,

lowed eman cipati on Cotton sold for 4 3 cents per pound in 1 8 6 5

.

an d 3 0 cents in 1 8 6 6 U nder the stimulus of these high prices

.

many of the S outhern pl anters undertook cotton growing on a

large scale with hired negro labor and on borrowed capital This .

brought down the price of cotton and at the sam e time brought:
 S KETCH O F M O DERN AGRI CULTUR E 1 07

bankruptcy to the planters This system of cotton production

.

prove d e xpensive and gradually it was replaced by the one which

,

still predominates throughout the greater part of the cotton

section at least in the eastern half of it namely the growing
, , ,

of cotton by negro tenant farmers on small tracts which they

rent on shares from the large landowners This new system .

proved to be workable and gradually cotton production began

,

to increase again un til by 1 8 7 9 the crop exceeded that of 1 8 6 0

, , .

U nder this system the negro tenant was in a somewhat peculiar

p osition . Though he w a s ca lled a ten a nt he w a s in a sense ,

o nly a hired m an who was paid a S h are of the crop instead of

,

fi xed wages ; that is to say he had little more independence ,

t h an a h ired m an The owner of the land furnished the seed

.
,

t h e tools the mules and the feed an d sometimes advanced

, , ,

c o rn meal and bacon to the tenant G radually however there.

, ,

a p peared a better cl ass of tenants who attained a little more ,

in de pendence an d became the owners of their mules an d

in rpl em e nts becoming in fact real ten ants
, , ,
.

Agricul tural credit Followi n g this chan ge in the method of

.

c o tton production there came certain other ch anges in the e co

,

n om ic and fi nancialsituation A most vicious system of agri .

culturalc redit was developed mainly through the agency of the

,

l oealmerch ants These merchants would undertake to advance

.

su l ie t the f rmer d receive their from the proceeds

pp s o a a n a
p y
of the cotton crop In order to secure themselves they would
.

take a mortgage on the crop This tended to put the farmer at

.

the m ercy of the lender H e was almost compelled to buy his

.

su lies from the storekeeper who held the mo rtgage on his

pp
crop and th e storekeeper would frequently dictate the amount
,

and characte r of the crop which the farm e r was to grow This .

tended to accentuate the evils of the one crop system an d to -

concentrate the ener of the f rmer on cotton to the exclusio n

gy a

Of ever th in
’

y g e lse Though . it wo uld ha v e be e n to th e farmer s

1 08 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

a dvantage to grow the corn an d the bacon necessary for his

sustenance the storekeeper tended to discourage th is be cause
,

it would make the farmer less dependent upon the store C orn .

an d bacon were the articles which were sold to the farm e rs in

largest quantities The raising of corn would not on ly g ive a

.

less marketable crop into the hands of the merchant but it would ,

eventually lose him his customers for the ra ising of his own ,

supplies would rel ease the farmer from the necessity of doing
1 ”
business on a credit basis .

2
4 . Tl
ie P e r iod of R e org an iz a tion

A bout the year 1 8 8 8 began a series of changes which pro

duce d a profound reacti on on the whole agricultural S ituatio n in
the U nited States though the results did n ot begin to be v is ibl e
,

until almost a decade later This date is chosen as the be gin .

ning of the new period because of the fundamental importance

of these ch anges In the preceding year Congress passe d the
.

famous H atch A ct or Experiment Station A ct In the year .

1 8 8 8 began the enl arged organization of the teaching of ag ricul

ture under the stimulus of this act This was the begin nin g of a .

more comprehensive and systematic application of the prin c iple s

of experimental science to agriculture than had ever be e n at
tempted before There had been experiment stations before this
.

time not only in European countries but in some of the easte rn

,

states as well but under this act they were organized on a more
extensive scale and their work coordin ated more effectively than
ever before P rior to 1 8 8 8 there had been 2 0 experime nt
.

stations in the country but in that year al one 2 6 n ew on es ,

were established A gain the pioneering period in A me riean

.
,

1 H mmon d
a , Th e C otton I n du t y
s r , P ublication s f
o tb e A merica n Eco
no mic Association ( N e w S e rie s ), 1 899 , V ol I , p 1 5 1 . . .

9 S e e a so ai e s C c op e ia of A me ric an Agric u ture

l B ly yl d l Yo
’

( Ne w rk,
V ol IV , pp
. . 68 ff . Th e M ac mi ll an C omp an y .
1 10 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I CS

competition and may reasonably expect to see the fruits of his

own superior knowledge and intelligence This means more for .

the future of A merican agricul ture than anything else which has
happened These circumstances give tremendous sign ifi cance
.

to the experiment stations by means of which scientifi c knowl

,

edge is to be m ade accessible to those who have the intelligence

to use it Fifty years earlier the same development of e xp e ri
.

ment stations would scarcely have been possible because of the

lack of opportunity for the use of scienti fi c knowledge in com
petition with pioneering These two facts taken together
. that
is the development of the experiment stations and the in c reas
,

ing opportunities for the use of scientifi c knowledge will bring

about a reorganization of agricul ture an d will create what so me

have chosen to call the N e w A gricul ture .

Transition from ex tensiv e to intensiv e farm in g Where l an d .

is cheap an d labor dear wasteful an d extensive farming is nat

,

ural an d it is useless to preach against it While extensiv e .

agricul ture is wasteful of l and it is not always wasteful of l abor ;

,

in fact it is usually economical rather than wasteful W e

, .

always tend to waste th at which is che ap an d to eco n omize

that which is dear The condition of this country in allth e pre

.

ceding periods which we have studied dictated the wasteful use

of l and an d the economic use of labor This economical appli
.

cation of labor has been sh own by the unprecedented de velop

ment of agricultural machinery But as l and beco mes dearer
.

relatively to labor as it inevitably will the ten dency will be

, ,

equally inevitable toward more intensive agriculture th at is , ,

toward a system which produces more per acre This will follow .
,

through the normal working of economic l aws as surely as water,

will flow downhill .

Large portions of the public domain are still unoc cupied

an d the greater p art of it will probably al ways re m ain so but ,

a conside rable area in the aggregate m a

y still be reclaim ed
 SK ETCH OF M O DER N AGRI C ULTUR E
'

1 1 I

by irrigation In igation systems were developed in previous

.

periods of our agricultural history but it is only within the,

period we are now studying that public attention has been

directed toward the problem on a comprehensive scale In .

fact it is only within this period that the people of the country
,

in general have come to realize the magnitude of the problem .

There is certain to be built an in igate d empire in the West .

T o build this empire will require statesmen with vision an d

with courage S till more recently has public attention been
.

directed toward the problem of drainage It is estimated that .

within the territory of the United States an d capable of being ,

draine d and reduced to cultivation there are swampy areas suf

,

fi c ie nt to support a population of people all owing ,

4 0 a cres per family of fi v e .

S tock raising The extension of the area of the cultivated

.

farms up to and within the borders of the dry belt an d the de ,

vel op m e nt of in igation schemes within th at belt are forcing a ,

c o mplete reorganization of the cattle business T he cattle ranch

.
-

in g business has already declined considerably but this has in ,

p a rt been m ade up by the slight incre ase in S heep herding .

So me of the arid pas tures of the West are better suited to S heep
than to cattle an d sheep are therefore by a process of natural
, ,

selection displacing cattle in parts of the range coun try

,
It is .

therefore highly probable that the range cattle will diminish in

nu m be rs and that the country will be forced to rely on foreign
,

meat or else upon beef grown as well as fattened upon the

farms It is not probable however that cattle ranching is
.
, ,

doomed to extinction though it can obviously never attain to the

,

importance it reached in the seventies an d eighties There is a .

po ssibility in
,
the A pp al achi an highl ands of a revival of ,
cattle
raising on a somewh at sm aller scale than that which developed

on the Western range country In this region extending from

.
,

Maine to G eorgia there are lands too broken to compete wi th

,
1 12 P RI NC I P LES O F RURAL EC ONOMIC S

the smooth and fertile l ands of the M ississippi basin in the

growing of fi eld crops but these highlands furnish excellent
,

pasturage and there is not the slightest scarcity of water .

The general decline of the range industry may pos sibly ,

though not necessarily bring about a diminution in the number

m
,

of cattle grown in this country It will certa bring about such

.

a diminution unless the price of beef rises an d remains pe rma

n e ntl above the average of the l ast century

y In order th at the .

decline in the number of range cattle may be counterbalanced ,

there must be a corresponding increase in the number of farm

bred cattle But such an increase cannot come about untilthe
.

price of beef rises suflic ie ntly to compensate for the higher

cost of raising cattle on the farms as compared with the ranges .

A s our population increases an d as the demand for be ef in

creases correspondingly this demand can stimulate a commen
,

surate increase of supply only by o ffering permanently higher

prices Eventually however it is not improbable that our coun
.
, ,

try especially the great seaboard cities will come to depend

, ,

more an d more on foreign beef imported from countries where

land is still cheap enough and abundant enough to mak e pas
turage an economical use of it Beef production requires more
.

land per unit of food value produced than almost any other
branch of agriculture though under range conditions it is rather
,

economical of labor A s the demand for food increases through

.

the rapid growth of our population it will become more and ,

m ore the tendency to devote the land wherever it is physieally ,

possible to the production of those crops which require less

,

land per unit of food value and to depend more an d more upon
,

newer countries where land is abundant an d labor searc e for

, ,

such products as beef The fact that the area of cattle graz ing
.

has always followed the frontier suggests at least that it may , ,

follow that frontier beyond those imaginary l ines known as

national boundaries .
1 14 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I CS

periodic rest by laying it down to pasturage The same prin .

c iple s will apply and the same predictions may be ventured with
respect to wool and mutton as with respect to bee f an d wheat .

With the rel ative decline in importance of such products of

extensive culture as wheat beef wool mutton etc will doubt
, , , , .
,

less come an increase in the relative importance of our two

great crops which lend themselves somewhat better to intensive
culture namely corn an d cotton Still greater relative increase
, ,
.
,

however is likely to take place in the growth of fruits an d

,

vegetables which require still more intensive culture

, .

Grow th of tenancy The characteristic system of land ten

.

ure among A merican farmers has been that of o wnership O ut .

side of the older cotton states the great majority of the men
,

who h ave worked the farms have also owned them This has .

been a natural result of two factors working together namely , ,

cheap land and dear l abor S o long as there was government

.

land to be had the way was open from the position of farm
,

hand to that of farm owner to any one who cared to take the
trouble to go West an d take a claim Even in the older states
.
,

where there was no government land to be had it was not ,

diflicul t for a farm hand to become a farm owner H is wages .

being high as compared with the wages in the O ld World it ,

was not diflic ul t for him to save B oth the rent and the price
.

of land being low it was easy for any man who had saved up
,

a few hundred doll ars to become an independent farmer fi rst ,

on rented land an d afterwards on land of his own A l ready .

,

however a change is becoming perceptible an d the numbe r of

, ,

tenant farmers is increasing in comparison with farm owners .

This is a natural result of the rise in the price of lan d w hich ,

followed the exhaustion of the supply of public land an d the

increase in the population A s the price of land becomes
.

higher and higher it will become more an d more diflicult for the
man who starts with nothing but his hands to become a farmer .
 S K ETC H O F M O D ER N AGRI C ULT UR E 1 1
5

This is a Situation which contains possibilities of evil in the

form of separating our rural population into two groups the ,

landowners an d the l andless S uch a separation of classes has

.

never failed in the history of the world to breed j ealousies and

animosities .It is not improbable that immigration if the tide ,
‘

Should again turn toward the countr instead of toward the city
y ,

will still further accentuate the evil by pl acing in the country

districts a l andless class by reducing wages through the in
,

crease in the number of l aborers an d by m aking it therefore

,

still more di ffi cult for the l andless m an to become a l andowner .

Agricultural education Contemporaneously with the in

.

creased activity of the experiment stations there has developed ,

an increase d appreciation of the value of agricultu ral education .

A certain humorist has said that agriculture has tended to be

come a sedentary occupation This of course is an e xagge ra
.
, ,

tion but it is not too much to say that it is becoming a learned

,

p rofession. To be a scienti fi c farm er requires a n educati on com

parable in breadth and thoroughness with that of the engineer or

the physician an d probably much more th orough than th at of
,

the lawyer or the preacher M oreover the enlarged use of

.
,

machinery has freed the farmer an d his family from a great deal
of the drudgery an d severe muscular labor to which they were
subj ect at a ti me so recent as to be well remembered by many
farmers now living The transference from the farm to the
.

creamery and cheese factory of the labor of manufacturing prod

ucts of the dairy has e ffected a revolution of the work within the

farm househol d an d has so lightened farm work th at there

,

is little except the isolation of farm life to hinder the enjoyment

o f a cul ture and re fi nement equal to that of the business an d
p rofession al cl asses of the cities In very recent
. ye ars this

isolation is being remedied by a variety of factors chief among ,

w hich is the rural telephone Rural free delivery of m ails the

.
,

irnp rove me nts of roads and in the case of the more prosperous
, ,
I I6 P R IN C IP LES O F R URAL EC O N O M ICS

farm s, the anto mofi le ,

are al
so he l
p mg m
to i prove m
e 0p por

m
tr itie s for soc ial l
ife in the o mmm '

.
"
Iron sl
n rpe n e th iro n ;
man cmmtemmc e his frimd
"
so a s harpe n e th the of . Thus the

cn h on of minds is a sti mulus to memal activity . the

opportun ities for soc ialinte rcourse in the coun tr

y app roxi mating

ture and re fi n e
era of cul me nt in the cor tn m . lpre ve nt
This wil
the increas ing wml
th of the fan nin g cl
ass fro m be ing wa ste d in

econo mv to feed good co rn and hay to scmb stock, it is stil

l
poorer e con omv to fee d goo d bre ad and me at to scrub men and

wome n , that is , to me n and wo me n with no e duca tio n an d with

no idea l
s be yon d the a
s tisfaction of their ani alinstin cts m .
1 18 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

the mine de pe nds mainly upon the de pth an d ric hness of the
depos it rather than up on the sup e rfi c ial area In agric ulture .
,

howev er no matter how dee p the so ilor how rich the de posit
,

of p l
a n t food in a g iven area may be , there is a imit to the
l
numbe r of plan ts which can grow on that area and th erefore ,

the product of that area does n ot de pe n d excl usive ly upon the

dep th an d richn ess of the deposit ; it dep e nds quite as much upon
the size of the area quite as much upon the room wh ich it
,
—

affords to the pl ants as upo n the food which it provides for th em .

A so ilof imm ea surable depth an d richness wil l produce only

a very l imited crop of wheat pe r acre sa y a h un dre d bushels
, ,

but a mineral depos it of immea sura ble depth an d riches w ould

yield a quan tity of min eralper acre limited only by th e n umber
of labo rers an d machin e s that c ould fin d room to work E ven .

if the greatest conceivable skill were applied to the cultivatio n

of the so il it would stillta ke vast areas of lan d to produce w h eat
,

enough to supply any modern natio n with bread A S imilar .

statement would hold true of any of the other great farm crops .

That is why the question of l and is of such vital import a n ce to

every agriculturalnation .

Law of diminishmg returns E ven ass uming it to be p oss ible

.

to m ak e one acre produce a hundred bus hel s of wheat it by no ,

mea ns follows th at it would be economical to try to do so In .

fact it most certainly would not be eco nomical for the reason
, ,

that it would require such a quantity of labo r an d w e in the prep

aration of the so il in the se lectio n of the seed and in the n urture
, ,

of the pl ants as to am ount to a gr eat waste of time an d en e r

, gy ,

a waste so great as to overbalance the eco n o my of land It would .

require much less labor to produce a hundred bushels on two

acres than on one probably less on three acres than on on e an d
, ,

quite poss ibly less on four than on one This bein g the ease .
,

each farmer w ill fi n d it to his advantage to spread his cultivation

over more acres rather than to try to make each acre p roduce
 FACT OR S O F AGRI C UL TURAL P RO DU C T IO N 1 19

al
l that is physically possible Where each and every farmer .

finds it to his advantage to spread out in this way it follows that ,

the agricultural nation as a whole spreads out over a wider an d

wider area as it increas es in population so long as there is mo re ,

land to be had It is only under stress of necessity of Sheer

.
,

searc ity of lan d that it begins to economize land by more in

,

tensive cultivation that is by putting more labor on each

, ,

acre in the attempt to make it produce a larger crop When .

this nec essity arises it will be very diflicult for any nation to
p revent its growing popul ation from migr a ting to other coun
tries provided there are other countries where land is still
,

1
abundant .

The striking difference between agricul ture an d the urban

industries with respect to their demands upon land may be
, ,

s een by considering th at it will require from to

a cres to produce bushels of wheat whereas one acre ,

w ill suffice for grinding it into flour an d a very few acres for ,

b aking it into bread While l and is of course essential to an

.
, ,

u rban industry the dem and for land surface is so trifling as to

,

b e treated as a negligible factor A ccessibility to m arkets and .

c ertain public oppo rtunities an d not mere surface is the essen , ,

t ial thing in a city business an d it is this accessibility which ,

g ive s such am azing v alue to certa in urban S ites .

An agricul
tural vs . a manufacturing and commercial policy .

U pon this particular di fference between agriculture an d the urban

in dustries is based the broadest of all differences in national
p o licy that between a commercial or manufacturing policy
,

o n the one hand an d an agricul tural policy on the other

,
U ntil .

al l the land of the country is occupied by factories stores an d , ,

1 The state of I owa fu n i h

r s e s a stri ki g n e xa mpl e of this . T h ough it is th e
ric hest a ric u tura
g l l state in th e U n ion in p op o ti n t it r r o o s are a, an d o n e of th e
ric hest a ric u tura
g l l are as in the w l d y e t it i l o in g
or s s p o p u ation l th ro ug h
migration to oth er a e as whe
,

e r re l
an d is more b d
a un an t.
1 20 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

dwellings there is no geographic limit to the quantity which a

,

country can manufacture G iven only raw materials there is.

,
’
never any question therefore of the nation s ability to m anu
, ,

facture everything it needs no matter how populous it may ,

become For every additional man to be supplied with man ufac

.

ture d products there is always the same man who may be put
to work manufacturing them provided he ean get the raw ma ,

te rials There is never in the nation at large any l ack of room

.

for him to work For every man who is to be supplied with

'

beef an d bread there is also it may be said the same man who , ,

may be put to work growing cattle and wheat But this takes .

room l and superfi cial area and if the countr become

, , y s ,

su ffi ciently populous there may not be room enough for this

,

kind of work Leaving raw materials out of account almo st any

.
,

conceivable population could manufacture clothing enough for

itself but only a limited population can grow wool an d cotton
,

enough within its own territory This is for no other r eason .

than that manufactures require little lan d an d agriculture much ,

land in proportion to the labor employed an d the product

,

obtained .

Dependence of manufacturers upon mark ets This pos s ibil ity .

of producing indefi nitely in the urban industries is wh at has

made a commercial and manufacturing policy so alluring to
statesmen in modern times I f raw materials can be obtained .
,

and if outs ide markets can be secured for the fi nished p roduct s ,

there is no conceivable l imit to the population which ean be

supported by manufacturing or to the wealth of that p opu ,

lation A nation can manufacture not only enough for its own
.

use but inde fi nitely more p rov ide d it can buy raw materials
, ,

an d sell its fi nished products In other words the o nly con .

,

ce ivabl e limits to the popul ation an d wealth of a m an ufacturing

country are those fi xed by the available supply of its raw ma

terial s an d the outside m arkets for its m anufactured r ducts
p o .
1 22 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

economy we S hall fi n d that within the narrow area of a city

, , ,

the question of land s ometimes seems to limit the amount

which the city can produce even in the way of m anufacturing , .

If the population will spread to new areas in the suburbs there ,

need be n o scarcity of land But men within the city area .

,

moved by city pride sometimes feel a profound interest in the

,

building up of industry an d wealth within the city limits and ,

are not satis fi ed with the mere fact of the growth of wealth

in the country as a whole I n such cases they fi nd of course

.
, ,

that the scarcity of land within those limits is a serious hin

dram ce to further devel opment But from a national standpoint .

this is not a problem worth considering .

A s agriculture advances from the self suflic in g to the com -

me rcialstage that is from the stage where the farm produces

, ,

most of the things consumed by the farmer an d his family to a

stage where most of the products of the farm are sold an d
most of the things to be consumed are bought with the p ro
c ee ds — the question of markets for agricultural produce is a
,

matter of growing importance ; but it never rises to the im

p ortance that it always has for manufacturing populations nor ,

does it ever compare in this respect with the question of land

for a growing agricultural population .

Dependen ce of agricul 1
ture up on land N o matter how exten .

sive the markets for agricultural produce may be an d no matter ,

how numerous agricultural workers may be there is a limit to ,

the quantity which can be produced within a given area W hen .

the farms have become contiguous an d allthe best land in the ,

given territory has been put to some agricul tural use the only ,

possibility of increasing the total product necessary to susta i n the

1
By c ourte sy th e C arn e g ie I n stitution th e auth or is p e r itte d to us e , in
of m
th e f ll
o ow in g p ag e s , s o m
e of th e m l
ate ria w hic h was writte n for th e A ric ul
g
tural Hi t ys or of th e U n it d
e S tate s , w h ic h is b e in g p p
re are d un de r th e dire ction
of th at in stitution .
 FACT OR S O F A GRI C ULT URAL P RO DU CT IO N 123

in creasing population is by cultivating the best land more inte n

sive l or S prea d ing the cultivation over the inferior l and In order
y .

to avoid either necessity both of which mean a smaller per capita

,

product o r a larger expenditure of labor an d capital per unit of

product men have consistently an d persistently sought ne w terri
,

tories j ust as manufacturing peoples have sought new m arkets

, .

For a manufacturing pop ulation a lack of markets is some

times called overproduction an d this condition is for them ,

what famine or underproduction is for a purely agricultural

peo ple The actu al work of manufacturing not being directl
.
y
affected by wet or dry weather by backward seasons untimely , ,

frosts an d other climatic conditions a manufacturing p opulation

, ,

is n ever threatened by underproduction in its own special work .

It may however be damaged by underproduction of its raw

, ,

materials as in the case of the English factories during the

,

cotton famine of the A merican Civil W ar ; but that is a case of

a contr a cting m arket for a market is a pl ace where materials

,

are bought as wel l as sold A gain a manufacturing population

.
,

may be affected by a crop failure or some other form of under

production among its customers as a result of which these cus ,

tome rs are unable to buy the m anufactured products ; but this

al so is a question of markets I n almost every imaginable case .

where underproduction is found to affect a manufacturing popu

lation it wil
,
lbe found to affect it through its m arkets rather
than through its own power of production ; that is it will be ,

foun d to be diflicult either to buy raw material or to sell fi n

is h e d products S uch a thing as inability to produce enough of
.

its own pe cul iar products or such a thing as underproduction

,

in its own industries is never considered as a real danger

,
.

O verproduction or a lack of markets for its fi nished prod

,

ucts is however a real danger for eve ry growing m anufacturing

, , ,

p p
o ulation C ontinued
. overproduction forces up o n such a p p
o u

latio n one of two alternatives the conquest of n e w markets or ,

1 24 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I CS

the reduction of its numbers N ew m arkets may be conquered

by wise diplomacy by careful advertising or by war The first
, , .

two methods failing few nations have had the grace to refrain
,

from war where they thought there was a chance of success in

winning wider m arkets A l lthree methods failing the manufac
.
,

turing population must be reduced by starvation or emigration .

In this S ituation we have the key to the understanding of the

commercial policies of the m anufacturing andcommercialnations .

For a growing agricultural population however there is a , ,

real danger of underp roduction Unless the arts of agricul .

tural production improve with the increase of population a ,

growing agricultu ral population in a given territory will e ven

tual l me an a smal ler per c apita production E ach worker will
y .

eventually have so little land at his disposalas to cut down his

total product even though he does get a somewhat larger p rod
,

uet per acre Failure to o ffset the disadvantage of scarce l

. an d

by agricultural improvements means for such a popul ation , ,

continued underproduction which forces upon it the nec e ssity

,

of getting more l and or of reducing its numbers Getting more .

land re quires either wise diplomacy as was practiced whe n l an d

,

was purchased or acquired by treaty from the A meriean I n dian s ,

or it requires a war of conquest Reducing the numbers of an .

agricultural population means migration to ne w lands or to the

cities where it is transformed into a manufacturing minin g

, , ,

or commercial population which in turn requires expan ding

,

markets To sum up a growing agricultural population on a

.
,

given area of land must choose at least one of four things ,

an d there is no other choice In the fi rst place it may im

.
,

prove the arts of production by new discoveries in the sc ience

of agriculture I n the second place it may acquire new l
. and ,

either peacefully or by war In the third pl ace it m

. ay re duce ,

its population by migration either to new l an ds or to m anu

facturing mining or commercial centers In the fourth pl

, , ace .
,
1 26 P RI N C I P L E S O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

Ruralmigrations This differe nce

are tow ard ab undant l
and .

in the character of the two forms of migration is due mainly to

the difference in the factors upon which the prosperity of the
two classes of popul ation depends A s we h ave just seen agri.
,

culture is m ainly dependent upon land and urban industries ,

upon markets Therefore rural people engaged in agriculture

.

tend to move to th ose places where land is abundant while ,

urban people move to those places where markets are wide .

Abundance of l and an d sparseness of p opulation usually mean

the same thing ; but for some reason which has never been
,

satisfactorily explained the l arger the city the more trade it

,

seems to attract H owever both these propositions need careful

.
,

qualifi cation .

The proposition that rural people tend to move from the

more densely to the less densely populated areas needs to be
qualifi ed by assuming that the soil is equally fertile the climate ,

equally attractive an d the government equally free and j ust in

, ,

the di fferent areas If the soil is infertile the climate unattrac

.
,

tive or the government despotic in the sparsely populated area

, , ,

the migration to that area will be discouraged and may be turn ed ,

in the opposite direction But within the temperate zone an d

.
,

within such areas as possess abundant rainfall or suflicie nt water

for irrigation purposes and where the land is controlled by
,

liberal and progressive governments there is not the slightest ,

doubt th at the general movement of rural people has been an d

still is from densely to sparsely populated regions or from ,

regions where l and is rel atively scarce to regions where it is

relatively abundant .

A gain the grower of an agricul tural spec ialty is almo st as

,

much in need of a market as is a manufacturer In order to .

succeed in this form of agriculture he must l o cate where there is

a m arket which will usu ally be best where popul ation is de ns
,

est Therefore he will as a rule leave the sparsely popu l

.
, ,ated
 FACTOR S O F AGRI C ULTURAL P RO D U CTIO N 1 27

a ea an d
r loeate in or near a densely populated area This is .

in harmony with the general principle that those whose success

depends mainly on land tend to scatter and those whose suc ,

ces s depends mainly upon markets tend to concentrate But .

it is only in the case of agricultural specialties that success

depends mainly upon markets The growing of agricultural .

special ties however forms a very small and insign ifi cant part
, ,

of the total agricultu ral production otherwise they would not be

,

spec ial ties The tendency of growers of these specialties to

.

concentrate does not o ffset the l arger tendency of the growers

of the great staple crops to scatter .

Urban m igrations are tow ard wider mark ets The propo .

sition that the migrations of urban popul ations are uniformly

from les s densely to more densely populated areas needs seve ral
q u alifi ca tions In the.fi rs t pl ace a s pointed ,
out before the tend ,

ency is real ly to move to those places where markets are ex

p a nding most rapidly Wherever. it h appens th at m arkets are

expan ding more rapidly in sm all than in l arge towns an d cities ,

the movement will be toward the small pl aces But Speaking .

,

generally the tendency is the other way The larger the city
, .
,

the more rapidly its trade area seems to grow I n common lan .

g u a ge the
,
l arge city seems to dr a w trade Trade attracts .

”
trade is another way of putting it When a certain city comes
, .

to be known as a place where a certain article can always

be bought in considerable quantity an d variety buyers natu ,

ral ly tend to go to th at city When a new manufacturer or

.
,

would be manufacturer is lo oking for a pl ace to locate his fac

-

tory he in turn tends to locate at that pl ace where buyers are

,

ac custom ed to go This again draws more buyers and these

.
, , , ,

again attract more producers

,
Thus a trade or manufacturing
.

ce nte r seems to grow by what it feeds upon .

A gain as such a center of trade an d manufacturing increases

,

in S iz e there grows up an intense competition for the central sites

,
1 28 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I C S

or locations Such high prices or ground rents are paid for space
.

in these centers that many enterprises are forced to locate at a

distance from the center in order to avoid the tremendous ex
pense of a central l ocation T hus a recessive tendency S h ows
.

itself a countermovement away from the more densely pop

,

ulate d areas toward the suburbs But the fact that there is such
.

severe competition for the central l ocations when the advantages ,

for physical production are n o greater but where the oppo rtuni ,

ties are better for selling the products or buying the raw mate
rials shows how thoroughly urban industries an d urban peoples
,

are domin ated by the question of markets an d how they therefore ,

tend to concentrate themselves in more and more densely pop

ulate d centers Even the dispersive tendency noted above is
.

us ually not strong enough to o ffset the tendency of l arge c ities

to grow more rapidly than small cities and towns .

A gain there are sometimes marked physical advantages like

, ,

mines water power building materials etc which expl

, ,
ai n the , .
,

location of a city These physical advantages may be of limited

.

extent or quantity When the city has grown to the limit set by
.

the natural physical advantage there is sometimes a tendency

,

for the increasing or surplus population to move to a new l oca

tion where new and unused physical advantages are to be found .

Thus new an d small towns sometimes actually grow at the ex

pense of the older an d larger ones T his is particularly the .

case when new mines are opened but it sometimes follows the ,

development of a new source of power such as water pow er , .

These are alm ost the only cases where the movement of urban
populations is n ot determined by a search for markets B e ing .

determined by a search for natural resources which might be in ,

cluded in a defi nition of land this movement resembles the move

,

ment of rural populations which is determined by the S earch

,

for land But cities of this type are exceptions to the gen e ral
.

rule and do not themselves represent the general tende nc f

y o
1 0 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
3

mainly by the arts of destruction but rather by their superior ,

mastery of the arts of production A weak race on the other

m
.
,

hand is not unifo

,
successful when its members come in
contact with outlying peoples A S a consequence its numbers
.

incline to pile up in the h ome country where they are protected ,

by their own political an d legal institutions against the equal

competition of outside peoples But as a result of this p iling
.

up of the population serious socialand political problems arise .

The surplus population instead of moving out an d colo n izing

,

th ose sections of the earth where lands and opportunities for

achievement are abund ant congregate in the centers of popu
,

lation and clamor for a sh are of the wealth which has been
accumul ated When that becomes the characteristic attitude of
.

the m ass of the people national decay has set in A rti fi cial
, .

colon ization or the preaching of a gospel of enterprise will do

little good when the national pionee rin g spirit has decayed and
the quality of the race has deteriorated .

II . W AY S OF E CO N O M IZ IN G LAN D

Importance s
of th e For a country which is too far
q e tion
u .

advanced in civiliz ation to be willing to acquire new lands by

military conquest an d so S ituated as not to be able to acquire

,

them in any other way the question of questions is that of

,

economizing the land which it already has Foreign markets .

are limited an d their possession is always more or less un c e r

,

tain ; therefore it is haz ardous for any country to neglect its

material resources and attempt to maintain an increasing p opu
lation by manufacturing and commerce alone A s shown in .

the preceding ch apter these methods of maintaining a grow

,

ing popul ation depend upon foreign markets and the stress ,

of international competiti on for the control of markets is al

ways severe In this competition those nations willhave the
,
 FACTOR S O F AGRI C ULT URAL P RO D U C TIO N 1 3 1

d ntage which have economized their natural resources and

a va

developed their primary industries to the greatest degree .

This is not to be construed into an argument against foreign

trade or in favor of nationalisolation There are two situations .

under which a nation may thrive for a time at least by foreign

, ,

trade The fi rst situation is that where the nation buys its raw
.

material from abroad manufactures it into fi nished products

, ,

and sells these again in foreign m arkets maintaining itself on ,

the pro fi ts of the transaction This as was shown in preceding

.
,

p ages is an ,
exceedingly attr active method wherever it is pos
sible or wherever foreign markets are su ffi ciently wide because
, ,

there is no physical limit to the wealth of such a country,or to

the population which it can support A nation whose pOpula .

tion is increasing and which tries to maintain this increase in

,

numbers by m anufacturing an d c ommerce al one without devel ,

Oping its own natural resources will fi n d its elf approaching this
,

condition But this is a dangerous S ituation Saying nothing of

. .

the possibility of wars an d other disturbances which may cut off

the supply of raw material or close markets to the fi nished prod
ucts there still remain such things as tari ff barriers embargoes
, , ,

an d other hostile acts of legisl ation which m ay h ave the same

results A gain this is a situation which obviously could not

.
,

po ssibly be maintained by any considerable number of n ations ,

because there would be no forei gn m arkets of suffi cient siz e left

‘
.

Even a single nation could fl ourish under t his S ituation only so

l ong as there were undeveloped nations n ot yet in a position to
man ufacture for themselves unless it happened to possess very
,

e xce ptional advantages such as water power or coal fi elds far

, ,

s uperior to those of any of its rivals .

The second situation under which a n ation may thrive by

fore ign trade is one wherein it e xch anges the products of its
own l and either raw or in a fi ni shed state for wh ose produc
, ,

tion its l an d is especially fi tted for the products of other lands

, ,
1 3 2 P RI NCI P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I CS

either raw or fi nished for whose production its own l

, and is not

so well fi tted Under this situation the wealth and population

.

which the country can maintain are it is true limited by the , ,

amount which it ca n produce from its l and ; but this is a much

safer situation than the one described above H ow much such .

a country will h ave either for consumption or for exch ange will
, ,

depend upon how well it has economized its natu ral resources .

In most countries especially in the United States the soil

, ,

itself is by far the greatest physical resource The products of .

the soil exceed in value many times over those of the mines
an d the fi sheries and m any more people are supported by agri
,

culture than by all these other extractive industries A gain .

,

whereas the working of the mines tends necessarily to exhaust

them no such condition exists in the case of agriculture P rop
, .

erly treated the soil may continue producing its wealth and m ain
,

taining its population over inde fi nite periods of time Therefore .

we see why it is that the question of economizing the land is of

such transcendent importance to every growing country Le t us .

consider then the methods by which the land of a country ean

, ,

be economized and made to support a growing popul ation .

a . Too ston y
1 B ad p h ysical co n ditions 6 . Too we t
c . Too dry

CAUSE S OF a Too much acid

B ad c he mica l ditions
.

2
W ASTE LA N D
c on
T oo much al k ali
.

6 .

B ad taxation

{
a .

3 B ad socralc on drtron s
much
.

b T oo
. 3 l
ation

Causes of w aste l
If allthe land of a country were o nce
and .

brought under cultivation there would then be no way of econ o

,

miz ing it except by m aking each acre produce more But this .

is a condition which has probably never been reached in any

1 34 P RI NC I P L ES O F RU RAL EC O NO M I C S

Of the land which is now going to waste because of its rocky

condition much of it is so exceedingly rocky as to make it for
,

ever useless as pl owl and or even for pasture It would cost so .

much to clear it of stones that one could never hope to secure

su ffi cient returns to repay the cost Such land however need
.
, ,

not go to waste It is our natural forest l and With the growth

. .

of popul ation the demand for timber continues to increase an d ,

with the clearing of the v irgin forests the supply continues to

diminish The time is not far distant when the products of the
.

forest will be in such demand as to make even the rockiest of

N e w Engl and hills valuable provided they h ave been allowed to
,

grow up to trees .

This does n ot mean that these rocky hills are better for trees
than the more level an d tillable lands of the valleys an d plains .

But these other lands can be used for the growing of fi eld and
garden crops whereas the rocky hills cannot It is a wise
,
.

economy therefore to devote these b ills to the one purpose

, ,

for which they are suited reserving the tillable l ands for other
,

purposes Besides the timber these rocky an d semimountainous

.
,

lands are of some value as deer parks and game preserves The .

supply of venison an d other game which such lands will furnish ,

while of small value in comparison with the products of rich

pastures devoted to the growing of domestic animals is not a ,

matter to be de spised especially when we consider that it pro

,

duces itself without cost in the way of labor or care .

O n e di ffi culty in the way of the full utilization of l and of

this description for purposes of forestry is the slown ess with
which returns come in It takes at least thirty years more fre
.
,

quently fi fty years for a tree to grow to a usable size S o long

, .

a period of waiting is un attractive to the average individual ,

partly because of the limited span of hu man life and partly

be cause of the Sh ortness of human foresight A nother di ffi cul ty .

lies in the fact that the work of reforesting the rocky l ands to ,
 FACTOR S O F AGRI C ULTURAL P RO DU CT IO N I 35

be effec tive must be carried out on a considerable scale This

, .

seems to call n aturally for state an d govern m ent enterprise .

Since governments do not need to c ount on a n atural death they ,

need not be deterred by the long period of waiting involved in

forestry A half cen tury or even a century is not too long for
.
, ,

a government to wait for returns provided they are desirable , .

O n this point we need not be deterred by any absurd n otions

as to the propriety of a government undertaking work of this

kind There are people who believe that private enterprise is

.
,

p e r s e better
,
th an public an d others who believe th at public
,

enterprise is p er s e superior to private Both views are equally

, , .

irrational and equally based upon blind prej udice T he S imple .

truth of the m atter is that some enterprises are carried out very
much more effectively under private initiative an d management
than under public and there are others which are carried out
,

very much more effectively under public initiative an d manage

ment while there are still others which thrive about equally well
,

under either it being impossible to Show conclusively which

,

is the better The reforesting of rocky an d semimountainous

.

l an ds seems to succeed better under public than private m an

age m e n t though there are m any excellently m anaged private

,

forests A t any rate wherever private management does not

.
,

Show a disposition to enter upon the work of reforesting these

waste lands it is obviously better that the state Should do it

,

than that it Should not be done at all an d the land be thus

allowed to lie idle .

To be sure even while these l ands are apparently lying idle

,

the forest is frequently reasserting its elf an d taking p ossession

of them Sometimes this results in the growth of valuable tim
.

be r an d sometimes in the growth of inferior kinds of trees

, ,

the weeds of the forest growth A little intelligent direction .

“
weeds an d
”
at th e proper time would save the land from these

g iv e it over to v aluable timber .

1 6 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
3

Conside rable portions of the rocky land of this country ean

be profitably utiliz ed for pasturage This is particularly true.

where these lands are conti guous to or near other lands suitable
for the growing of winter forage I n this respect the roc ky and
.

semimountainous lands of the West an d S outh are well situated ,

but those of N e w England are at some disadvantage G ood .

tillable land in N ew Engl and can be u til ized to such advantage

for the growing of vegetables and the production of milk that it

is usually relatively unpro fitable to utiliz e it for the growing of
winter forage Even where the land is smooth enough to make
.

the growing of hay an economic possibility it is usually found

so pro fitable to sell the bay to the city buyers that the farmer
fi nds it relatively unpro fitable to feed it to animals M uch ex .

ce lle nt p asture l and among the N e w Engl and hills is thus

all owed to go to waste or to grow up to brush and timber simply ,

because no economical method has been found for brin gin g the
anim als through the long winter H owever in almost every
.
,

part of the world where the cattle industry has had a consider
able devel opment it has been found pro fitable to drive or trans

port the cattle considerable distances from summer to winter

pasture or from pasture to feed lot In the mountainous part of
, .

Europe ; for example cattle are driven in considerable numbers

,

up to the hills and mountains for summer pasture and back to ,

the valleys to be wintered on the products of the fertile farms .

With the growing scarcity of meat it will be found more and

more pro fitable to utilize the rocky pastures of the A tl antic

states in a similar way .

Even pasturage however is a less economicaluse of l

, , and than

tillage wherever tillage is possible in the sense that a larger food

, ,

supply per acre is secured by tillage than by pasturage It is .

only where the land is unsuitable for tillage or where the pop ,

ul ation is so sparse that a l arge product per acre is a m atter of

little importance that it becomes economicalto utilize land as

,
1 38 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

H ere g in seems to be a fi eld for public enterprise Though

a a .

much of the clearing has been done by private enterprise an d ,

much more will doubtless be done in the future the public can ,

materially increase the till able area especially in those states where
,

political conditions are such as to forbid the employment of con

victs in profitable labor The argument used against convict
.

labor is that it competes with free l abor and tends to reduce the
opportunity for its employment Whether this argument be
.

sound or not as a m atter of fact it is not

,
it could not pos ,

sibl apply as against the empl oyment of convicts in the clea rin g
y
of land which w ould otherwise not be cleared at al l This employ .

ment of convicts would not compete with free labor for the reason ,

that no free labor is employed in work of that kind A gain the .

,

clearing of such land and preparing it for cultivation would

create new opportunities for the profi table employment of labor ;
that is there would then be a little more land to be cultivated
, ,

an d this would require a little more l abor M oreover it would .

,

increase the food supply of the laboring class in gene ral .

A gain only the l and m ost easily cleared of stones will ordi
,

n aril b e cleared by private enterprise because of the len gth of

y ,

time which is necessary to wait for returns Unless the private .

individual can get back the amount of outlay in twenty or th irty

years he is reluctant to undertake it Yet a piece of land once
,
.

thoroughly cleared of stones an d properly treated thereafter will

, ,

continue producing crops for centuries A n organization which .

is long lived and capable of l ooking into the future more than
-

thirty or fi fty years might profitably undertake a work which

would seem unattractive to a short lived individual A side -
.

from the employment of convict l abor therefore there are rea

, ,

sons why the public that is the state ,

might wisely un der
take the clearing of a ce rtain amount of land which is too
unpromising to attract private enterprise especially when lan d ,

be gins to become scarce as a result of increasing popu l ation .

 FACTOR S O F AGRI CULT URAL P RO D U CT IO N 1 39

Wet land M ore . t tive however is the problem of deal

at rac , ,

in g with that class of waste land which is described as too wet .

There are several factors in this problem which mak e it pe cul

iarl y interesting to constructive minds In the fi rst pl ace such .
,

lands are al ways low lying where they have received for ages
-

the washings from the higher lands surrounding them Con .

sequently the soil is remarkably fertile after it is once drained

and reduced to cultivation I n the second place the abundance
.
,

of water secures the cultivator against drought When rainfall .

is insu ffi cient for the higher lands these low lands can be sure,

of su ffi cient moisture by the simple process of stopping the

drains or checking the rate at which surplus water is being

,

drawn off In the third pl ace the conquest of these lands is an

.
,

engineering problem pure and Simple and the success of the ,

enterprise does not depend upon the uncertainties of the weather ,

the amount of rainfall and S imilar problems which frequently

,

affect the succe ss of i rrigation enterprises Finally the conquest .

,
.

of such lands does more th an to increase the area of productive

land
. It removes menaces to health because these low lying ,
-

swampy areas are sources of disease and furnish breeding places

'
for mosquitoes which are the bearers of disease germs It re
, .

moves h indrances to travel and transportation because next to , ,

mountains these great swamps are the most serious obstacles

,

in the way of the road builders .

Along the A tlantic seabo ard from M aine to Fl orida but most ,

especial ly from Virginia to Florida besides portions of the

,

Gul f coast considerable areas around the G reat Lakes an d

, ,

other seatte re d sections there are vast swampy areas which are
,

capabl e of reclam ation if the work is undertaken on a compre

hensive scal e an d carried out in a scientifi c manner It is esti .

mated that along the A tlantic coast alone there are

acres of these swamps n ow of little or no use
,
They produce .

som e timber it is true but they are menaces to health and

, ,
1 40 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I C S

obstacles to transportation and it is diffi cult to tell whether they

,

produce enough timber to compen sate for these disadvantage s ,

that is to say whether they are not worse than useless D rained
,
.

an d reduced to cultivation they would support a popul ,

ation at

least twice as large as that of the U nited S tates at the time of

the adoption of the Constitution A llowing 4 0 acres to a family.

,

acres would support families A llowing .

5 persons to a f amily this would m ake

,
a po p ulation of
000 . S eeing that such lands would be very productive and ,

that most of them would be very accessible to the great centers

of population 4 0 acres to the family does not se em too small
,

an al lotment .

A n undertaking of this magnitude can scarcely be carried

out advantageously by private enterprise To be done e ffi ciently .

it must be done on a large an d comprehensive scale with no ,

regard for private or even state boundaries ; that is to say the ,

draining of a great swamp must be undertaken as a systematic

whole or as a Single great e nte rprrse rather than piec em ealas ,

a multitude of individual enterprises with endless duplica tions , ,

conflicting interests an d other forms of wasted energy This

, .

points clearly to the federal government in coOperation with ,

the state governments as the proper authority for the carry ing
,

out of so vast an undertaking The possibilities which such an .

undertaking promises the great increase in national wealth which

,

would result and the vast popul ation which could be supported
,

on that wealth ought to appeal to any constructive statesman

,

with a vision of empire The cost of such an undertaking would

.
,

of course be enormous It would be diflicult to estimate how

, .

great but it is said to be no greater than that of ten fi rst class

,
-

battleships ; an d we Should then have the land to S how for our

expenditure .

Th e exam ple of H ollan d The experience of H ol.l

a n d may
se rve as an e ample of this kind of enterprise
x A s is we ll .
142 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I CS

A msterdam an d Leyden ,
their streets having been flooded by its
waters in times of storm Taking allthese th ings into consider
.

ation it has proved a profi table an d wealth producing enterprise

,
-
.

T he d raining of the H a rlem Lake it must be remembered , ,

was more of an undertaking at that day than it would be n ow .

A gain it was a greater unde rtaking to d rain a body of water of

,

such depth without suffi cient fall to make a naturaloutlet than

, ,

it would be to drain a swamp of similar Size not covered with

such a depth of water and lying high enough to require very
,

little pumping to carry the water away .

Dry l and The subj ect of the reclamation of dry l ands has
.

received more public attention in this country than th at of re :

claiming either stony or wet lands This is probably because .

there is a much greater area of land going to waste because it

is too dry than for both the other reasons combined The two .

leading methods of dealing with this problem are irrigation and

dry farming .

Irrigation H istorically the fi rst of these methods to receive

.
,

public attention in this country was irrigation Irrigation enter .

prises have been carried on in some form S ince the earliest

settlement in the Far West In fact in various place s there
.
,

are found remains which S how th at this art was p racticed long

before the white man ever set foot upon this continent T he .

early S panish missionaries who made their way from M exico

into what is now the southwestern portion of the United S tates ,

also constructed irrigation works on a small scale around their

missions But the fi rst dev el opment of irrigation on a com

.

prehensive scale was by English speaking settlers n amely the

-

M ormons immediately after the founding of their colony on

,

the G reat S alt Lake in 1 8 4 9 .

H aving settled in a l and which was to al lappearances a , ,

desert an d being forced to extract a living from their un

,

promising surroundings they set to work with a vigor and

,
 FACTOR S O F AGRI CULTURAL P RO D U CTIO N 143

an intelligence which has seldom been equaled They saw that .

the one thing which the soil of the valley lacked was water ,

and that water was to be had in the m ou n tain streams ; there

fore the obvious thing to do was to divert that water to the soil
instead of allowing it to run to waste A ccordingly canals an d
.
,

ditches were dug the water was utilized and the barren land was
, ,

made into a fruitful garden The M ormon community is to day

.
-

one of the most prosperous in the U nited S tates an d that pros ,

p e ri ty is based prim a rily on the i rrigation ditch M e anwhile .

there were numerous scattered irrigation systems developed on a

smallscale by individual settlers on the banks of streams N at .

ural ly this method wa s applicable only where the w ater w a s easily

diverted and little outlay was needed .

The second attempt at irrigation on a comprehensive scale

was at G reeley Colorado
, .H ere the cooperative principle was
applied as it had been in Utah though it was not as it had
, ,

been there based upon a common religious belief an d obedie nce

,

to a common authority . That this community was unusually

intelligent an d progressive is Shown not only by its irrigation
works but by its magnifi cent sch ool its lyceum an d other build
, , ,

ings designed to foster its intellectual and social life T he most .

scientifi c methods of i rrigation an d cultivati on were ad opted ,

and the community prospered an d became the example for other

colonies both in Col orado an d California .

Later a new method of irrigation was ad opted in California .

The spirit of speculation in which California was born soon

fastened itself upon irrigation as it had done in the case of
,

mining an d ran a mad race through southern California Irri

,
.

gation in this state became corporate an d S peculativ e Where .

Utah and Colorado had depended only upon their h ands an d

teams for the building of irrigation works California issued ,

Stocks an d bonds an d so mortgaged its future

,
M e n began .

to dream of a new race of millionaires created by making

,
1 44 P RI N CI P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I C S

merchandise of the melting snows by selling rights to the ,

rentin g of water an d by collecting toll from a new cl

, ass of
1 ’
society to be known as water tenants .

A s individual settlers were able to construct their own in

rigation works only where very little outlay was necessary so ,

was the coOperative principle adaptable only where it was pos

sible for a group of settlers by their own l abor to construct, ,

the works I n order that the available water supply might be

.

developed to its full capacity and applied in the most economic

manner it became necessary in some cases at least to plan
, , ,

the works on a comprehensiv e scale requiring an expenditure ,

of capital beyond the reach of coOpe rative colonies Therefore .

the corpo ration method came into play It was capable of .

undertaking proj ects l arger than the cooperativ e an d vastly ,

larger than the individual plan could earry out A ccordingly .

,

when the opportunities for diverting water cheaply had been

utilized by private individ uals and by cooperative organizations ,

an d before the federal or the state governments had awakened

to the necessities of the case all the larger and costlier irri ,

g ation works were built by co rpo rations S ome magni fi cent .

works were built during this period involving a vast outlay of ,

capital an d engineering feats of a very high order .

While some of these undertaki n gs turned out to be fi nancial

successes many of them proved ruinous failures A fter the
,
.

works were constructed an d the water was made available for

irrigation it was fou n d in several cases impossible to pay even
,

the running expenses from the receipts to say nothing of pay ,

ing back the original e xpenditure A ccordingly many of thes e .

,

companies failed an d in some cas es the entire property was

,

sold for one tenth of what its construction had cost In many .

1 F ro m R is e an d Futu re of I rrig ation in th e U nite d State s by E lw od ,

”
o

Me a d
, e x p e rt in c h arg e of irrigation in v e stig ation s U n ite d S tate s D e p artme n t
,

of l
Ag ric u ture , in Yea b kr oo of D e partme nt of Agric ultu e r p 5 94
. .
1 46 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

an illustration of what may be accomplished there has recentl

,
y
been completed an irrigation system which brings into culti
vation over acres of rem arkably fertil e land which ,

was formerly worthless on account of lack of water This l and .

will furnish support for families or people The

, .

original cost to the government was less than th at of a single

battleship an d eventually the cost will be nothing at all because
, ,

it will be paid back by the owners of the land who receive ,

the benefi t .

T he possibilities of irrigation in western A merica may be

imagined when we consider that the entire cultivated area of
E gypt al ,
lof which is irrigated by the N ile does not exceed ,

acres But this area now supports a population of

.

or more It has been densely populated for a longer

.

period than the historian can reckon and was the seat of the
,

most ancient civ ilization of which we have any record N o one .

can tell accurately how much land in the U nited S tates is capa

ble of recl amation by irrigation but some of our leading experts

,

on th at subj ect assert th at the M issouri River an d its tribu

taries can be made to irrigate three times the land now cultivated
along the N ile T he dense population of E gypt is m ade pos
.

sible partly by the low standard of living of the inhabitants an d ,

partly by the remarkable fertility of the land combining as it ,

does rich alluvial soil made fertile by the annual deposits of

N ile mud with abundant moisture an d intense semitropical
,

heat O f course it is neither probable nor desirable th at the

.

region to be watered by the M issouri River S hould ever be popu

lated by men with such a low standard of living Therefore it .

is not probable or desirable that it S hould sustain such a dense

agricultural population unless the land can be m ade vastly
,

more fertile than that of Egypt It is better to have a sparse

.

population well supported than a dense population meagerly

supported A ccording to the census of 1 9 2 0 there were a littl e
.
 FACTOR S O F AGRI CULTURAL P RO DU CTIO N 147

more than acres al ready under irrigation and the ,

acre ag e is still increasing ste adily . It has been conservativ ely

estimated that there will eventu ally be brought under irriga
tion in the western half of the U nited States an area equal to
the whole of N e w England and N e w York combined The .

r ater part of this l and is practically valueless with out water

g e ,

but when brought under an effective irrigation system it becomes

as val uable and productive as any l and in the country an d much ,

more productive than the greater part of that which is now culti
vate d . In addition to the advantage of being able to control the
moisture irrigation has the further advantage of replenishing
,

the so il with the sediment brought down from the decomposing

rocks of the higher altitudes T herefore i rrigated l and is not
.

only highly productiv e but it tends to retain its productivity for

long periods of time .

Dry farming But after al

. lthe available water of the mou n
tain streams has been diverted and utilized only a small fraction
,

of the acreage of this vast arid re gion will be under irriga

tion Large as the irrigated area will be in the aggregate it

.
,

will form only a series of oases in the midst of vast wilder

nesses of desert or semidesert l ands incapable without water
, , ,

of being brought to a high state of cultivation O f this land

.
,

howev er some of it
,
it is impossible to say how much c an

be brought under tillage by what has come to be known as dry

farmin g Except in cer
. tain high mountain altitudes the rain ,

fall gradually diminishes as one moves westward from the M is

si ssippi R iver until one nears the P aci fi c c oast
,
It is diffi cult
.

to say j ust where the region of adequate rainfall ends or where

that of inadequate rainfall begins even when j udged from the
,

standpoint of older methods of cultivation But by a scientifi c

.

study of the problems of moisture retention an d by the intro

,

duction of new drought resisting crops it has been found that

-

this l ine can be moved much farther westward ; that is that ,

1 48 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

crops can be grown and a living made on l ands which were

formerly thought to be too dry for profitable cultivation .

P erhaps the most important factor in the successful cul tiva

tion of lands formerly thought to be too dry is that of mainta in
”
ing a dust mulch It is found that one great source of lo ss
.

of moisture is evapo ration The moisture which sinks into the

.

ground when it rains tends to rise to the surf ace by eap il lary

attraction just as the oil rises in a l amp wick

, If it rises quite .

to the surface it is evaporated an d carried off by the wind just

, ,

as the oil in the lamp is burned off By keeping the surface

.

soil constantly stirred an d loosened up the moisture is pre ,

vented from rising quite to the surface The loosened s u rface .

soil being less compact and the capillary ducts being broken
, ,

the water does not rise through this layer so readily The .

moisture therefore tends to remain in the subsoil being pro ,

te cted from the air by this layer of loose dirt as by a blanket .

By practicing this simple method of preventing the waste of

moisture by evaporation it has been found possible to grow crops
,

o n land which was formerly thought to be too dr for th at

y
purpose O n e danger however is that the wind will not o nly
.
, ,

carry away the moisture but will blow the dust mulch itself
entirely off the land .

A still fu rther extension of the tillable area is made possible

by the system of alternating crops an d fallows combined with .
,

that of maintaining a dust mulch A growing crop itself ex .

tracts a great deal of moisture from the soil where it is ab ,

sorbed by the roots carried up into the plant an d given off by

, ,

evapo ration from the leaves or blades Where the land does .

not receive moisture enough to grow a crop every year e ven ,

with the system of constant cultivation an d maintenance of the

dust mulch it is frequently possible to grow a crop every s ec ond
,

year allowing the l an d to lie fallow but constantl

,
y stirring it
, ,

h owever on the alternate year U nder this system a part of

, .
1 5 0 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

But after allis done th at we can at present hope for there will ,

doubtless remain considerable tracts of land which can only be

regarded as waste It will be pastured much of it it is true
.
, , ,

but even as pastures a gre at deal of it is so poor as to be

practically worthless .

Bad ch emical condition s T he problem of reclaiming l ands

.

which are n ow going to waste because of bad chemical condi

tions is one which requires a degree of expert technical knowl
edge which is unfortunately very rare as yet U nlike the
, , , .

recl amation of dry or wet lands which sometimes requires irri; ,

g ation or dra in age w orks o n too l arge a sc ale for individual

ente rprise to undertake th e recl amation of these lands does
,

n ot call for state or n ati on al e n terpri se except perhaps in the

experimental stage When it is on ce learned by scientifi c study

.

an d experiment how to treat such soils private individuals an d ,

companies are quite as compete n t to handle the business ques

tions involved as is the state or the nation Consequently this .

is a problem for the soil e xpert rather than for the economist .

Al k alilan d T he m ost conspicuous type of land now going

.

to waste because of bad chemicalc onditions both in this country ,

an d over the rest of the world is that which is commonly known ,

as alkali l and T hese l ands are usually found in regions of

.

slight rainfall where there is very little surplus water to be car

,

ried away in streams but where the greater part of it is earried

,

away by evaporation Where there is an abundant rainfall and

.
,

as a c onsequence a multitude of streams the alkali salts are

, ,

leached out of the soil an d carried to the ocean where they con ,

tribute to the saltness of the water But where the rainfall is .

S light an d most of the water is carried away by evaporation ,

these salts remain in the soil Even here however the high .
, , ,

the sloping an d the well drained land is usually found fre e

,
-

from alkali because even the Slight rainfall leaches it out of

,

the soil and carries it away sometimes however only to the , , ,

 FACTOR S O F AGRI C ULT UR AL P RO D U C T IO N 1 5 1

lower lands But lands which are low or flat or badly drained
.

are frequently so strongly impregn ated with these salts as to

interfere with plant growth or to destroy it altogether .

I n th e arid regions of every part of the globe these alkali

lands are of frequent occu rrence forming a part of the landscape
, ,

which is repellent because of its dreary barrenness an d disa

g re e abl e bec ause of the fi n e powde ry dust which is blo wn abou t

by the winds parching to the lips and sti n ging to the eyes an d
,

nostr ils of the traveler It is impossible to m ake any estim ate

.

of the amount of l an d which goes to waste on this account ,

partly because it is not known j ust how much there is of it an d ,

p a rtly bec a use much of it would be unus a ble a ny wa y o n a cc ount

of insu ffi cient moisture But in asmuch as it is usually the l ower
.

and less arid land of an arid region which is alkaline it fre ,

q uently h appens th at such l ands are highly productive if these

bad chemical conditions can be overcome T herefore it is a .

p roblem of import a nce a n d n o

,
where is it gre a ter th a n in the
western part of the U nited S tates .

Without attempting a detailed discussion of the methods of

reclamation the following are named as havin g been found
,

1 though they require technical knowledge an d S kill to

effective ,

make them successful

I. U nderdrainage By this means the water is allowed to
.

leach the salts out of the soil an d carry them away T his is said .

by H il gard to be the fi nal an d universal remedy .

2. Le aching down T hat is without underdrainage the alkali

.
, ,

on the su rface can sometimes be c arried down several feet by

flooding the land .

3. R emoving a few inches of the surfa ce soil bodily from the

land Since the salts are carried to the surface in solution with
.

the water and there left when the water evaporates it generally ,

happens that the su rface is more strongly impregnated than the

1 Cf E W H il a d S oil s N e w Y o k h ii iii
. .
g . r (, c
r a
,p s xx xx
.
, .
152 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

s ubsoil Thus it is sometimes possible to remove from one third

.

to one half the total alkali from the soil in a sin gle year .

4 Very
. deep plowing This h as the e ffect
. of removing the
crust of strongly impregnated surface soil to a greater depth ,

where it is mixed with the mass of the soil and is thus less in
rious to plant growth
j u .

5 N
. eutr alizing the more inj urious s alts th at is bl ack al , ,

kali A liberalapplication of land plaster or gypsum is found

”
.
,

in ce rtain cases to be su ffi cient

, .

6 . Counteracting evaporation T his is everywhere n e ces .

sary no matter what other methods are adopted The dust

,
.

”
mulch as applied to dry farming arti fi cial mulching shading , , ,

or any method which will reduce the rate of evaporation will in

light cases be found suffi cient and will in allcases be found ,

helpful .

7 Introducing
. crops which will endure alk a li A lfalfa an d .

A ustralian salt b ushes are found adaptable in some cases an d ,

experiments are still being carried on to fi nd other crops w hich

will grow in alkali soil .

S alt marsh es T he salt marshes along the seacoasts an d at the

.

mouths of rivers form another type of land which is now goin g

to waste p artly because of bad chemical conditions but m
, ainly , ,

perhaps because of bad physical conditions The reclamation

, .

of such lands however is S imply a matter of diking an d drain

, ,

ing ,
diking to keep out the salt water an d draining to carry ,

off the fresh water T he fresh water if it can be carried off

.
, ,

will soon carry the salt with it an d leav e the soil in condition to
grow crops T his is therefore merely a part of the drainage
.
, , ,

problem and Should be treated as such .

Bad pol iticalconditions N o observer can have failed to notice

.

considerable tracts of valuable land especially in the neighbor ,

hood of our l arge cities which are lying idle This land is
, .

g oing to w as te in the sense th at it is producing nothing for the

 P R I N C IP LES O F R U R AL EC O N O M I CS
1 54

the l f q
an d itse l, e ual
ly If impro ved and unimprov ed l an d were
.

alltax e d alike or accordin g to its naturalor un improve d value

, ,

it would se l dom be formd profitabl d any piece of valuable

e to ho l

to make any thin g out of an d woul

his l d be to use it as it ought
to be This would also rel
use d . ieve some what the tax on imp rove
me nts or the fruits of labor thrift and en terp rise and th us en , , ,

courag e me n to make suc h improve me nts or to e xercise the virtues

abor thrift an d e nterp rise
of l ,
S uc h an improve me n t in politi
, .

of idle and
l . rious ness of this waste is not to be mea s ured
The se

in acres alon e Lan d wh ich goe s to waste in this way is us ually

.

the most val uable in the c oun tn on e acre of it freque n tl y be ing

'

worth a hun dre d of that whic h goes to waste in the re gion of

dry farmin g .

M uch has bee n sa id an d wr itte n about the waste of l an d in

p arks p leasure groun ds game p rese rves e tc

, , es pec ially in E u ro , .
,

pean coun tries “h e re th ere is a realwaste that is whe re the

.
, ,

lan d is so valuable for other purpose s as to m ake its use for th ese

u
p pr ose s un eco n o m ie al th e e v il c o u ld be cu,re d in m ost ea se s by
the S imple dev ic e of tax ing it acc ordi n g to its val ue for those
oth e r purp oses B ut it wil l be fo und that the e vil has bee n
.

greatly exaggerate d It is certain ly tru e in man y cases and

.
,

probably in most cases that lan d devote d to these uses would ,

hav e little value as agricultural land It is usual ly the most .

broke n stony or sterile land which is so used In such cases

, , .

the obvious thin g to do wi th the land if it ca nnot be p rofi tably ,

cleare d for the plow is to allow it to gro w up to forest If it

,
.

ca n be made to ie d
l a sm all p o fi t in the rod uct ion of gam e
y r p
an d to ive l asu e pa k or h u ti g un d in ad di ti n t
g p e r a s a r n n g ro o o ,

its produc tion of timbe r so much the better But where good , .
 FAC TOR S OF AGRI C U LT URAL P RO D U C T IO N 1 55

agriculturalland is put to these uses when it might be made more

productive under til l age an d when it is needed as a source Of
,

food it is an undoubted sign Of bad political conditions They

, .

who are permitted thus to pervert good land to these inferior

use s ought at least to pay for the privilege They ought to say .
,

the least to pay a tax on such land equal to that which it would
,

yield w i th
,
its improvements if it were brought under
,
the plow .

If this remedy were applied it would Of course not affect that

, , ,

land which is not suited to agriculture but it would tend at ,

least to force into agriculture such lands as were suited .

I II . WAY S O F E CO N O M IZ I N G LAN D ( CO NTIN UE D )

Getting a l It is not always easy how
arger product per acre .
,

ever to tellthe difference between bringing waste land under

,

cultivation and increas ing the productivity Of land already in

use . Land formerly used only for grazing but now brought ,

under the plow either by dry farming or irrigation m ay some ,

times be regarded as reclaimed land and sometimes as land

'

brought to a higher state of productiveness The arid lands of .

the Far West are sometimes used for pasturage even when the
herbage is so scant as to require a great many acres to supply
food for one diligent sheep When such lands are brought .

under irrigation an d m ade to produce immense crops Of corn

and alfal fa it is quite proper to speak Of them as reclaimed

,

lands But when land farther east where rainfall and herbage
.
,

are a little more abundant an d where the pasturage is therefore

,

tolerably good is brought under the plow by the methods of

,

dry farmin g and made to produce a crop of wheat every second

y ear it
,
is doubtful if this can properly be called recl aimed l and ,

even though its productivity be somewhat increased The prob .

l em of bringing waste land into use therefore sh ades Off into , ,

the p roblem Of getting a larger product from each acre which ,

is an oth er way of economizing l and .

1 5 6 P RI N CI P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I C S

At this point in our discussion a word Of caution is necessary .

It is sometimes assumed that a large product per acre is a d e sir

able thing in itself S uch is not the case Wh at is really to be
. .

desired is a large product per man It is only where the product

.

p e r man is l arge th at there is a high stand ard Of li v ing an d a

high state of well being for the average man Where the land
-
.

is abundant a large product per man is most easily secure d by

extensive farming that is by farming a large acreage per
, ,

man which usually means a small product per acre When

, .
,

however allthe land Of a country is once occupied if the pop

, ,

ul ation continues to increase the contin uance of a l arge product

,

per man can only be secured by increasing the product per acre ;
that is to say while a large product per acre is not in itse l
, f a

desirable achievement it is sometimes desirable as a me ans

,

of getting a large product per man and is not des irable in ,

any other sense whatever It is quite possible to have a l

. arge

product per acre with a very small product per man but such a ,

condition Of affairs is always accom panied by squalor and mise ry ,

an d we fi n d this to be the actual situation in those countries

which ca n point to the largest product per acre An d th es e are .

the countries which are so frequently held up by thoughtless

people for our admiration
Though it is sincerely to be hoped that a kind P rov idence
will preserve us from the fate which has overtaken such coun
tries or rather that our people will themselves see to it that no
,

such results occur here nevertheless it seems inevitable that our

,

population should increase considerably in the next fe w years ,

especially if the present rate Of immigration should co ntin ue .

Therefore it is Of the highest importance that we should learn

how to increase the productivity Of our l and per acre without

reducing the productivity per farmer .

There are two generalmethods Of in creas m

of each acre of land in use O ne is the substitution of more
.
I 5 8 P RI NC I P L ES OF RURA L EC O N O M IC S
crops instead Of growing it exclusively In either case the gro w .

ing scarcity Of land an d the increasing supply Of labor have

brought about a certain amount Of substitution of heavy yielding -

for light yielding crops

-
.

T his substitution Of heavy yielding for light yielding crops

- -

presents some exceedingly complicated economic problems A s .

suggested above one factor in the movement Of the wheat belt

,

westward was that Of transportation though the existence Of ,

Cheap land and opportunities for extensive cultivation were the

most important ones The factor Of transportation is also im

.

portant in the cultivation of the still heavier yielding but less -

transportable market garden crops in the neighborhood Of large

-

cities T he general rule is that the products which are more

.

bulky or perish able or otherwise di ffi cult of transportation must

be produced near the place Of consumption and those which ,

are less bulky or perish able or are otherwise easier O f trans

p orta tion m ay be grown farther from pl aces Of consumption .

This however is a means Of economizing the labor Of tran s

, ,

p ortation rather th an O f economizing land M oreover this form .

,

Of territorial division of labor is economical only when there

are densely settled an d sp arsely settled re gions Of about eq ual

fertility A s the whole country becomes more densely populated

.

it will be found economical to give the land over more and more
to these bulky an d perishable as well as to the heavy yield ing -

crops an d to depend upon newer an d more sparsely settled

,

countries for our supplies O f wheat and similar light yield ing as -

well as easily transportable crops provided we have something ,

to send to these new countries in exchange It happens th at .

wheat an d beef are products well adapted to frontier conditions .

A ccordingly we need not be surprised to fi n d in the U nited

,

S tates th at as the country settles these two products will

, ,

dwindle and other more profitable crops take their pl ac e It is .

real ly a sign Of advancement and not of deterioration .

 FAC TOR S OF AG RI C U LTURA L P RO D UC T IO N 1 59

A nother illustration Of the substitution Of more productive for

less productive crops is the general invasion of the cattle ranges
O f the Far West by settlers who are bringing the l and under

the plow A s the corn belt has pushed the wheat belt farther
.

west so the wheat belt has pushed the cattle belt farther west
, .

S o long as there was unoccupied range country into which the

ranchmen could migrate the ranches merely moved on ahead
,

O f the wheat belt But when allthe range country was once
.

oc cupie d further migration Of the wheat belt westward meant

,

th e extin ction or partial extinction Of the ran ge cattle industry -

.

This is the tendency which has been showing itself in recent

years Even within the range country a simil ar process has
.

be en going on in the crowding out Of the cattle by the sheep ,

th e latter being better ad apted to picking a living on those

l ean pastures .

With these migrations Of the different belts Of agricultural

production there has probably been no material change in the
relative acreage devoted to the di fferent products for the supply
O f the markets Of the whole commercial world It is not possible
.

to meas ure the di fferent acreages accurately but until the commer
,

c ialworld Ch anges its h abits O f consu m ption it will continue to

de mand the different products in about the same proportion If .

we could im agine the whole available land Of the globe as occu

pi e d and brought under cultivation an d that such terms as O ld
,

countries an d new countries had lost their meaning it

”

would not then be possible to imagine these different belts Of

production as pushing one another farther an d farther toward
th e new an d cheaper l ands If then the consumers of the
.
, ,

world were to continue with their present habits O f consumption

un c han ged further substitution Of heavier yielding crops for the
,
-

l igh ter yielding crops would scarcely be possible This would

-
.

be made possible only by a ch ange in consumption Of less

m eat and more milk an d eggs the substitution Of corn for wh eat
,
1 60 P RI NC I P L ES OF RURA L EC O N O M IC S
as a breadstuff or the substitution
,
potatoes for bread etc Of , .

S uch ch anges are likely to occur as the world becomes more

thickly populated ; in fact they must occur if the population
increases very rapidly over a considerable period Of time It .

would however be economical for some countries to change

, ,

their habits in this direction without regard to the question

of population .

T hat mil k is a more economicalfood than meat is shown by

the fact that the milk furnished by one good dairy cow in the
course Of a year has a food value equal to from 3000 to 4 000
pounds of beef It will take fiv e or six beef cattle to lay on that
.

much fi rst class beef in a year an d they will together consume

-

as much feed as three or four of these dairy cows Therefore .

it would be a great economy of land if people would consent to

consume more milk and less beef This however is counter .
, ,

balanced at the present time by the fact that the milk for the
great centers Of consumption must be produced near at han d ,

where land is scarce whereas beef may be produced in new

,

countries at great distances from the centers Of consumption ,

where land is so cheap and abundant that it does not need to

be severely economized as yet M oreover where beef can be
.
,

produced under range conditions it costs less labor pe r unit

,

Of foo d value th an milk does But a time may come when

.

such a change in diet would be highly economical eith er by ,

reason Of the settling of the l ast Of these new coun tries ,

or as is more likely by the discovery Of cheaper and more

, ,

satisfactory ways Of preserving milk so that it also may be

transported greater distances But either Of these change s wil
. l
bring about such a change in the relative price of milk and
beef as to bring abo ut a change in the relative consumption
Of these two articles there being always a tendency to substi
,

tute a cheaper for a dearer article where the two se rve the
same purpose .
 RURA L EC O N O M I CS
”

162 P RI N C I P L ES O F

might reasonably be expected to yield under thorough cultivatio n .

A nother auth or might reasonably ascribe di fferent yields an d get

different results th ough the present writer believes that his ow n
,

estimates are reasonable an d he is ce rtain that the yields which

,

he has ascribed to the different crops are attainable .

In addition to the food producing p ower Of the different crops

-

in our country as sh own by the table on page 1 6 1 that Of an

, ,

acre O f tropical l and in ban anas dates and other tropical fruits , ,

is very great When this is considered in connection with the

.

fact that these fruits are grow n in countries where land is still
abund ant an d cheap it is apparent that the food question is
,

easily solved for a l ong time to come for those countries which
are willing to accept the ban an a the date etc as articles Of , , .
,

diet and which are able to produce s omething to give in ex

,

change for these G iven these conditions the food problem is

.
,

merely one Of transpo rtation .

Effect on standar d of l iv in g The Obj ection to such a change in

.

h abits Of consumpti on as will require more Of the heavy yielding -

an d less Of the light yielding crops is th at it m

-
ay be carried to

the point Of l owering the standard Of living S uch is likely .

to be the case where a cheap di e t is substi tuted for an e xp e n

sive one with out any increase in variety T he substitution O f the .

potato for bread is one thing ; the addition Of the potato as a

part Of a diet which had previously co n sisted mainly Of bread is
quite another thing The former l owers the standard Of livin g
.
,

while the latter by introducing greater variety tends to improve

, ,

it an d at the same time to reduce its cost

, .

It is h owever unfortunate for a people to be come depend

, ,

ent upon a single heavy yielding crop especially if that crop

-

be like the potato an d certain edible roots consumed in such

,

large quantities in J apan Of rather low nutritive value p e r ,

pound The yield per acre bei n g so e n ormously large the food
.
,

value per acre may be s omewhat l arge also in spite Of th e low

 FAC TOR S O F AG RI C U LT URA L P RO D U C T IO N 1 63

food value in proportion to weight But it is the general .

Op in ion that it is di ffi cult for a rac e to m aintai n a high degree

of energy and effi ciency without some more concentrated food

stu ff J ust how far any country ought to go in the direction Of
.

introducing into its diet cheaper foods or foods which are m ore
,

economicalOf land is therefore a di ffi cult question But th e re

, .

can scarcely be any question as to the economy of giving up

vicious and wasteful habits Of consumption ; that is the con ,

sumption of such things as Opium alcohol an d tobacco whose

, , ,

p ro duc tion requires so much valu able l and an d whose c o n sum p

tion adds nothing to comfort and well being -
.

V egetabl e vs . meat diet It is sometimes argued that a

.

v egetable diet is more econo m ical than a meat diet Where .

meat can be grown on wild land under what are called range
c onditions such as prevailed on the Western plains a generation
,

ago an d such as still prevail in other parts Of the N e w World it

, ,

is very e conomical Of labor and therefore a cheap food It does .

undoubtedl y require a great deal Of land and as these new areas , ,

are se ttl ed an d become thickly populated the meat supply will ,

h ave to come from farms H ere it is an expensive product if it

.

is produced in large quantities The nutriment in the grain re

.

q uired to fatten a beef anim al under present conditi o ns is usu ally

much larger than that Of the beef produced to say nothing Of the ,

other things consumed by the anim al A gain the land required

.
,

to pasture a be ef animal for a year would if put into grain or ,

v e getables yield a great deal more food th an th at Of the beef

,

w hich the animal will add to his carcass T hese rem arks apply .
,

h owever only to the producti on Of meat as a staple crop

, .

W hen produced in small quantities an d as a by product Of ag

,
-

ric ul ture meat is one of the most economical articles Of diet

,

w h ich a country can produce In the fi rst place in the grow

.
,

in g O f grain an d vegetables there is a great deal Of waste m ate

rial unsuited to human consumptio n but which animals can
,
1 64 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

consume digest an d turn into meat The animal is from this

, ,
.
,

p oint of view a m achine for conver

,
ting inedible waste produ cts

into excellent food TO be sure the main purpose of such a

.
,

machine may be to turn these waste products into milk or , ,

when fed to fowl into eggs ; but even the production of milk
,

an d eggs requires the m aturing of the bodies Of the anim als

an d the fowls an d it is economical to utilize these bodies as

,

food rather than to allow them to go to waste This applies .

also to the production Of mutton as a by product Of wool p ro -

duction Where the prej udice against horse fi e sh does not exist
.
,

it applies equally well to that form Of food wherever horses are

needed as draft animals .

A nother interesting bit of bucolic intelligence e manating , ,

however from urban minds is the argument that if calves

, ,

were not killed as veal but allowed to grow to mature be efhood ,

there would be a great deal more food This doctrine has .

actually been soberly promul gated on the floor Of our natio nal

Congress an d has been further expanded by certain sapient

,

editors Of metropolitan newspapers It is like saying th at if .

builders would never stop work on any building until it was

twenty stories high we should have a great deal more house
,

room It is Obviously true that if every calf born were to grow

.

to weigh a ton before he was slaughtered he would yield more ,

food than if he were slaughtered when he weighed only 2 00

pounds If he could draw his sustenance from interstellar space
.

while he was growing to such a desirable size it would doubt ,

less be economical to let him grow as big as he could ; but

since he has to get his sustenance from the land an d sinc e the ,

older he grows the more food it takes to add a pound to h is

weight it is Obviously uneconomical to keep him any l o nge r
,

than necessary to bring him to a condition to satisfy consumers .

A s a matter of fact a given amount of land an d l abor will p ro

,

duce more food in the form of veal than in the form of be ef .

1 66 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M IC S
for one or the other is merely a matter Of cheapness on the
one hand or of fashion on the other It is not improbable th at .

fashions will eventually though rather slowly change in the

, ,

direction Of cheapness H owever it is altogether probable th at

.
,

the substitution Of c otton for wool as stuff for clothing will re

sult in m ore clothing an d in greater variety rather than in the ,

use Of less land T his h owever would be economical O f land

.
, ,

in the sense Of permitting a higher standard Of living in the

matter Of clothing with out requiring any m ore land O n the .

other hand wool is easily transportable an d may therefore be

, ,

grown in new countries at great distance from centers O f con

sumption — that is where land is abundant an d does not yet
, ,

need to be severely economized Cotton on the other h and .

, ,

requires considerable labor for its cultivation an d can only be ,

grow n where there is population en ough to furnish a supply Of

labor ,
that is it is less suited to frontier production A gain
, .
,

wherever mutton is relished and commands a good price a cer ,

tai n amount Of wool can be grown as a by product an d the -

cost Of production Of wool thereby reduced It is a question .

,

however whether wool is a by product Of mutton or mutton

,
-

a by product Of wool
-
Where the former is the case there is
.
,

not yet such pressure in favor of cotton clothing as will

come sometime unless some other fi ber such as ramie should , ,

displ ace cotton .

Inten s iv e cultiv a
tion H ow to make each acre produc e more
.

Of the crops which are n ow grown is a question Of more im

mediate importance T his is wh at is commonly meant by in

.

ten sive farming th ough that term is so metimes applied also

,

to the substitution Of heavy yielding for light yielding Crops

- -

Intensive farming in the strict sense may mean any or al l Of

the following methods
1
. The simple application Of more labor in the preparation
of the soil and the handling Of the crop .
 FAC T OR S O F AGRI CULTURAL P RO D U CT IO N 167

2 . T he use Of
more capitalin connection with a given area
O f l and an d a given quantity O f l abor thus en abling the same
,

labor to prepare the soil more thoroughly an d care for the crops

more e ffi ciently .

3 . The application O f more scienti fi c methods to the improve

ment an d maintenance of the fertility Of the soil .

D oubtless the very best kind Of intensive farming would ia

e lude al lthree methods but they are not always found in com
,

bination where that which is called intensive farming is found .

I n Ol d an d thickly populated countries where land is dear an d

,

labor cheap the fi rst of these is the ch aracteristic method Of

,

increas in g the productivity Of the land Patient painstaki n g .

, ,

never ending toil combined with the utmost fru gality Of con
-

sumption an d the most careful saving O f every scrap Of manure ,

have e nabled these countries to cultivate e very square foot Of fer

til e land with the greatest Care an d to support their en ormous
population s upon the products Of their own soil M achine ry is .

little used and would probably in most Of these cases be un eco

, ,

nom ical beeause machinery requires power an d power espe

, , ,

cial l anim al power would require a sh are Of the products Of the

y ,

land for its support U nless the land could be made to produce
.

enough more to maintain the addition al number Of draft anim als ,

their mainte nance would reduce the food supply avail able for the
support of the pe ople In those countries where l abor is so abun
.

dant and lan d so scarce the great problem is n ot how to save labor
,

but how to save land It is di ffi cult to see how the use of ma

.

chinery would help the people of those countries to a s olution Of

their particular class Of problems because m achinery as we know

,

it is primarily a means Of saving labor rather than land .

Harder work This particular meth od Of saving l and

. that
is that form Of intensive cultivation which merely applies more
,

labor to the lan d has little in it to attract the rural economist

in the United States It requires either that the farmers work
.
1 68 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I CS

h arder or that there be more of them in proportion to the l

,
an d .

As to the fi rst altern ative it is distinctly to be rej ected be eause

,

there is not the least doubt that our farmers on the average work , ,

too hard now rather than not hard enough Instead of advoca t
, .

in g that they work harder in order to cultivate their farms more

intensively we should rather advocate that they work less hard
, ,

even if that should result in poorer cultivation if th at were the ,

only alternative O n e serious need of rural life in A merica is

.

a little more leisure to read to meet in social ways to discuss

, ,

measures for rural improvement and to organize for the promo ,

tion of rural interests This is not saying that there are no

.

drones in the country There are doubtless men living on

.

farms and ostensibly farming who idle away their time ; but
, ,

most of them do not deserve the name of farmer any more

than the vendor of shoestrings deserves the name of merchant .
”

T he general rule is that real farmers work too hard at l east ,

with their bodies There is little danger however of farmers

.
, ,

or any other class working too hard with their heads .

Smal ler farm s A s to the possibility of securing more in te n

.

sity of cultivation by increasing the number Of workers on farms ,

this has fewer obj ections but at most does not hold out very
,

alluring prospects It means either smaller farms on the aver

.

age or a l arger number Of hired laborers on farms

, It is not .

improbable that smaller farms would in some sections at least , ,

prove advantageous In some sections farmers have been moved

.

by a speculative spirit to get more l and than they were p re

pared to farm effi ciently H oping for a rise in the price Of l and
.
,

or for a future increase Of capital which would enable the m to

stock the land properly or planning to have land enough to di
,

vide among their children they have bought large farms whe n
,

they would have made more money year by year by buyin g , ,

less land an d stocking it an d equipping it better But it is very .

easy to exaggerate this evil In some sections of the country it

.
1 7 0 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O NO M I C S

an d hay, farm Of much less than 1 6 0 acres would prove too

a

small for the most economical use Of labor that is too small , ,

to give the maximum product per man In rough an d broken .

l and h owever where modern machinery cannot be used the

, , ,

farm might well be smaller provided such crops are to be grown

,

at al l but it is d oubtful if such land can be economical ly used

for this purpose A gain if this rough land is to be used mainly
.
,

for pasturage much larger farms would be necessary to give the

,

maximum product per man In the production Of garden crops .

,

or crops which require a considerable amount of handwork ,

much smaller farms might prove more economical .

M ore h ired lab orers But it is possible to increase the amount

.

of labor expended upon each acre of l and without requiring

each farmer to work harder or to reduce the size of his farm .

It might be done by increasing the number O f farm laborers or

farm hands who work for wages but do not own the land nor
,

the tools with which they work nor a share Of the crops th ey ,

help to produce Where farm hands are scarce and hard to get
.
,

their wages are good an d their position is a very comfortable

an d satisfactory one in spite of the fact th at they own none
,

O f the things with which they work Though legally they may .

be dismissed though theoretically they lack homes or perma

,

nent abiding pl aces yet practically and actually they are sought
,

after an d can choose their abiding pl aces an d their work But .

when they become numerous the situation is changed I nstead .

of being sought after they must hunt for jobs I nstead of being
, .

able to choose their abiding places an d their work they must take ,

whatever they can get an d be th an kful Allthis would be ve ry .

pleasant for the owners of the farms but not for the hired me n , .

S ince man for man the interest of one is as important as that

, ,

of another this is not a condition to be desired by the rural

,

economist who is supposed to have no class interest but to be

,

inte reste d in allalike M oreover a l arge increase in th e n um

. ber,
 FACT OR S OF AGRI C ULT URAL P RO DU CT IO N 1 7 1

Of h ire d laborers in any of the Older states though it would ,

te n d to increase the product per acre would tend to reduce the

,

product pe r man U nder the great law Of agricultural produc

.

tion known as the l aw of diminishing returns two men of equal

,

abil ity will not produce twice as much as one man on a farm
which was of a proper size to yield the maximum product to
U nder the operation of this l
’
on e man s work . aw the more,

laborers you put upon such a farm the less willbe the product
p e r la bore r (though the l arger will be the yield per acre ) unless ,

the increase in the number of laborers is accompanied by an in

crease ih the capital an improvement in the qu al
,
ity of the tools
and m ac hinery or an improvement in the methods of farming
, .

This is n ot saying that a s mallincrease in the number of hired

me n in some farming sections would not be desirable Farm .

owners are sometimes incapacitated for farm work by sickness ,

accident or age
, . In such cases they are sometimes under great
disadvantage because of the scarcity of hired help but it is not
necessary to have a large an d perm anent class of agricultural

labore rs in order to remove this diffi culty O n the whole it is .

,

a be tte r agr icul tural system where each farm owner normally
expects to do his own work ,
than it is where he normally
expect s to hire al lhis work done .

More capital A n increase in the supply of ca pital to be used

.

in conj un ction with the labor of the farmers in the cultivation of

their farms is another possibility By this method a given sup
.

pyl o i la bor on a fi xed q u antity of l and c an cultiv ate th at la nd

more effectively and thus increase not only the product per
,

acre but the product per m an as well .This capital is usually

expressed in dol lars and m
, ay at fi rst consist in m oney or gen

eralpurchas ing power in the hands of the farmer But it even

.

tual ly tak e s the fo rm of ,

or is p aid out for buildin
, g s tools , ,

machinery draft animals an d other live stock fences drains

, , , ,

u m
p p g in a n d irrig ation works,
fertilizers seed
,
f eed,
fuel etc
, ,
.
 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
1 7 2

Where land is abundant an d labor scarce the usualeffect of ,

an increase in these fo rms O f capital is merely to save l abor

or to enable a given supply of labor to cultivate more land but

there is no reason why they may not be used with equal e ffect
to enable labor to cultivate the same quantity of l and more
intensively and to get larger crops from it when l and becomes
scarce and the necessity arises for economizing it This may .
,

however require some readj ustment in the form of capital

,
.

Instead of taking his increased capital in the form Of more

tools which would enable him to cover more land the farmer
, ,

may possess himself of better tools which will enable h im to do,

a better quality of work plows which will turn deeper furrows

, ,

harrows which will pulverize more thoroughly an d prepare better

seed beds other tools better suited to the work of extermin ating
,

weeds in order that allthe moisture and fertility O f the soil may
be saved for the crops better horses to d raw these tools superior
, ,

breeds of live stock to convert what they consume into more

valuable products than our common scrub stock are capable Of
doing In these an d a multitude Of other ways the increased
.

use of capital will enable the farmers to increase the product of

their land while increasing at the same time the product of
, ,

their labor .

M ore intel igence This increased use of capital is however

l .
, ,

very closely associated with more scientifi c methods of cultiva

tion though not identical with them It is not identical because
, .
,

without any new discoveries or with out any new knowledge the ,

farmer wil l necessarily work in a somewhat different way if he

has an abundance of capital from th at in which he would wo rk
if he lacked capital and could not get it H e might know per .

fe ctl well the virtues O f deep plowing cross plowing an d s ub

y
-

, ,

soiling with multifarious harrowings and cross harrowings an d

, ,
’
he might know also that it is better to drill one s grain than to
sow it broadca st ; yet if he lacks su ffi cient team force to do al l
 P R I N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
1 74

IV . LA B O R AS A FAC T O R IN A GR I C U LT U RA L P R O D U CT IO N

That labor an d land are the original or primary factors of

production while capital is a secondary though importan t fac
,

tor is one of the commonpl aces of political economy U pon the

,
.

character of the labor even more than upon the character of

the land does the prosperity of agriculture depend A gain u p on .
,

the economiz ing of labor and the conservation of our hum an

resources even more than upon the economizing of lan d an d
the conservation of natural resources does the prosperi ty of the
nation depend Communities an d nations have remained poor
.

in the midst of rich surroundings or fallen into decay an d pov

,

e rty in spite of the fertility of their soil an d the abundance of

their natural resources merely because the human factor was of

,

poor quality or was a llowed to deteriorate or run to waste O ther .

communities have grown rich an d prosperous in spite of their

sterile soils and poor surroundi n gs by reason of the fact that
their people were painstaking and intelligent an d were a ll at ,

work at some useful occupation The labor power of a com .

munity is the human factor in production and includes mental

as well as bodily strength and e ffi ciency The ge nius of the ln .

ve ntor the executive talent of the m an ager

,
an d the learning ,

of the teacher are included as well as the skill of the mech anic
, ,

the resourcefulness an d reliability of the good farm hand or the ,

muscul ar stren gth of the day laborer It is even more impor .

tant therefore th at a community sh ould economize and conserve

, ,

its labor power than that it should economize and conserve its
land To waste any of this labor power is a greater cri me than
.

to waste land or mineral or forest resources and will bring ,

nati onal calamity even more certainly and swiftly th ough of ,

course it is highly desirable that both the labor an d th e phys

ical resources of a nation be conserved and develope d to the
highest degree .
 FACTOR S O F AGRI C ULT URAL P RO DU CTIO N 1 75

Economiz ing l
abor means a arge product per
l man In dis
.

cuss in g the economy of labcir the impo rtant distinction must be

eare ful l bo rne in mind that the aim of rational industrial m an
y
age me n t an d statesmanship is or always should be to secure as
, ,

large a product per man as possible and not neces sarily as large ,

a product per acre as possible In fact a large product per acre

.

is desirable onl y when it me ans a l arge product per m a n an d ,

never otherwise Again the policy of agricultural statesmanship

.
,

is or always should be to preserve those conditions which wil

, , l
se cure a large product f or each worker rather th an merely to

secure a large product f rom each acre of land A large supply .

of very cheap labor is sometimes a means of getting a l arge

p ro duct per a cre a n d t his is,
just wh at cert a in misguided per
sons i gnorant of the fi rst principles of e conom
,
ies are constantly ,

clamoring for But a l .arge supply of cheap l abor means a large

num ber of families supported on very low wages ; an d that

means in turn widespread poverty which is precisely what the
, , ,

study of politicaleconomy aims to prevent S ince our purpose .

is to fi n d how to eliminate poverty and to secure a wide diffu

sion of prosperity it is essenti al that we fi nd how to m ake the
,

p rodu ct per m a n a s la rge a s possible It follows therefore

. th at , ,

while we may consistently desire a l arge supply of very cheap

l
and a large supply of cheap l abor is the l ast thing in the
,

world which we ought to strive for or rather it is the very , ,

thing which we ought to strive to prevent .

However it is one thing to desire a large product per acre

,

re ardless of the number of people among whom it is to be dis

g
tr ibuted an d it is quite a different thing to desire th at the exist
,

ing population ma be able to produce as large a product per acre

y
as ossible
p If t
.he existing or prospective fa rming popul ation
can increase the productivity of th eir l and their incomes will
,

increase It is better to have one family on every 1 6 0 acres

.
,

even though each acre is thus made to produce only $ 2 0 worth

1 76 P RI NC I P LES or RURAL EC O NOMICS

of produce than to have one family on every 8 0 acres even

, ,
‘

though the product per acre could thus be raised to $ 3 0 But .

,

of course if we actually have one family on every 8 0 acres it is

, ,

obviously much better that each acre should produce $ 3 0 than

$ 2 0 worth This is the point of view from which to approach the
.

problem of increasing the product of the land Such a result is .

to be secured n ot by a mere increase in the farming population ,

but by a more economical a more intelligent a more e ffi cient

, ,

application of the l abor power already possessed by the country .

In general terms this is what is meant by economizing labor

,
.

S eeing that our population is likely to increase rapidly for a

good many years to come an d that our supply of land is limited
, ,

it is obvious th at the present average rate of production per head

cannot be increased or even maintained at the present level ,

except by increas ing the average productivity of the land It .

therefore behooves us to study more effective ways of applying

our l abor to our land in order that the returns to l abor m a not
y
be diminished but increased .

Wh y intensiv e cultiv ation is not alw ay s economical of labor .

There are two great obstacles to be overcome in the accomplish

ment of this task O n e is the tendency of the soil to decline in
.

fertility as larger an d larger supplies of food etc are extracted

, .

from it To counteract this tendency requires the exercis e of the

.

greatest intelligence in cultivatio n in rotation of crops an d in

, ,

the application of m anure and artifi cial fertilizers The other .

great obstacle is the law of diminishing returns sometimes called

,

the great law of agricultural production This law may be stated

.

briefly as follows : In a given state of civilization an d a given ,

state of knowledge of the art of husbandry an increas e in the

,

labor an d capital applied to the cultivation of a given piece of

land will increase the product of the land but not in the same
,

proportion as the labor an d capital are increased That is to say .

,

assuming a reasonably good state of cultivation to be gin with ,

 8 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
1 7

only $ 4 00 the farmer has only $ 9 00 for his two hundred days
,
’

’
labor But if one hundred days labor on the best fi eld will pro
.

’
duce a crop worth $ 5 00 two hundred days labor on the same
,

fi eld ought to produce t wice as big a crop — worth $ 1 000 , .

Therefore the farmer loses $ 1 00 by putting half his labor on

his inferior lan d .

If it were true that the sec ond hundred days labor on the best
’

fi eld would produce as much as the fi rst hundred or to put it , ,

’
m ore accurately if two hundred days labor on that fi eld would
,

produce twice as much as one hundred an d three hundred days ,

’

l abor three times as much an d so on inde fi nitely the argument

, ,

would be unanswerable an d the farmer would be very foolish

not to foll ow your advice M oreover the community at large
.
,

would be acting very unwisely in not concentrating allits ener

gies upon a relatively small area of its best land But the farmer .

knows pe rfectly well an d so does the community at large that

, ,

such is not the case that the produce of a given piece of land
,

cannot be doubled trebled quad rupled an d so on indefi nitely

, , , ,

by merely doubling trebling and quadrupling the amou n t of

, ,

labor an d capital expended in its cultivation In the case already .

assumed it is more probable that although one hundred days

’

labor would produce a crop worth $ 5 00 two hundred d ays on ,

the same fi eld would produce a crop worth only $ 8 00 I n th at .

case it would pay better by 1 00 under the conditions assumed , ,

’
to put the second hundred days labor on some other part of the
farm It is because the farmer who is in the best position to
.
,

j udge knows that such conditions are real that he do es not

,

concentrate all his energies on the small fraction of his farm

which includes only his best land .

Wh y more land is better th an less land To say th at th e .

farmer knows better than to concentrate allhis energies on his b est

land is the same as saying that he knows and acts upon one of th e
fundamental laws of economics namely the law of diminishing , ,
 FACTOR S O F AGRI C ULT URA L P RO D U CT IO N 1 79

t r
re u ns This l
. aw of diminishing returns is simply a part of the

g e n e ral O b se rvation th at the product of a n

y g iven piece of l and
doe s not even under the same conditions of soil an d season
, ,

bear a constant ratio to the amount of labor an d capital used in

produci ng it That is to say the product does not vary in the
.
,
'

same proportion as the labor an d capital increasing in propor ,

tion as th ey increase an d decreas ing in proportion as they de

crease but rather that the product increases an d decreases less

,

rapidl y than th ese factors of production when the quantity of the

factor l ,
an d re mains constant
,
This simply means th at there are
.

se veral factors in the production of any crop i n cluding labor , ,

capital and l,
and ; an d that the amount of the crop is not deter

mined by any one or any two of these factors but by allof them ,

combine d Labor an d capital being only a part of the factors

.
, ,

eannot alone dete rmine the crop .

It is wellknown to practical men that a niggardly application

of l abor and ca pital to a piece of land in the cultivation of any

crop is li ttle better than wasted because it will produce so little

,

in proportio n to itse lf ; whereas a more generous application

will yield a crop not only l arger but larger in proportion to th e
,

am ount of l abor and capital employed U p to this point the

.

land is said to yield increasing returns to the labor an d capital

em ployed in its cultivation But if the amount of these factors
.

used in cul tivating a given piece of land is still further ln

creased a po int will even tually be reached where the product
,

will no longer increas e as fast as these factors are increased .

Beyond this point the land is said to yield diminishing re turns

to the l abor and capital employed Though larger applications
.

of labor and capital m ay continue to produce larger crops per

acre the crops wil

, l not be so large per unit of labor an d capital .

In growing such a specifi c crop as corn for example a sin , ,

g le d a y s l
’
a bor of a m an an d team with the appro pri ate to o ls ,

if spread over a whole ten acre fi eld would be thrown away

-

,
1 80 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

be cause it would produce no crop at all Five days on the same

.

fi eld might produce someth ing of a crop but it would be a poor

,

one Ten days would certainly produce more than twice as l arge
.

’
a crop as fi ve an d twenty days l abor might possibly produce
,
‘
’
more than twice as much as ten But forty days labor would
.

hardly produce twice as much as twenty eighty would certainly,

’
not produce four times as much and two hundred days labor
,

would fall far short of producing ten times as much If these .

assumptions are true of the particul ar fi eld in question it could ,

be said to yield increasing returns up to the point where twenty

days l abor were expended Beyond that point it would be said
’
.

to yield diminishing returns .

This may be further illustrated by means of Table A which ,

purports to show in an assumed case how much corn could be

, ,

produced on a ten acre fi eld by using different amounts of labor

-

’
and capital the amounts being expressed in terms of days l abor
,

of a man an d team with the appropriate tools The ratio be .

tween the product ou the one hand and the labor and capitalon
the other is shown in the last column which gives the amount
,
’
of product or the number of bushels produced per day s labor
, ,
.

T AB LE A

s p e r day
Bushe l ’
s l
abor

I6 Diminish in g
1 5 re turn s
1 82 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O NO M I CS

get more bushels by concentra ting them al l on the best fi eld

1
than by dividing them between the two fi e lds .

Increasing the population which has to be fed clothed housed , , ,

an d otherwise provided for in a given territo ry m akes it n e ces

sary of course to e xtract increasing crops from the soil u n less

, ,

the people resort to manufactures an d commerce an d draw their

supplies of agricultural produce from outs ide areas The e ffort .

to get larger an d larger quantities from the same soil tends as ,

already stated to exhaust its fertility A t the same time to

, .
,

extract this increasing quantity from the land even where the ,

soil retains its fertility unimpaired requires under the law , ,

of diminishing returns more than proportionally increasing ,

expenditures of labor in cultivation unless new an d superior ,

methods of cultivation are discovered an d applied .

Ex perimental proof s In addition to the general experie n ce

.

of farmers as indicated above we have upon this subj ect the

, ,

specifi c testimony of S ir John Lawes probably the greatest ag ,

ricul turist of modern times Before a parliamentary commis .

sio n in 1 8 9 7 he stated that the result of all his experi ments

tended to show that as you incre ase your crops by more in te n
sive cultivation each bushel after a certain amount costs you
,

more an d more The last bushel always costs you more than
.

2 ”
allthe others Consequently when prices were low he fur
.
, ,

ther stated that it was neces sary to reduce rather th an incre ase
the intensity of cul tivation From this it would necessarily fo llow
.

th at as population increas es and greater an d greater de man ds

are made upon the soil prices must inevitably rise to c over the
,

increased cost of the additional products demanded T h i s is .

specifi c testimony an d is backed by the experiments carried on

,

over a long period of years It is backed also by th e gen e ral .

1 C f th e
. auth o r s
’
D istribution of We alth ( N e w Y k
or , 1 90 c hap . 11 . The
M ac mi ll C mp y
an o an .

2
P ar li m ta y R p
a en r e o rts , C ommissio n e rs XV , 1 06 .
 FACT OR S O F AGRI C ULT URA L P RO DU CT IO N 183

experie n ce and the common sense of farmers everywhere an d ,

it ought to go a long way toward disabusing the public mind of

the abs urd notions taught by certain long distance farmers who -

are telling us nowadays that more intensive cultivation smaller ,

farms etc are the solution of allour agricul tural problems

, . .

Some very clear and tangible illustrations of the operation of

this l aw of diminishing re turns are furnished als o by certain ex

p e rim e n ts in wheat growing at Rotham ste ad where the in v alu ,

able work of S ir John Lawes was carried on Five pl ots of l and .

of app roximately equal fertility were treated alike except that ,

different quan tities of nitrogen were applied increasing the ,

1
dose of this particular ingredient by 4 3 pounds as follows : ,

for 8 y e ars

Pl
ot 5 . M ix e d min e ral s alon e
ot 6
Pl . M ixe d mine ral s an d 4 3 lb n itrog e n
.

P l
7 ot . M ixe d min e ral s an d 8 6 lb n itrog e n
.

ot 8
Pl . M ixe d min e ral s an d 1 29 lb n itrog e n
.

ot 1 6
Pl . M ixe d mine ral s an d 1 7 2 lb n itrog e n
.

A ccord ing to this table diminishing returns are secured after

the fi rst dose of 4 3 pounds of nitrogen is applied as shown ,

in th e last col umn That is to say the second increment of

.
,

43 p o u n ds ( P lot 7) a dds a little less to the pro duct th an the

fi rs t dos e ( P lot 6 ) added to that which preceded an d the third ,

dos e ( P lot 8 ) still le ss etc The gain in P lot 1 6 over that in

, .

Pl ot 8 was so sl ight as to be obviously unprofi table the g of a ,

b us h e l in crease not being su ffi cient to pay for the 4 3 pounds

in cre ase in nitrogen Therefore this plot was discontinued
.
,

b ut the other four were continued for forty eight years with -

av e rag e results as fo l lows

1 T h e s e fi ure s are tak e n from a m t ll t a ti l e by Eu D a e n
g os e x c e e n c g e n r e v

o t d e an of th e Coll e g e of Ag i ul tu e in th e U n i e rs ity o f I l l in oi
rc r in v s,
p r,

Baile y s C yc l ope dia of Ame ric an Agricul tu e Th e M ac mill an C omp any

’
r . .
1 84 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

H ere the numbe r of plots is rather small though the results are
,

valuable because they are the average for a long period of time .

They show constant returns from the fi rst two doses ( P lots 6
an d but sharply diminishing returns from the third dose
( P lot A llowing th at 4 3 pounds of nitrogen cost an d

that wheat sells for $ 1 a bushel the pro fits are as follows
,

H owever, if the price of wheat were higher or the cost of nitro

gen lower the loss from the third dose of nitrogen ( P lot 8)
,

might be turned into a profit .

Waste labor Though the student can easily see how very
.

important it is that we should economize the labor power of

the community yet the principle is not universally understood
, .

That waste l abor power is the form of waste which is leas t un der
stood and appreciated is shown by the fact that a great many
people perhaps a maj ority not only do not deprecate it but
, , ,

actually think it a good thing A leisure class to consume the

.

products of the workers is thought by m any to be an e con omic

necessity H owever nothing is more certain than that waste of
.
,

any kind particularly the waste of a factor of production in

, ,

creases the burden upon those who work and te n ds in al

, ge n er
, ,
1 86 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

Th e imperfectl
y employ ed By impe rfectly employed l abor
.

is meant that which is employed productively but less produc ,

tivel th an it might be Wherever there is a m an doing un

y .

skilled work who might had he received the proper training

, ,

be doing skilled work or doing skilled manual work who might

,

be doing the m ore highly skilled an d more needed work of

managing an d directing there is a case of impe rfectly employed
,

labor It is as great a waste of productive energy as it would be

.

to have good garden l and used for pasturing Longhorn stee rs .

H ere again is a statesman s opportunity for enriching his na

’

tion by providing the means for economizin g to the greatest

degree the labor power of the people M uch of it is now go .

ing to waste in the sense that it has to be utilized in ways which

are of little value merely because of its oversupply while other ,

kinds of work are suffering because of the scarcity of competent

men A s a chain is only as strong as its weakest link so an in
.
,

dustry can expand only as far as its scarcest factor will permit .

The scarcest factor is managing ability an d any policy educa , ,

tion al or moral which will incre ase the supply of m an ag ing

,

ability will en able industry to exp and an d to absorb greater

numbers of the unempl oyed Incidentally this would do more

.

than anything else to equalize the distribution of wealth .

untaril
Th e v ol y idle The volunt
. arily idle a re of two clas s es ,

those who have retired on a well earned competence an d those

-

who live on wealth which they themselves have not earned .

The fi rst class does not trouble us much in A merica though we ,

are in some d an ger of being influenced by European critics ,

who through an aberration of the mind h ave persuaded them

, ,

selves that this form of conspicuous waste is a mark of gentility '

U ntil recently we have not been ve ry

”
or even of culture .

much troubled with the second class but our own prosperity is ,

creating it and we need to look to the future Those who live .

on inherited wealth an d on wealth accruing from a rise in land

 FA CTO R S O F AGRI CULTURA L P RO DU CTIO N 187

val
ues make the greater part of this clas s H ere is anothe r
up .

situation whi c h chal lenges the constructive sta te sman The loss .

of th is kind of l abor power is espe cially regrettable because it is ,

usual ly l abor power of the very highest type which goes to waste

in this form The man who inherits a fortune from his father
.

must on the average have had a father of unusual business

, ,

a pacity
c . U nder the l aw of heredity the ch an ces are in favor ,
’
rather than otherwise of the son s h aving inherited some of
,

that ca pacity But there is a strong probability that this natural

.

a pacity will have been spoiled by the fact that he inherited a

c

fortun e and is therefore relieved of the necessity of working .

This late nt busine ss capacity if developed would add to the , ,

productive resources of our country at the very point where

they are scarcest and therefore most needed It is the kind of .

p ow e r w hich if set
,
to work would incre ase the
,
supply of the
searces t factor in industrial development would s trengthen in ,

dustry where it is now weakest and would contribute most to ,

our nationalprospe rity .

Dissipated energy The greatest source of waste labor power

.

is vice and immoral ity In a broad and comprehensive sense all

.

vice an d immo rality are ways of dissipating hu m an energy an d ,

every formof dissipation of human energy is vice or immorality .

Idleness drunkenness rowdyism brawling neighborhood quar

, , , ,

re ling dis honesty are extreme an d well reco gnized sources of

, ,
-

waste en ergy Less extreme but equally clear cases are general
.

’
l istl essn ess irresponsibility an d lack of interest in one s work
, ,
.

Where labor is pe rformed in this spirit it will not only be in

e ffi cien t but will require more supervision than would otherwise
,

be n ecessary The necessity of this extreme supervision causes

.

a waste of l abor power which might othe rwise be empl oyed di

re ctl y in production instead,

of indirec tly in seeing t hat others
do the ir work prope rly Every characteristic of a people which
.

re duces its p roductive power either by m aking its l abor ine ffi cient
1 88 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

or turning or causing it to be turned from the work of pro

duction or service into the work of supervision regulation or , ,

compulsion is a source of waste energy and is therefore to be

, ,

called vice or immorality M o rality from this point Of view

.
,

an d as thus understood is the greatest economizer of l

,
abor It .

is no accident therefore that those countries with the highest

, ,

standards of rational morality are also the most prosperous and

powerful It is because their system of practicalmorality enables
.

them to economize their productive energy more effectively than

other nations are able to do with their inferior systems .

While we are devising ways and means therefore for con , ,

serving our material resources let us not overlook the enormous

,

waste of human energy which is now going on lest we be guilty ,

of saving at the spigot and wasting at the bunghole Thes e con .

siderations however apply to the economizing of l

, ,
abor power

in general an d not specifica lly to the economizing of labor in

,

agriculture That will form the topic of the next section

. .

Sh allw e econom iz e lab or or lan d It cannot be emphas ized

too much that the obj ect of economizing labor as state d in ,

preceding pages is to secure the maximum product per unit of

,

labor an d not to secure the maximum product per unit of l an d .

For securing the m aximum economy of labor as thus de ,

fi ned the chief requisites are ( I ) an adequate supply of land ;

,

( )
2 a n adequate equipment in power tools a n d m a chine
,
ry ; ,

3) adeq uate technic a l knowledge of the science an d ar t of ag

riculture ; and (4 ) superior business m anagement The reasons .

for an adequate supply of land are chiefly summed up in the

law of diminishing returns as ou tlined above ,
This brin gs .

us face to face with one of the greatest of all e conomic

proble ms because the maximum economy of labor is secured
,

by means of a use of land so extensive as to seem almost

wasteful whereas the maximum economy of land is secured
,

by an application of l abor so l avish as to be wasteful of that

 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
‘

1 96

he could get from 2 0 acres yet this is not a very economical

,

use of land since in this ca se his last 1 0 acres give him only
,

3 00 bushels over an d ab o ve wh at he could produce without

them A gain while 2 0 acres give him a larger crop than 1 0
.
,

acres ( 1 5 00 bushels as against yet even this is not the

most economical use of land since his second 1 0 acres add only
,

bushels to the total crop whereas the fi rst 1 0 acre s when

5 00 ,

1 0 ac re s 1 0 ac re s 1 0 ac re s 1 0 ac re s I O ac re s

cultivated alone yielded I OOO bushels S o far as this illustra tion

.

carries us it is obviously a more economical use of land to have

,

one man to every 1 0 a cres That this would be a somewhat waste

.

ful use of labor will appear from the following consideration

If one man cultivating 2 0 acres gets a product according ,

to the illustration of 1 5 00 bushels and two men cultivating the

, ,

same 2 0 acres or 1 0 acres each get a totalproduct of 2 000

, ,
 FACTOR S O F AGRI CULTURA L P RO DU CTIO N 191

bush el
s, it is bvious that the second man has added only 5 00
o

bushe l s to the product obta ined by the fi rst man That is all .

that is added to the corn crop of that area by having two men
instead of one This is a relatively wasteful application of labor
.
,

at least as compared with the results of having 4 0 acres to each

man under which he gets in the illustration 2 000 bushels

, , , .

To carry the analysis further let us assume a community ,

where al lthe l and is equally fertile an d where al lthe farmers ,

are equal ly skillful and industrious and allsupplied with equally ,

g ood tools a
,
n d where moreover ,
th e conditions of the foreg,o

ing illustration prevail with respect to the productivity of labor

applied to l and Let us assume further that there is at fi rst one
.

man to every 4 0 acres Each man would then be able to pro

.

duce 2 000 bushels of corn Later the number of men increases

.

until there is one man to every 3 0 acres Each man would .

then be able to produce on the a ve rag e only 1 8 00 bushels

, , .

— d
But an this is very s gn fica t these additional men would
i i n —

be able to add only 1 2 00 bushels apiece to what the smaller

numbe r could produce without them O ne man to every 30 .

acres is e qual to one and one third men to every 4 0 acres or -

one man putting in full ti me and another a third of his time .

O ne man on 3 0 acres could under the illustration produce , ,

1 8 00 bushels of corn At that rate one and one third men on

.
-

4 0 a cres could produce one an d a third times a s much a s one

man on 30 acres or 2 4 00 bushels S ince one man on 4 0 acres
, .

could produce 2 000 bushels and one an d one third men on ,

-

the same land could produce 2 4 00 bushels the di fference 4 00 , ,

bushels must be attributed to the third of a man or one third

, ,
’ ’
of a man s labor If one third of a man s time produces 4 00
.

bushels his whole time would produce 1 2 00 bushels This

, .

q u a n tity p e r m a n therefore
,
is all th at ca n be attributed
,
to the
additional force of men That is allthey add to the product
.

o ve r an d abov e what was produced before they came .

1 92 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I C S

If now there should be still further immigration or increase

, , ,

of numbers from any source so that there would be one man ,

for every 2 0 acres the following results would occur under the
, ,

terms of the illustration O ne man on 2 0 acres produces 1 5 00

bushels ; on 4 0 acres therefore two men would produce 3 000
, ,

bushels or 6 00 bushels more than 1 } men This 6 00 bushels

, .
,

therefore is to be attributed to the increase of two thirds Of a

,

man or two thirds of a man s time If two thirds of a man s

,
’
.
’

time adds 6 00 bushels to the product of 4 0 acres over and above

’
what was produced without it the wh ole of a m an s time would
,

add 9 00 bushels That quantity therefore is the amount to be

.
, ,

attributed to each of the new installment of men who have come

to th at co mmunity That is allthat they add to the quantity

.

which was produced before they came or which could be pro ,

duce d without their aid .

If finally there should be a still further increase in the

, ,

number of men so that there would be one man to eve ry 1 0

acres the following results would h appen under the terms of
, , .

the illustration : S ince one man on 1 0 acres produces I OOO

bushels two such men each cultivating 1 0 acres would pro
, , ,

duce a tota l of 2 000 bushels But one man to every 2 0 acres

.

produces 1 5 00 Two men on the same area produce only

.

5 00 bushels more than one m an Therefore 5 00 bushels pe r .

man is allthat can be attributed to each of this new supply of

men That is allthey add to the crop which was produced be
.

fore they came or to the crop which would have been produced
,

without their aid If this is not a waste of l abor it is certainly

.
,

something very much like it H owever if there is actual . l

y ,

that much labor power in the community it must of course be ,

employed and there is nothing to be done except to make the

,

most of the situation but it necessarily means a low produc

,

tivity per m an The diagram on the following page shows

.

graphica lly the results of this analysis

1 94 P RIN C IP L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

Itis imposs ible to arrive at any sa tisfactory fi gures as to the

average yield pe r man on the wheat farm s of difi ere n t coun tri es ;

but there merous eases

are n u in the wca tern part of the U n ite d
States of me n who have
,
av e raged upwards of 2 000 bus hel s of
wheat pe r year over a pe riod of years N o thing like this res ul . t
ca n be shown in any countr y which follo ws the m e th ods of in

tens ive cultivation A cc ording to Dr L G P owers e xp e rt in

. . . .
,

charge of the agriculturalsta tis tics of the twelfth an d thirte enth

c e n suses ,
agricul tural worke rs in the U n ite d S ta tes

produce almost half as much grain as in Europe .

They who look upon the yield pe r acre as the te st of good agri
c ulture are acc ustomed to compare us unf avorably with those

countries But we need not feel humiliated in the leas t when

.

we understand that the product per man is the rea l tes t .

A gain it has been shown by the ce ns us fi gures that the

,

ave rage yield of corn per acre is greater in M assachuse tts than

in either Il linois or Iowa ; but this does not signify that M assa
chusetts is a better corn state or that corn growin g is ca rried
,

on more economica lly in M as sachusetts than in those two great:

com producing states
-
.

Adeq uate capital necessary S ince tool s and machinery are

.

almost universal ly regard ed as labor saving devices it is searcely

-

necessary to say that an adeq uate supply of such device s is

necessary to secure the maximum economy of l abor H owever .
,

the term l abor saving device

-
is not in every respect a suitable
one The term product increasing device would sometimes
.
-

be better H owever if it is clearly understood that tools save

.
,

l abor in the sense of enabling the worker to do more an d better

work than he could otherwise do an d to get a larger product

,

with the same labor there can be no possible obj ection to

,

ca lling tools labor saving devices -

.

To what an extent farm machinery has increased the e ffec

tive ness of labor in the growin g of our leading crops is sh own
 FACTOR S O F AGRI C ULTURAL P RO D U CT IO N 1 95

by the following table s taken from an excellent monograph by

,

H W Q uaintance on The Influence of Farm M achinery upon

. .

1
Production and Labor
”
.

DAv
’
s WO R K N E C E SS A R Y To P RO D U CE av H AN D M ET H O D S

Crop of M eth ods of D ay ’

s work

D Av
’
s WO R K N E CE SSA R Y To P R O D U CE BY M A C H I N E M ET H O D S

Whe at

Though the use of adequate tools and equip ment is of the

fi rst importance in agriculture especially in a country where ,

farm labor is so scarce an d wages so high as they are in this

country yet no writer on this subj ect can do his whole duty
,

1 P ubl
ication s f
o tire American Econ omic Ass oc iation (3 d s e rie s )
, V ol
. V
,

N o 4 , p 39
. . .
1 96 P RI N C I P L ES O F RU RA L EC O N O M I C S

without throwing out a word of caution Every careful observer .

of agricultural conditions an d practices in A merica will h ave

seen cases of overinvestment in expensive tools and machines .

While these cases are n ot so numerous as those of the opposite

description that is of a niggardly use of labor saving imp le
, ,
-

ments ,
yet the consequences are about equally bad T o buy .

expensive implements without a very careful conside ration of the

saving to be effected on the one hand an d of the cost on the ,

other is unbusinesslike and spells ruin as many a farmer has

, ,

found by bitter experience The undiscriminating buyer almost

.

always underestim ates the cost side of the account The interest .

on the fi rst investment is very easily calculated but it is the ,

smallest item in the cost Repairs are not so easily ca lculated

.
,

an d they mount up rapidly more rapidly than the ine xpe ri

,

e n ce d farmer or the farm e r who is not in the habit of keeping

,

careful accounts usually anticipates

, .

It is a notorious fact that farm machinery deteriorates very

rapidly an d the cost of deterioration will surprise any farmer
,

who has n ot kept accounts over a period of years A ccording .

to investigations carried on by the M innesota Experiment

Station over a period of fi ve years the average annual depre,

c iation of farm m achine ry was per cent The estimates .

vary with different implements from per cent for farm

,

wagons to per cent for corn binders Therefore the .

farmer needs to calculate very carefully before buying an e xpe n

sive machine to m ake sure that he has use enough for it to give
,
.

him a safe m argin of pro fit over any probable cost in the way
of inte rest m aintenance repairs and deterioration H e must
, , , .

be able to see pretty de fi nitely j ust where he is going to get his

m oney back ; that is where he wil lsave enough in his wages
,

bill if he is an employer of labor or where he will increase the

, ,

product of his farm enough to recompense him for his outlay ,

with a safe margin of pro fit to cover possible miscalculations .

1 98 P RI NC I P L ES OF RURAL ECO NO M I CS

the drawing of loads from the fi eld to the barn are alldone by
a pair of cows ; sometimes where the farms are a little l
, arger ,

by the bull or by the bull an d one horse ; while on the smaller

,

farms it is frequently done by one cow A llthe other work of .

such farms the planting cultivating harvesting thres h ing

, , , ,

etc. is necessarily done by hand .

A gain there is little doubt that these primitive hand proc

,

esses are frequently more economical for the individual farmer ,

under the Circumstances which surround him than more effi cient ,

machine methods would be Let us consider for example the

.
, ,

question whether he shall thresh his wheat with a flail or hire

a steam thresher to do it for him In the fi rst place he has a
.
,

very small farm an d his whole wheat crop does not exceed fi ve
,

acres . I n the second place his whole living must be made from
,

the produce of that farm In the third place he has no other

.
,

use for his time There is no chance for him to work elsewhere
.

for wages when work is slack on his own farm If he could .

work elsewhere for wages it would undoubtedly be more e co

,

n omicalfor him to hire his threshing done by m achinery ; but ,

having n o such Opportunity his time is on his hands an d if he

, ,

does not utilize it in flailing out his wheat his own labor will ,

simply go to waste Under these circumstances his threshing

.

may be said to cost him nothing when he does it himself dur

ing the long winter whereas if he hired it done the cost would
, ,

deduct an appreciable sum from his cash income from the farm .

H owever economical it may be for him un de r th e c irc um

stan ces to thresh his own wheat th ere is no doubt th at where
,

such circumstances exist they are the occasion of a great deal of

waste l abor The spectacle of dozens an d scores of these sm all

.

farmers laboriously fl ailing out their wheat crops is suflic ie nt to

prove that If they could once get the mastery of their circum
.

stances and create conditions which would enable them to uti

,

lize their whole time in productive work instead of having it

 FACTOR S O F AGRI C ULTURA L P RO D U CTIO N 1 99

hanging on their hands during a portion of the year they could ,

thre sh their wheat crops with vastl y less labor and more profit
to themselves O ne possibility would be for the more capable
.

farmer to buy out a few of his neigh bors unite their small ,

farms into one of reasonable size and then hire the former ,

owners to work for him as farm hands The customs and tra .

dition s of som e countries and even the di ffi culties in the way

,

of l and tra nsfer tend to prevent this ; otherwise this result

,

would eventually come about In some countries for example

.
, ,

the cost involved in making a transfer of land is equal to half

the price of the farm U nder such conditions there is a se ri
.

ous hind rance to the buying and selling of land .

Cooperation among a number of small farmers by means of ,

which they can work together in the ope ration of a machine

thresher would accomplish something though unless they could
, ,

employ the time profita bly which they were thus enabled to save ,

it would be doubtful economy because the initial expense of

,

such a machine is considerable The only real solution of the

.

problem therefore is for them to fin d productive work to do

, ,

during the time which they save by the use of the machine .

That is the only thing which will enable them to pay the cost
of the machine The same or similar considerations will apply
.

also to the economy of using other m achines as compared with ,

the hand processes on these small peasant farms O bserva

,
.

tion and study among these peasant farmers have convinced

the writer tha t while the agricultural system which forces such
methods upon them is undoubtedly a bad one yet the indi ,

vidualfarmer is usually eminently wise in adj usting himself to

th e system as he fi nds it The consideration of the compara
.

tiv e me rits of di fferent systems of farming will be deferred to

a late r ch apter .

Scientifi c k now l
edge Closely associated with the use of e fli
.

c i e nt tools and implements is the possession by the farmer

2 00 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L ECO N O M I CS

himself of thorough scientifi c knowledge of agriculture To be .

a thoroughly equippe d scienti fi c farmer probably requires a

,

higher education certainly a more complete scient ifi c educa tion

, ,

than any of the learned professions with the possible exception ,

of medicine S uch a farmer must obviously know something of

.

botany zoology chemistry physics an d surveying ; an d some

, , , ,

special an d diffi cul t branches of these sciences he must know

extremely well P rinciples of plant an d animal breeding ought
.

to be thoroughly understood if that were possible but it is not ,

possible now because there is no one either within or without ,

the agricultural class who thoroughly understands them H e

, .

must know something of such diffi cult subj ects as so il chemis

.

try soil physics the bacteriology of the soil food values an d

, , ,

the bal ancing of rations an d a number O f other subj ects each

, ,

one of which is engaging the attention of scientifi c specialists ,

though of course no single human being farmer or otherwise , ,

can really become a m aster in al lthes e subj ects .

There is an Old saying current among farmers that what , ,

’ ’
one does not have in one s head one must have in one s hee ls .

This sums up very tersely the importance Of management as a

means of economizing labor There is no doubt whatever that .

more labor is wasted on the farms of this country through bad

management than through any other single course This how .
,

ever will be the theme of a special chapter on management

, .

A progressiv e attitude P erh aps the greatest obstacle to the

.

effective economy of labor is found in the character Of the

farmers or the farm laborers themselves M ore striking illus .

tration s O f this can be found in older coun tries or in countries ,

which are ruled by hidebound custom than we are likely to fi n d ,

in this country The sheer unwillin gnes s of farm labore rs in

.

oriental countries an d in some of the Latin A merican countries

,
-

to change their methods of work is sometimes a factor to be

reckoned with like the character of the soil or the climate an d
, ,
2 02 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

S ome students of social problems have concluded that this

character of progressiveness on the part of the people at large is
of even more value than technical scientifi c knowledge Tech .

n icalscienti fi c knowledge can e asily be borrowed from ano ther

nation if our people have but the disposition to use it ; but the
disposition itself cannot be borrowed it must be bred into the
blood an d bone of the people as it is the result of generations of
,

training The J apanese for example have been able to borrow

.
, ,

from the occidentals allthat they knew about the art of war
fare together with armaments an d equipments What they did
, .

not borrow an d from the nature of the case could not bo rrow
, ,

was that Splendid cou rage discipline an d enthusiasm which e m

, ,

abled them to use these technical advantages with such e ffect .

It is not too much to say that if our educational system succeeds

in developing a progressive attitude of mind a genuine desire ,

to be always improving our people will manage in some way

,

to get the necessary technical knowledge Of agriculture If in .

,

addition to the development of the progressive attitude the ,

schools can also supply the farmer with technical knowledge ,

they will h ave done doubly well .

V . CAP IT A L As A FACTO R IN A G R I CU LT U R AL P RO D U C T I O N

In preceding ch apters we have seen that capital is a means

of util izing land more perfectly or of economizing it an d al so
, ,

of economizing in the use of labor We h ave now to examine .

the n ature of capital an d to inquire into the conditions under

,

which it comes into existence an d the part it plays in agricultural

production .

Wh at are economic goods A lluseful things may be divided

into two great classes called economic goods an d noneconomic
, ,

or free goods The former are scarce that is they do not exist
.
,

in usable form in su ffi cient abundance to satisfy allour wants ,

an d therefore they have to be economized The latter are so .

 FACTOR S O F AGRI C ULTU RAL P RO DU CTIO N 2 03

L
T H E C ASSI FICA T ON I OF G O O DS FRO M T H E ECO N O M IS T ’
S

PO I NT OF V I EW

Usel
e ss

Free goods,

of econo mic

Land and

re source s

economic e n Consumed by

Capital

P o duce rs
r
’
Socialor
p roductive es p ital

1 Th ough, in b l
an a so ute se n se , we ll b-
e in g d e pe n d s up o n f e e good quite
r s

as muc h as up on sc arc e goo d s, y e t in l

a re ativ e an d p rac tic a se n se it oe s l d
not . W h e re air, wate r, s un l ight , e tc .
, are a un b d f
an t an d re e , our we e ing is ll b-

not imp rov e d by g e tting more of th e se th in g s, an d we c an n ot c ount ours e v e s l

as p os s e s s in g more l
we a th wh e n we in c re as e m But our p oss e ss ion of th e .

whe n th e y are sc arce our e c on omic e fforts are d

, d d ge tting more ire c te towar
of th e m or sub stitute s fo r th e m B y suc h e ff o rts our we ll b e in g is im
, .
p rov e d -
.

Such th ing s are f

th e re ore o
p p
r e r ly ca e ll d l
we a th , b e c ause our we ll b
-
e in g

de pe n ds up on th e m in th i lati s re ve , imme iate , d an d p rac tica l s e n se . H e re ,

as f e qu ntly happ n e l wh
r e e s se e re , th e g e n e ra l common se nse of man kin d ,

d l sh ows mo re wis d om th an th e
"
whic h sanc tio n s th is use of th e wor
”
we a th ,
hasty j udgm e n t of th e p artilly t ai d thi k
a r ne n er wh o j
re e c ts th is usag e and
insists that wea th l sho uld in l ud f e g ds
c e re oo as we ll.
2 04 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

abundant th at everybody can have all he wants and there is ,

therefore no occasion for economizing with respect to them It .

will readily occur to any one that the same thing may be an
economic good in one time or place an d a noneconomic good
in another depending upon its relative scarcity or abundance
, .

Economic goods or goods which are scarce are the obj ects of
, ,

all economic activity of economizing saving storing an d

, , , ,

exchanging They are the things we labor to produce they are

.

the Obj ects for which the whole economic system has been de
op e d ; they alone h ave value or power in exchange for the
ve l ,

simple reason that no one exchanges for a thing unless it is

scarce that is unless he has less of it than he wants A llother
, , .

goods the economist ignores as we alldo so far as our eff orts ,

to get a living are concerned .

P roducers and cons umers goods

’
S ome of these economic ’
.

goods yield their utilities directly to their users or consumers ,

whereas others yield their utilities or satisfy wants only in

directly through the medium of other goods A loaf of bread
, .

is an illust ration of the former which are called consumers ,

’

’
goods ; an d a plow of the latter which are called producers ,
’
goods I n other words consumers goods are goods used for
.
,

direct consumption or the direct satisfaction of wants ; whereas

’
producers goods are used for the production of other goo ds or ,

for the indirect satisfaction of wants through the medium of the

other goo ds which they help to produce S ome goods may .
,

however be producers goods at one time an d consumers

,
’ ’

goods at another or partly one an d partly the other at the

,

same time The farmer s driving team for example may be

.
’

, ,

used as a help in his business an d also for pl easure driving ,

or the musician s instrument may be used to make a livin g and

’

also to please himself .

Wh at is capital A llproducers goods except l an d are com

’
.

mouly called capital They are used for the purpose of securing
.
2 06 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I C S

from a social or political angle land differs from capital in ,

se ve ral important p articul ars In the fi rst place land is a natural

.
,

product whereas capital

,
that is tools bu ildings etc is , , , .

a product of human labor In the second place the supply

.
,

of land is practically fi xed whereas capital can be indefi nitely

,

increased or diminished In the third pl ace since the sup

.
,

ply is practically fixed but the demand not there is no con

, ,

ce ivabl e limit to the price or the rent of land If the popula .

tion and the demand for land increase sufficiently fabulous ,

prices may be and are paid for land But since the supply .

o f any form of capital is not fi xed but can be indefi nitely in ,

creased there is a pretty de fi nite limit to the price which any

,

piece of capital can bring If the demand increases an d the

.

price rises the supply can increase to meet the deman d an d

,

check a further rise in price .

From the standpoint of the agricultu ral economist it is par

ticularl y important to keep clearly in mind the dis tinction b e

tween land and capital The agricultural land of the coun try is
.

a free gift of n ature but the tools and equipment necessary to

,

utilize that land to the best advantage come only by forethought ,

abstinence an d l abor
,
Capital never comes into existence of
.

itself It is always the result of human effort The initi al act

. .

in the creation of capital is one of choosing to wait that is to , ,

wait longer than would otherwise be necessary before satis fying

one s desire for consumers goods This waiting may be done
’ ’
.

in a multitude of ways H aving earned a dollar one may either

.
,

spend it for consumption or use it in a way which will not l n

crease his present consumption but will increase his future in

come In the latter cas e one becomes a capitalist to the extent
.

of a dollar If one buys a tool or a pig or any other O bj ect

.
, ,

which will increase his future earnings he has increased the ,

future productive power of the whole community because he is ,

a part of the community ; th at is to say by o ffering to p a a

y ,
 FACTO RS OF AGRI CU LTU RAL P RO DU CTIO N 2 07

dol
lar for l he e n courages the toolmakers and sets them
a too

to wor k making tools to the extent of a dollar

,
If he offers to .

a the dollar for a pig he encourages the stoc k raisers an d

py ,

sets them to work growing young pigs to the extent of a dol l ar , .

Whether he invests a dollar or a million dollars the nature of ,

the tra n saction is the same and the results are proportionally
the same .

But one may invest his dollar indirectly that is one may de , ,

posit it in a bank in which case one virtually lends it to the

,

bank an d the bank in turn lends it to some one who invests it ,

that is who buys tools live stock or some other productive

, , ,

agent. Every conceivable case where capital originates or the ,

’
world s stock of capital increases will be found to be a case ,

which be gan in an act of waiting or saving of deferring con

sumption to a future time in order th at one may possess one s ’

self of a source of future income Forethought is therefore the .

bas is of allcapitalistic production .

M oney and capital In the illustrations j ust used money

.

figure d as the thing immediately saved an d invested O f course .

there was capitalbefore there was money an d capital may some ,

times originate to day without the use of money

-
But since we .

are now living in an age when money is everywhere the medium

of exchange the form in which wages are paid and the means
, ,

of making investments it happens that capitalnormally or gen

,

eral l
y takes the form of money fi rst Th at is it is generally .
,

the ease that the fi rst stage in the process of making use of
’
capit alis to posse ss one s self of money or to get control of it

through credit Afterwards this money is exchanged for tools

.
,

live stock and other equipment S ince this is the form in which
, .

one fi rst gets his capital it is not uncommon to speak of capital

,

as though it consisted of money But as we h ave seen above

.
, ,

lp roducers goods are capital A gain since al lone s producers

’ ’ ’
al .
,

goods were bought with money and S ince they allcontinue to,
2 08 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M IC S

have selling price it has be come customary to Speak eve n of

a ,

ars worth
’
the se things in terms of money as so man y dol l Th is , .

’
merely means that since allone s tools implements live stock , , ,

etc. po sse ss value it is conve n ient to speak of them all in

, ,

terms of that one quality This has led so me pe ople into the
.

mistaken notion that ca pital is so me kind of a spiritual or im

material entity inhabiting the material bodies ealle d tool s ma ,

chines etc A S a matter of fact it is only the value of these

,
.
,

things which men are th inking about when they speak or write
thus Ask any farmer or busines s man how much es pital he
.

has and he will answer in terms of dollars A sk him however

,
.
, ,

in what his cap ita lcons is ts and he willnot answer in terms Of

,

dol l
ars at al l but in terms of plows horses eattl
,
e buildings , , , ,

machinery etc H is answers will Show very cl early that he

, .

knows exactly what capitalis even though he sometimes u ses ,

words incorrectly H owever there is nothing in correct in using

.
,

the idea of value as a means of expressing quantity of telling ,

how much wealth one possesses T here is no way of express .

ing the quantity of a number of unlike things except by reducing

them allto a common denominator as length bulk weight etc , , , , .

But it would be absurd for a farmer to try to tell you how much
capital he has in any of these terms to say for exampl e that , , ,

he has so many pounds or cubic feet of tools horses and eattle

, , , , .

H is only method is to give you the sum of their values an d to

state these values in terms of money .

Rel ation of ab stinence to capital A s indicated above fore .

,

thought and abstinence are at the very foundation of the whole

capitalistic process of production Let every one consum e his .

entire income an d there will be no new ca pital that is n o new ,

tools produced and the existing stock will eventually wear

,

out Such a community would speedily decay Let every one

. .
,

on the average save j ust enough of his incom e to repl

, ace th e

worn out capital an d that will be a stationary community

-

, Le t .
2 10 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I CS

a good thing for the community to have this surplus wealth to

be used in future production .

How capital is increased That th e future increas e in the .

number the power and the effectiveness of the tools of the com
, ,

munity requires a present surplus of production over con sump

tion may be shown by the following conside rations ( 1 ) In order
that the number of tools may be increased a larger share Of the ,

productive energy of the present must be turned toward the

making of tools th an would otherwise be necessary This larger .

productive energy does not come from nowhere ; it is simply

subtracted from that which is engaged in producing consumers ’

goods thereby reducing that S hare The community must be

, .

’
able to live in th e present on the consumers goods produce d by

a part of its productive energy the rest being directed toward ,

the making of tools which do not support life in the imm e diate
,

present but in a more or less prolonged f uture In the com

, .

munity at l arge therefore a surplus of productive power over

, ,

the needs of present consumption is absolutely essential to the

increasing of the supply of tools ( 2 ) In the present order of .

society the community as a whole does not usually decree that

this share of its productive energy Shall be turned aside from th e
’
production of consumers goods and set to work producing tools .

In a few cases this is done such as in the mainte nance of light

,

houses roads canals an d public works of various kinds ; but

, , ,

it is ordinarily done by individual initiative Some indiv idual .

considers whether he would better spend all his income for

’ ’
consumers goods or a part of it for producers goods I f he .

does the former he to that extent directs productive energy

, , ,
’
toward the production of consumers goods But where he .

’
decides to spend a part of his income for producers goods ,

either directly or through savings institutions he to that e x , ,

tent directs productive energy toward the making oi prod ucers

,
’

goods or tools .
 FACTOR S O F AGRI CULTURA L P RO D U CTIO N 21 1

In view of the necessity of having this surp lus fund of pro

ductive energy before tools can be produced it cannot be very ,

inaccurate to say that capital even in this initial form is a factor

, ,

of production . It certainly is a mean s whereby the future pro

ductive power of the community is increased an d its absence ,

would be a means whereby this power would be diminished .

Even money is an aid in production in the sense th at it saves

a great d eal of time and energy in making the necessary ex

chan ges Any one will be convinced of this if he will consider

.

the diffi culties he would have in supplying himself with the

necessaries of life by trading his services or his products for
the se things if there were no money of any kind in circul ation .

Money may from this standpoint be called a labor sav ing tool
, ,
-

an d included under c a pital

.

Way s of economiz ing in the use of money While it is a .

mistake to call capital money it is not incorrect as we saw

, ,

in the last section to call money a form of capital Whether

, .

we agree to call it by that n ame or not there can be no dis ,

agreement as to the advisability of economizing it or m aking

a l ittl e of it go a long way This however does not mean

.
, ,

simply that the individual needs to spend his money wisely ;

it means rather that the whole community ought so to arrange
things as to make it possible to carry on the necessary ex
changes with the smallest possible amount of money Whether .

some form of pure credit currency unsupported by metallic ,

money of any kind will ever be possible or not it is certain that

, ,

no nation has ever yet been able to get along without at least a
certain amount of money m ade O f some m aterial which has a
high value for other purposes than money .

In recent times gold an d silver have served this purp ose But .

such money is expensive It requires that a certain amount of

.

the productive energy of the world S hall be used in getting

the se metals for this purpose If it were possible to get along
.
,
212 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

that is to ca rry on allour exchanges with one half the present

, ,

amount of metallic m oney one h alf the productive energy which

,

is now used in providing these metals could then be turned

toward the production of other things which we cannot get
along without .

Credit O n e way of economizing in the use of metallic money

.

is to substitute credit in some form or other In a highly or .

an iz e d system of credit one doll ar of metallic money is fre

g
quently enabled to do as much work as four or five could do in
the absence of a credit system O n e dollar lying in a bank for
.
,

example may enable checks to be drawn an d accounts to be

,

canceled one against another an d thus really do as much work

, ,

with the assistance of the credit arrangements and p ractices as ,

several doll ars could do with out their help Theoretically it .

would be an ideal system if allthis mutual cancellation of ac

counts an d debts could be done without the use of the dollar .

This ideal has been compared to that of building allour roads

through the air thus saving much good land But both ideals are
, .

probably incapable of complete realization though progress can ,

doubtless be made toward both If we could eliminate friction

.
,

even perpetual motion might not be im possible ; but we cannot

elimi n ate friction so there is an end of the matter S imilarly
, .
,

if we could eliminate certain tendencies of human nature such ,

as sel fi shness an d an occasion al l ack of con fi dence in others a ,

pure credit currency might be possible ; but we h ave never yet

been able to eliminate these peculiarities which may be called ,

social friction an d therefore it is useless for the lawmaker of

,

the present time to attempt to create a pure credit currency .

H owever it has proved practicable to organize the credit O f

,

a country in such a way as to e ffect considerable economies in

the use of money ; th at is either to enable the business of the

,

country to be carried on with a smaller p e r cap ita circulati on

of metallic money or as is more usually the ease to e nable
, , ,
2 14 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

j ust here The savage mind is unable to appreciate future ad

.

vantages and therefore they seem to him at the moment of

, ,

decision to be trifling whereas the needs of the present seem

, ,

large The encouragement of habits of thrift and forethought

.
,

espe cially in children is one of the most e ffective ways of in

,

creasing capital .

S ecurity A n almost equally great hindrance to saving an d

.

“
investment is uncertainty A bird in the h and is worth two in
.

”
the bush Better consume your income now while you have it
. .

If you invest it you may never see it again Where the con
,
.

dition s are such as to justify th at course of reasoning there ,

will of course be very little accumulation of capital

, , .

This uncertainty is of many kinds In turbulent times dis .

,

turbe d by frequent wars invasions plundering expeditions or

, , ,

general lawlessness it is notorious that industry is backward an d

,

accumulations are meager M e n are not only uncertain as to the

.

reward of forethought; but they are frequently afraid to increase

their accumulations lest they attract the notice of plunderers .

With the e ra of peace an d order came a new incentive to accu

mulation When men felt reasonably certain that they would
.

get the benefit of their own frugality and forethought they be gan ,

to exercise these virtues .

But uncertainty results also from bad government U nder a .

whimsical an d despotic government the citizen never k nows

what the taxgatherer may demand of him In other words he .
,

never knows when he may be plundered in the name Of th e law

an d under the form of taxation This form of uncertain ty is
.

common even in the most democratic governments A de moc .

racy where the people have a strong sense of j ustice an d of

law an d order furn ishes perh aps the s afest possible con ditions

but a democracy ruled by the mob spirit where the people are ,

eas ily stirred by denunciations of the criminally rich but with ,

no very clear notion as to the distin ction between the hon es tly
 FACTOR S O F AGRI C ULTURA L P RO D U CT IO N 21 5

rich and the criminally rich and unable to see that there may ,

be more criminally poor than criminally rich men is probably ,

the worst form of government known .

A gain a weak an d ine ffi cient govern ment unable to hold in

, ,

c h e ck the rapacity of large combinations of wealth may per ,

mit conditions which make it hazardous for the small investor .

This is of course the day of large capitalistic undertakings

, , ,

the carry ing out under one management of vast unde rtakings

requiring more capital than any one can supply This calls for .

the combination of many small fortunes which is effected by ,

the organ iz ation of j oint stock companies or corporations and

-

, ,

by the selling of shares These shares ought to be an d if the

.
,

gove rnment were honest an d e ffi cient they would be the natural ,

savin gs bank of the people with small incomes A ny one who .

has succeeded in saving a hundred dollars or even less ought , ,

to be able to invest safely in the stocks or bonds of any of

the great and wellestablished railroads manufacturing plants
-

, ,

min es etc But oviring to the machinations of the large stock

, .

holde rs it is wherever the government

,
particularly the ju
dicial branch is too corrupt or ine ffi cient to control them ,

extre mely hazardous for such a person to invest in this way .

This uncertainty is sometimes partially overcome by good laws

relating to savings banks supplemented by excellent banking ,

practice or even by postal savings banks so that the small ,

ca pitalist m ay invest through these institutions But under a .

really e flicie nt govern ment there would be comparatively little

nee d for such institutions .

Taxation Fi nally even though the people be l

.
,
aw abiding -

an d the govern ment e ffi cient a mistaken theory as to the nature ,

of taxes and their effects upon industry may when put into ,

practice act as a hindrance to the effective accumulation of

,

eap ital A system of taxation which taxes every such positive

.

acc um ulation of ca pital instead of land and natural advantages

, ,
216 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

has this effect If for example the law should be such that
.
, ,

of two farmers living side by S ide owning farms equally fer ,

tile an d equally well located the more thrifty and progressive ,

is made to pay the higher taxes the tendency will be to dis ,

courage thrift and progressiveness O n e for example veg .

, ,

e tate s never irnprove s his farm or adds to its value by draining

, ,

fencing erecting buildings stocking it with superior equip

, ,

ment etc ; while the other plans ahead improves his farm
, .
, ,

drains it fences it erects good buildings stocks it with supe rior

, , ,

breeds of live stock equips it with superior tools until it be

, ,

comes as the result oi his own labor an d forethought worth

, ,

twice as much as the other If he is then made to pay twice as .

much in taxes as the other man who started with as good land ,

as he did the government is not doing very much to encourage

,

labor an d forethought to say the least , .

The l aw of proportions But the problem of economizing .

capital has in view mainly the idea of making existing accumu

lation s accomplish as much as possible The fi rst great law to .

be laid down with respect to this problem is the l aw of p ro

portion Stated abstractly this l

. aw is simply that the different
,

forms of capital must be combined in the best proportions .

S tated concretely it means among other things that there

, , ,

should not be too many horses for the size of the plow or too ,

large a plow for the number an d strength of the horses ; that

the number an d size of the harrows should bear the proper p ro

portion to the number and size of the plows horses etc ; that , , .

the number and size of the reaping machines should bear the
proper proportion to the number and size of the harrows plows , ,

horses etc This is a law with an in fi nite number of ap pli

, .

cations alloi them more or less interrelated an d in the aggre

, ,

gate oi the greatest possible importance

, .

In the simple matter of the plow team for example a part , ,

of the fatigue of plowing is due to the mere fact of wal king ,

2 18 P R I N C IP LES O F R URAL EC O N O M I C S

p owe r tO p p
ro e la boat e ig ht mil
es in an hour as it does to prope l
it four miles in the mme time . The resistance of the wate r is

gra
e te r the grea te r the spe e d . S imil
arly wi th the p l
ow ; to pull

sp e ed require s more than a proportional

ly in cre ase d te ns o i n
on the cle vis . A gain, beyond a cer ain
t po in t i
n c re ase d e x ertion

than twice as fatiguing to a tea m to doubl

e its rate of spe ed

bey ond good comfortable gait

a .

While it is practica lly certain that three horses with a common

fourte en in ch plow coul
-
d not plow three acres in a day as easily as
two could plow two acres it is quite poss ibl e that if the siz e of the
,

plow were increase d they could do it with the m e ea se H ere .

again it is a question of fi nding the prope r p roportion am ong the

various parts of th e combination The oretica lly the nature of this
.

proportion ean be state d a little more e xactly by mea ns of the fol

lowin g illustration though the practica lapplication of the prin c iple
,

always has to be worked out on the spot by e xp erimentation .

Let us assume that two horses without overwork but workin g ,

up to their reasonable eapac ity ean plow two acres a day wherea s
, ,

thre e h orse s with the same plow and the same fatigue to m
, an

an d beas t ean plow not three ac res but two an d on e hal

,
f O ne .

half acre is then the res ult of adding a third horse to the team .

D oe s it pay ? Wel l if the third horse would otherwise be stand

,

ing idle it doubtless would But suppose it is a question of hirin g

, .

a th ird horse or of keeping three horse s on the farm in stead of

,

two ; it woul d then be a question as to whether the value of the

one half acre of plowing was suffi cient to pay the cost of his k eep ,

plus ris k an d deterioration interest on his cost price etc If the

, , .

total cost of the horse is $ 1 5 0 a day while plowing is worth on ly

.
,

an ac re it is obvious ly a bad pro portion and two h orses

, ,

are more pro fitable than three But if his daily cost were any
.

thing less than 5 I then it would be a profitable combination .

 FACTOR S O F AGRI CUL TURA L P RO D U CT IO N 219

In generalwe may state the law thus : If you take one part
of the combination the plow in the foregoing illustration
as th e bas is or the fi xed unit an d vary the other factors
, ,
the ,

horses for example

,
the l
aw of proportion requires that the
,

last unit added to the variable factor the third horse in the fore ,

go ing ill ustra tion must add to the product as much as it adds
,

to the cost ; and moreover that it will pay to add to that

, ,

factor so long as the last unit added will add to the product
an yth in g above w hat it adds to the cost This statement of the .

law sounds fo rmidable no doubt but it is a l

,
aw which must be,

followe d if the largest success is to be attained H owever most .

,

successful farmers approximate pretty closely to the l aw fre ,

que ntly without knowing that it is a l aw .

The advantage of knowing that it is a l aw is th at it enables

a farm m anager if he cares to do so to substitute methods

, ,

of exact expe rimentation for general good j udgment in deter

minin g such questions as how many horses to use to each plow ,

what size of plow to use with each team how large a team and ,

plow to put in charge of each man etc The same law is involved , .

in the ques tion of how many acres to cultivate with each man and
team how large a ration and in what combination to feed to his
,

animal s an d a multitude of others which the farm manager must

,

decide rightly or wrongly o ffhand or by the methods of exact

,

experimentation This law it may be remarked is merely a

.
, ,

more generalstatement of the law of diminishing return s from

land as explained in preceding pages It may be further e luc i
,
.

date d by m eans of the fi gures on the following page which are ,

assumed arbitr a rily for purposes of illustration .

Let us assume th at the basis or the fi xed unit in the plowing

, ,

combination is one m an H e may plow with one two three

.
, , ,

four or as many as eight horses using different plows suited to

, ,

the number of horses in the team Le t us assume further that .

with one ho rse he ean plow one acre If that be true it is .

,
2 2Q P RI NC I P L ES OF RURA L EC O N O M IC S
altogether probable that he can with no greater fatigue to him
,

self or to either horse plow two acres with two horses using
, ,

a l arger plow A little time would be lost in feeding cleaning

.
, ,

harnessing hitching and unhitching two horses rather than

, ,

one but the loss of time would be so slight as to be almost

,

negligible With three horses to care for feed harness etc

.
, , , .
,

the loss of time begins let us say to be appreciable and unless

, , ,

the man works longer hours he will not be able to plow three
acres with three horses even though he uses a larger plow
, .

We are for the moment leaving out of consideration the

, ,

probability that a large plow pulls more than proportionally

harder than a sm all one owing to the greater height to which a
,

large sod has to be lifted in order to turn it over With the .

same amount of time a man will let us say plow not 3 acres , ,

but and for the same reasons he will plow with 4 horses

not 4 acres but 3 3 with 5 horses not 5 acres but

,
with 6
horses not 6 acres but with 7 horses not 7 acres but
.

an d with 8 horses not 8 acres but 5 O f course by getting

3 1
.
,

up earlier in the morning to do the preliminary feeding and

harnessing by allowing himself a shorter noon hour because of
,

the feeding and watering of the larger team and by working ,

longer in the evening after the return from the fi eld he may ,

succeed in maintaining a fi xed proportion between the n umber

of horses and the number of acres plowed ; that is he might ,

succeed in plowing one acre per horse regardless of the size of

the team But working longer hours in this case would mean
.

doing more work which economically speaking is the same as

, , ,

increasing the number of men .

U nder the assumptions which we have m ade it will appear ,

that the addition of the second horse a dded I acre to the

amount plowed with one horse the addition of the third horse ,

a dde d of an acre to the amount plowed with two horses the ,

addition of the fourth horse adde d of an acre to the amount .

222 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

of cost such as deterioration insurance interest an d ou

, , y , ,

have solved the problem of how many horses can most profi tabl y
be combined with one man in the plowing combination .

As suggested above the same l aw is involved when a giv e n

,

piece of land is taken as the base or fi xed unit in a general

farming combination an d the problem is as to the quantity of
,

the various other factors to combine with it This problem is to .

be determined by the same method and the same or a simil ar ,

diagram could be used to illustrate it In fact it is a universal .

principle applying to allcombinations of different factors for a

common purpose In the fattening of an animal for example it
.
, ,

will eventually transpire if the feeding is suffi ciently prolonged

, ,

that the daily gains will dwindle For every addition alday there
.

wil lbe a smaller and smaller additional gain in weight or value .

When the time arrives that the daily gains in value no longer
exceed the cost of the daily ration it is obviously time to sell ,

an d stop feeding This problem also could be illustrated by a

.

diagram similar to that given above Allow the different rec .

tangles to represent the daily or weekly gains in value then ,

fi nd the rectangle which approxim ates most closely to th e cost

of the daily or weekly ration and you have solved the problem
,

of when to sell .

O ne phase of the great l aw of propo rtionality as applied to

agriculture is the rule th at every form of capital shoul d be used
to its full capacity A gang plow or even a twine binder on
.
, ,

a sm all farm where it could be only partially utilized wo uld be ,

a viol ation of this l

aw Two horses kept where there is work
.

enough for only one the possession of m any tools so me of

, ,

which are seldom used are frequent e xamples of the sam e kind
,

of bad economy To avoid wasting capital in this way and at

.
,

the same time to provide adequate equipment for the e ffi cient

working of the farm requires the most earefulj udgment on the
,

part of the farm manager .

FACTOR S O F AGRI CULTURAL P RO D UCTIO N 223

3
0
5
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8 3
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5 8
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: 3 3
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8 0
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9
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 C H A P T E R IV

M ANAG EM EN T A S A FACTOR I N AGRI CULT URA L

P RO D U CT IO N
1

Th e manager as th e economiz er A fter al

id that can be
. lis sa

s aid regarding the economizing of land labor and capital in , ,

agriculture the actual working out of these problems in the

,

concrete is the task of the farm manager Wise legislation .

,

e ffi cient administration Of the laws already enacted an d n e w ,

scientifi c discoveries may create favorable conditions or oppor

tun itie s for agricul ture but upon the farm manager rests the,

responsibility of making agriculture respond to these favorable

conditions or of making use of the opportunities thus created
, .

H owever ingenious a new agricultural invention may be unless ,

the farm m anagers have the wisdom the foresight an d the , ,

power of initiative to readj ust their methods and reorganize

their farms it will not be used and the inventor will gain n either
, ,

fame nor profit from his work H owever wise an d effi cient the .

government may be in its agricultural policy if the farm mana ,

gers are unprogressive if they are under the power and domi,

nation of a superstitious fo rm of religion or of unscrupulous

demagogues the work of the legislator will be in vain H is one
, .

chance to b enefit agriculture under such circumstances is to be

gin at the bottom an d provide such an educationalsystem as
may eventually enlighten the people su ffi ciently to enable them
1
By th e c u te y f th e Ca n e g ie In stituti n the autho is p e rmitte d to use
o r s o r o r

in th i c h ap te
s m f th e mate rial in c lud e d in a c h apte on Th e Ec o n omic
r so e o r

C h a ac t i ti
r er s f th e A g i ul tu al In dust y wh ic h h e w ote fo th e
cs o r c r r , H is to ry of r r

A m i an A g i ul ture
erc wh ic h is b e ing p re p are d un de r th e dire c tion of th at ia
rc ,
”

stitution .
2 26 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I CS

I . FU N D AM E NT AL P RO BLE M S , OR P RO BLE M S OF I NV EST ME NT

The fundamental questions to be decide d by the farm manager
’
concern fi rst the manager s relation to the land that is h is
, , , ,

tenure ; second the typ e of ag riculture to be un dertaken that is

, , ,

what kind of products to produce ; third the scale upon which ,

he shall undertake the production that is the S ize of the busi , ,

nes s unit which he shall undertake to manage ; an d fourth the ,

equipment to be us ed an d the proportion in which the various

kinds of eq uipment are to be combined The third of these .

questions has to do in part with the law of proportion as

stated in the last chapter .

The problem of the relation Of the farmer to the lan d is of

perennial interest not only to the farmer but to the e conomist
as well Is it better for the farmer to own his land to rent or
.
, ,

to work on a sal ary If he rents is it better to pay cas h rent

‘

or a share of the produce or a combination of both ?

,

Own ership or ten ancy It has generally been assumed as a

.

matter of course by A merican farmers that it is be tter to own

the land upon which they work A side from the merits of this
.

theory there are at least three purely accidental factors having

, ,

nothing to do with the e fficiency Of agriculture which have con ,

tributed to the support of this practice The fi rst is th e fact that .

the land policy of the federal government has at least since ,

1 8 4 1 put the owne rship of the land in the fi rst instance directly
,

into the hands of its cultivators The second is the fact that .

over the greater part of the country and during the greater part ,

of our history land has tended to rise in value This rise in

, .

value has been considered as a part of the profits Of farming ,

an d every shrewd farmer has put himself into a positio n to get

this increment of wealth H e could secure this increment of

.
,

course only by own ing the land The third factor in th e prob
, .

lem has been the lack Of an intelligent system of leas in g l and .

 M ANAG EM EN T 227

This has doubtles s been due in turn to the fact that few of
, ,

our best farmers have cared to lease land H owever that may .

be th e fact remains that we have not worked out the problem

,

of a system of tenancy which is attractive to a progressive and

far sighted farmer O ur system of short leases under which the
-
.
,

tenant has little control or initiative is about as well calculated

,

to stifle initiative an d enterprise as anything could well be O n .

the other hand it must be said that the interests of the landowner
,

are so poorly safeguarded by our l aws an d customs as to m ake

it h azardous for him to let his land on a long lease or to allow ,

any large measure of control to pass into the hands of the

tenant This defect if it can be called a defect in our legal

.
, ,

system has contributed its sh are toward making the tenancy

system in this country more unpopul ar than it would otherwise

have bee n .

A side fro mthese factors j ust mentioned which as suggested , , ,

have nothing to do with effi cient agriculture there are certain ,

undoubted advan tages arising from the ownership of the soil by

those who cultivate it It obviates allvexatious questions relat

.

ing to leases an d the interpretation of the terms of the contract ;

it frees the cultivator from the irritation of continuous inspec
tion by the landowner who in order to protect his land from
, ,

exploitation must insist upon proper manuring weeding rotation

, , ,

of crops repairing etc and it gives the cultivator a permanent

, , .

interest in the farm and the community an d a sense of re spon ,

sibility which a mere tenant can scarcely feel .

O n the other hand we have the l arge an d stubborn fact

, ,

diffi cult to argue out of existence that the best agriculture in

,

the world is carried on under the tenancy system The most .

effi cient system of general farming is found in England where ,

the tenancy system prevails an d the most e ffi cient growing of

agricultural specialties is found on the very small gardens in

the neighborhood of Paris where the land is not generally

,
2 28 P RI N C I P L ES O F RU R AL EC O N O M I C S

own ed by the gardener In both these cases however there are

.
, ,

special reasons why the cultivator does not desire especially to

own the land In England the ownership of land is a kind of
.

passport to good society At least it confers a certain amount

.

of dignity upon the owner an d for this reason the competition for
,

ownership is severe among the well to do classes This compe - -

.

tition forces the selling price Of land up to a high fi gure as

compared with its rental value In this country land which rents
.
,

for 5 an acre net will sell for $ 1 00 or $ 1 5 0 In England it .

will sell for twice that amount This allows the owner so s mall
.

an interest on his investment as to prove unattractive to on e

who is not seeking social distinction The farmer who is seek .

ing only the pro fits of farming fi nds that he can m ake more
from his capital in some other form than when invested in land .

Even if he owned his land he would be tempted to sell if he

,

were o ffered say 3 00 an acre for it with the privilege of renting

,

for from $ 5 to $ 7 an acre By putting the large sum Of money

.

which he might receive from the sale of the land into stock an d
equipment he could get a larger income than would be possible
by retaining the own ership of the land If he is not the own er .
,

he would fi nd it for the same reason less profitable to buy the

, ,

land than to lease it .

In the neighborhood of Paris there are also special reasons

why the gardener frequently does not own his tiny plot of land .

M uch of this land is being held as future building sites an d has ,

a specul ative value for that purpose far in excess of its present

value as garden land The man who wants it as garden l

. and

alone could not afford to pa such a price

y H owever the own er .
,

is willing to let it at a rental which will not yield normalinterest

upon its speculative price rather than not get any income from
,

it at all H owever some of this gardening is done on land near

.
,

the military fortifi cations where regulations prevent the ere ction
,

of pe rmanent buildings .
2 30 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC ON O M I C S

land even in barren N e w Engl and which could not be made

, ,

to support a dense agricultural p opul ation if the standard of

living were reduced to a low enough level .

O ur immediate problem however is whether the farm man

, ,

ager would better own or rent his land N 0 general answer can
.

be made since it depends upon Circumstances of time and place

, .

O f course if there is a good prospect of land rising in val

,
ue ,

the advantage of buying is obvious M any an indifferent farmer

.

in the U nited S tates has found himself carried along on the

general current of prosperity merely because of the fact that
he became the owner of land when it was Cheap an d held onto
it while it rose in value B ut this has nothing to do with his
.

success as a farmer ; his prosperity arises from his success as a

land speculator O f course if the land should decline in value
.
,

after he bought it the di sadvantages of ownership would be

,

equally obvious .

A side from the factor of land speculation there are other ,

considerations already hinted at The terms upon which land

.

can be leased is a most important factor in the problem Where .

,

under the customary terms of tenancy the farmer has little ,

control and a very short tenure every capable farmer will try
,

to become an owner as soon as possible if for no other reason , ,

merely because it gives him fi xity of tenure an d freedom from

interference Where a favorable lease can be secured the problem
.
,

will turn largely upon the ratio of the price of the land to its
rent Where the price of land is so high in proportion to its rent
.

as to yield an abnorm al ly low rate of interest it will be be tter to ,

rent ; that is to say a capable farmer can make his capital yield
,

him a larger return when he invests it in tools machinery live , ,

stock etc than when invested in the land Where there is a

, .
, .

good landlord who understands farming and takes an intelligent

interest in the land and his tenants the advantages of this ,

system reach their maximum H owever the social re sults of

.
,
 M AN AG EM EN T 23 1

b entee lan dlordism where the landowner takes no intere st in

a s ,

his land or his tenants except as sources of income are so dis ,

astrous as to leave nothing to be said in its favor When the

’

safety of the investment an dallthe other factors are considered ,

it is seldom in this country that the price of land rises so high

in proportion to its rent as to yield an abnormally low rate of
interest It is only where some other motive than the desire for
.

income such as the desire for social esteem leads to the purchase
, ,

of land that the prices reach such abnormal heights G enerally .

speaking therefore in view of the facts that this is still a growing

, ,

country and l and values are still rising that our laws an d c ustoms
,

are not favorable to long leases on satisfactory terms an d that ,

land val ues are not as a rule abnormally high in proportion to

rent it is safe to say th at it is better for the capable farmer to
,

buy than to rent as soon as he is able to buy

, .

For the young farmer however with limited capital an d ex

, ,

e rie n ce it is not usually possible to buy l and without depriving

p ,

h imself of the means of equipping his farm For this reason it .

is the almost universal custom in this country for the young

farmer without capital to pass through a series of progressive
stages toward the position of farm owner The fi rst stage is .

commonly that of a farm hand A fter having acquired some .

knowl e dge and experience and having saved up enough money

,

to buy a team an d set of farming tools he begins his career as ,

a renter If he is a success as a farmer and his accumulations of

.
,

ca pitalare not swept away by some of the multifarious calamities

which always hang over the head of the farmer he will eve ntu ,

ally become a farm owner at fi rst with a mortgage on his farm

, ,

but fi nally free from debt .

Cash or share tenancy D uring the interval when the farmer

.

is of n e ce ssity a tenant the question as to whether it is better to

,

a
p y c ash or sh are rent is a practical one G ener ally speaking the
.
,

reason s are overwhelmingly in favor of cash rent thou gh there ,

232 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I C S

are special circumstances under which share rent may prove

more satisfactory Both methods call in about equal degree
.
, ,

for carefully drawn contracts an d mutual good will U nder the .

cash rent system the tenant is more likely to exploit the soil
-

an d leave it depleted U nder the share rent system the ten ant
.
-

is less assiduous in cultivatin g the soil es pecially the poorer ,

parts the fence corners or the other parts where the advan
, ,

tage of cultivation is more or less doubtful I n general it may .

,

be said th at cash tenancy leads to more thorough farming but ,

endangers the future fertility of the soil .

There is a fundamental economic reason aside from the gen ,

eral superiority of cash over share tenants for the observed fact ,

that cash tenancy leads to more thorough cultivation of the soil

th an share tenancy The cash tenant gets al
. lthe advantage of
his own supe rior cultivation whereas the share tenant gets only
,

a sh are of that advantage That is to say after the eas h tenant

.
,

has produced enough to pay his rent every additional dollar ,

which he ean make the farm produce goe s into his own pocket ,

whereas no matter how much the share tenant adds to the prod
,

uct he gets only a sh are of the in crease

,
U nder the p rin ciple .

of diminishing returns the cas h tenant ean afl ord to in crease the ‘

intensity of his cultivation up to the point where the additional

cost approximates in amount the additional product whereas the ,

share tenant could only afl ord to carry the cultivation up to the

point where the additional cost would equalin amount Iris slza re
of the additional product This principle may be illustrated by
.

means of the diagram on the following page .

Let the amount of labor to be e xpe nded in the cul tivation of

the farm be measured al ong the line O X and the cost along ,

the line O Y the cost pe r unit being represe nte d by the dista nce
,

0A Also let the curve Y H K BX repres ent the product to be

.

se cured by succ es siv e applica tions of labor to the cul tivation of

th e soil The ca s h te nant will pay a fixed sum for the farm
.
,
2 34 .
P RI N C I P L ES O F RU R AL EC O N O M I C S

tenancy as a general economic system provided the soil ca n ,

be safeguarded so as to kee p the eash tenant from mining or

exhausting it during the term of his lease .

S alaried m The question as to whether the farm

‘

anagers .

manager should work for a salary or not is merely a pe rsonal

matter In general the reasons are overwhelmingly against it
.
, .

But there are exceptional men who are real ly eapable farmers ,

so far as their ability to grow crops is concerned but who have ,

so little commercial ability as to u nfi t them for what are called

business dealings They fall an easy prey to agents of all
.

kinds they cannot resist the temptation to buy thin gs which

they do not ne e d ; they can scarcely buy the necessary thin gs
without getting Cheated ; an d consequently they are business
failures in spite of their skill in the realwork of farming Such .

a m an m ay do well to accept a salaried posit ion under some

lan downer who will himse l
,
f look after the commercial side of
farming The author has known a number of cases of this kind
. .

But a salaried position is far from satisfactory in the long run

for any one who does not need the kind of protection which
it furn ishes It leads to nothing and is likely to leave a perso n
.
,

stranded in his old age .

Wh at to produce The question what to produce is sometimes

.

decided for the farmer by the location of his farm To be sure , ,

he has to decide fi rst upon the location an d from his individual

, ,

point of view that might be regarded as the most fundamental

,

question of all But from the point of view of the country as

.

a whole the land is approximately a fi xed quantity an d e very

,

avai lable piece of it is supposed to be managed if not by one

manager then by another While the manager of any given

.

farm may not have many choices open to him as to what kind
of crops to grow he usually has some alternative The ques
, .

tion which willdetermine many other problems of manage ment

is wh ether to grow staple products or an agricul turalspecial
ty .
 M ANAG EM EN T 2 35

Stapl e products vs specialties The distinction between

. staple
.

products and agricultural specialties is not always clear, since

they shade off into one another by almost imperceptible stages .

In general a staple product is one which will always sell at some

,

quotable price ; that is any product whose price can always be

,

determin ed by the m arket quotations as in the case of grain

an d hay beef cotton hogs and cattle

, , ,
may be called a staple
,

product A ny product on the other hand which is not actually

.
, ,

class ifi ed on the market an d for which there are not and cannot
,

be regular market quotations but for which there is nevertheless, , ,

considerable sale sometimes at fancy prices may be called an

, ,

agricultu ral spe cial ty Fine stock for breeding purposes fancy
.
,

saddle an d driving horses where each individ ual animal has a

,

specialpurpose an d a special price of its own fancy fruit an d ,

vegetables which cater to special tastes etc are examples of , .

,

this Class of agricultural products In the growing of staple .

products the farm m an ager s problem is primarily that of re ’

ducin g the cost of production S ince his products always sell .

at a quotable price the problem of m arketing is reduced to a

,

minimum Though important in itself this problem is relatively

.
,

less important than th at of keeping down the cost of production .

B ut the reverse is the case with the grower of agricul tural special
ties H is greatest problem is that of marketing
. of getting ,

a fancy price for each individu al unit of product Though the .

p roblem of keeping down the cost of production is important

in its elf it is relatively less important th an that of successful
,

marketing Success in the production of staple products de

.

p e nds prim arily on being a g ood producer ; in the growing of

ag ricul tural specialties it depends upon being a good adve r

tiser a good displayer of products

,
in short in being a , ,

g o od s eller While .there will a lw ays be a pl ace for the grower

of agricultural specialties yet by far the greater part of the agri
,

cul turalindustry must al ways be concerned with the production

 6 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
2 3

of the staple crops H ence our interest is primarily with this

.

branch of the industry .

While the geographical an d market conditions will often pre

scribe the principalcrop to be grown on each farm it is not so ,

simple a matter as may appear at fi rst sight The soil of a cer .

tain farm may be admirably adapted to the growing of wheat

or beef but those prod ucts can also be successfully grown in
,

regions very remote from markets If this particular farm is to .

be devoted to either of these crops it will have to compete with ,

vast areas of land well suited to their production an d not well

suited to other crops which require less land and more labor ,

an d which do not stand transportation so well If therefore this .

, ,

particul ar piece of land is also well suited to some of these

other p urposes to the growing of corn cotton potatoes milk
, , , , ,

or garden crops products which have to be grown in n arrower

,

areas or nearer the m arkets it is not only more profitable

,
’
to the farmer but more economical of the nation s resources
, ,

to have it devoted to some of these purposes .

It is seldom however either profitable for the farmer himself

, , ,

or economical for the nation to have a farm devoted exclusively

,

to the production of a single crop O nly in rare exceptions .

,

where an agricultural specialty of high value is grown and ,

where considerable money can be spent for manures and fe rtil

,
e D iversifi cation of crops is an d must be
iz e rs is this pro fi tab l .

the rule for the vast majority of farms .

Reasons for div ersifi cation There are three main reason s for
.

this though doubtless a multitude of minor ones could be named

, .

In the first place every crop has its enemies and these tend
, ,

to multiply if the land is continually planted to the same crop .

The enemies of one crop are not necessarily the enemies of

another though they are sometimes By changing the crop
, .

every year the special enemies of each crop are held in che ck ,

even if they are not starved out altogether A ccordin g to one .

2 38 P RI NC I P L ES O F R U RAL EC O N O M I C S

Two rops are said to be competing either when they consume

c

th e sa me prope rties of the so il or when the y consume the sa me

p o rtio n of the farme r s tim ’

e ; that is w he n th ey dem an d h is,
tim e
and atte ntion at pre cise ly the sa me time of the year O therw ise .

th ey are noncompetin g crops Two crops may be competin g

.

in one se nse and noncom p eting in the othe r The idealdive rs i .

fimtion is of course a combination of crops which are n on

, ,

comp eting in both se nses So importa nt is th is prin c ipl

. e that
it may be laid down as a rule that no farm will pay un less it
provides steady an d regular work for a fairly perman ent labor
force throughout the greater part of a year Even dairy in g .
,

which may be called a highly specializ ed form of agriculture ,

is se ldom profitable unles s comb ined with the growing of fi eld

c rops of some kin d for sale The number of me n necessary to
.

do the m ilking evenings an d mornings are more than enough

to ta ke care of the cows and grow feed for them U nless so me .

other products are grown the time of the me n is not fully uti
liz e d By growing fi eld crops for sale the cost of producing
.
,

milk is divide d with that of growing these other crops ; or to ,

look at it in another way th e se crops are by products of mi lk

,
-

an d cost very little Very little poul try is kept profi tably in
.

th is country except on farms where it is in the strictest sense

,

a non competing crop or product Where it is kept in sm all

.

quantities it forages for itself consuming mainly waste prod ,

ucts besides destroying insects an d does not exh aust the soil
, ,

at al lbut tends rather to enrich it A gain it does not com .

,

p e te for the fa rmer s ’

time being c ared for,
m a inly by the la b or
of women an d Children This will help to explain how di ffi cult
.

it is for any one to make a living raising poultry alone in compe

tition with farm poultry unless one is prepared to go into the
,

business on a large scale and is equipped with thorough se ien

tifi c knowledge Where diversi fi ed farming means the growing
.

of noncompeting crops specializ ation is a long way off

, .
 M ANAG EM ENT 2 39

Rotation of crops . D iversifi cation

of crops almost invariably
m eans some sort of rotation O n e admirable scheme though
.
,

there are m any others applicable throughout the greater part of

the co rn belt is a three year rotation Of corn oats an d clover
,
-

, , .

Where the tillable land of the farm is divided in three parts ,

each part in turn being put through this rotation these crops ,

will be found to be noncompeting in both senses of the term .

O n e great obstacle to diversifi cation is the lack of suitable crops

to work together in rotation Thus it is di ffi cult to combine
.

corn wheat and clover because of the di ffi c ulty of getting fal l

, ,

wheat sown after the corn is h arvested and spring wheat is ,

us ually grown farther north than the corn belt A great Obsta .

cle to diversi fi ed farming in the cotton belt has been the diffi
culty of fi nding a noncompeting crop to go with cotton which ,

crop is very exacting in its demands upon the farmer s time ’

.

Though cotton land is generally good corn land these two ,

’
crops demand the farmer s care at about the same seasons of
the year Therefore every acre which he adds to his corn crop
.

subtracts an acre from his cotton crop and b e naturally prefers

,

to give his time to the more profitable of the two crops .

Large medium or smal lscal e farm in g A nother large an d

-
.

fundamentalquestion which the farm manager must determine

is the scale upon which he shal l carry on his farming opera
tions. Sometimes this question is settled for him by the size of
his farm the amount of capital an d the limit of his credit But
, , .

if he is known to be a capable farmer he can usually rent as ,

much land and borrow as much capital as he can handle e ffec

tively or economically If large scale farming were distinctly
.
-

more profitable than small scale farming he would have no diffi

-

c ulty in embarking upon large scale production -

It is becau se .

large scal
-
e farming is usually less profitable and because large ,

scale farmers fail more frequently than medium scale farmers -

that it is di ffi cult to rent land or borrow capital on a large scale .

2 40 P RI NCIP L ES O F R URA L ECONOMI CS

It is , of course , imposs ible to draw any hard an d fast l

- -
in es he

of th e farmis no test beeause more cap ital may be in veste d an d

shal
lde fin e l
arge -
sa le farmin g
farmin g where there is lan d as

enoug h eap italen ough and m

, e n enough employ ed to m
,
ake it

econom ica l for the manage r to give his whole time to the wo rk
of supe rvis o n and manageme nt al l the man ual work be in g don e
i ,

by employees working under his direction A rel ative ly small .

num be r of me n on a eattle ranch coverin g a wide area an d hav

ing cons iderable ca pital investe d in stock would be e quival ent
to a re latively large number of men on a s m al
lac reage dev oted
to market gardening That which marks the farm as a l
. arge

farm is the siz e of the whole bus in ess unit and neither the ,

number of men nor the number of acres taken se parately .

By medium scale farmin g is meant that style of farmin g more

-

common than an other in th is coun tr

y y where the man ager does ,

the greater part of his own work that is he and his family with , , ,

an oc ca sionalhired m an who us ual ly boards with the family

, ,

and where the ac reage is su ffi cient to employ the reasonable

working time of this labor force when equipped with th e teams ,

to ols implements and machines which are nec essary to util

, ,
iz e
that labor force to the best advantage The acreage may be .

small or large accord ing to the nature of the crops grown but
, ,

it must be l arge enough to allow the economical use of such

machines tools etc as are commonly used in that line of pro

, , .

duction In the grain and hay region of our central We st

.

anything from one hundred to two hundred acres say one ,

hundred sixty on the average would meet this descriptio n ,

.

By small scale farming is meant a typ e very common among

-

the peasants of certain European countries and more esp ecially in ,

J apan China and other countries of the Far East T his type
, ,
.
24 2 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

certain advantages and economies in large scale productio n -

even in agriculture but there are also very marked di ffi culties

,

an d disadvantages an d the general experience tends to show

,

that the disadvantages are greater than the advantages .

Adv antages of l arge scal e p r oduction The advantages of .

large scale production in agriculture are the same as in any

-

other ind ustry They are fi rst economies of skill ; second

.
, , ,

economies of equipment ; an d third economies in buying an d ,

selling Economy of skil lis effected when one who possesses

.

spec ial skil l for a particular kind of work is enabled to spend

al lhis time at that work If there is only enough of this spe .

cialwork to occupy a p art of his time he must either remain ,

idle the rest of his time or spend it doing an inferior kind

of work which could be done j ust as well by a less skillful an d
cheaper man O n a large farm he is more likely to fi n d enough
.

skilled work to occupy allhis time than on a small farm For .

example the farmer himself may be a skille d manager O n

, .

a l arge farm a number of men could work under his direction ,

an d thus the f ull advantage of his skill wo uld be secured On .

a small farm fewer men w o uld h ave the benefi t of his direction .

O n a very small farm he might have to do al lor a part of the

musc ular labor himself labor which a cheaper man could do
,

just as well H owever beyond the full utilization of the skill

.
,

of the manager there are comparatively few opportunities for

,

economy of skill in large scale farming This particular kind of -

.

skill however is undoubtedly economized by large scale farming

, ,
-
.

A s P rofessor A lfred M arshall points out : 1

T he h ead of a l arge b usin ess can reserve al lhis stre ngth for th e b road
es t an d m ost fun dam e n tal p robl e m s of his trade H e must in de e d assure
.

himse lf that his man age rs cle rk s an d foreme n are the righ t me n for th eir
, ,

work an d are doing their work w e ll ; b ut b e yon d this he n e e d n o t troubl e

,

himse lf much ab out d e tail s H e can k e e p his min d fres h an d c l ear for
.

th in kin g o ut the most diffi c ul t an d vital p robl e ms of his b usin ess ; for

1 P in i l e s of Eco om fi f h d
p r c ic s ( t e itionn ) V ol I p 2 8 5 , .
, . .
 M ANAG EM EN T 24 3

stu dying the broader moveme nts of th e marke ts ,

an d th e y e t un deve lop e d
resu tsl of curren t eve n ts at home an d a roab d; an d for iving
c on tr how
to improve the z
organi ation of the intern a l an d e xte rna l rel
ation s of

his busin e ss .

For much k the small employer has not the time if he has
of this wor
the ab ility ; he eannot t a ke so b road a surve y of h is trade or l oo k so far

ah ea d ; h e must ofte n b e conte n t to foll ow the l ead of othe rs A nd h e .

must spen d much of his time on work that is b el ow him; for if he is to

succ ee d at all h is min d must be in some respec ts of a high quality an d
, ,

must have a good deal of originating and organizing force ; and y e t he

must do much routine work .

E conomyof equipment is when a labor saving ma e ffected -

chine can be used to its full capacity This is much more likely .

to h appen on a large than on a small farm O n a small farm .

a machine m ay be used only a part of the time an d on a very ,

small farm where it could be used very little it is frequently

, ,

cheaper to dispense with it altogether an d do the work by hand .

A twine binder for example on a small farm may be used only

, ,

during the actual harvest season an d where a very small crop ,

of grain is grown it may actually be cheaper to reap it by hand .

In the economy of machinery however small farmers are some , ,

times able by coOpe ration to gain some of the advantages of the

large farmer This is especially true in the threshing of grain
.

in th e M iddle West .

Ec onomy in buying an d selling is sometimes e ffected by re a

son of the fact that the l arge farmer h aving to buy in l arge ,

quantities ca n afford to take more pains in looking over the

,

market be sides being able sometimes to buy at wholesale rather

,

than at retail rates S imilarly in selling since he has a great

.
, ,

dealto sell he can give more attention to the market an d can

,

somet imes get be tter freight rates when shipping by the carload
or the trainload If he is growing agricultu ral specialties
. fine ,

stoc k choice fruits etc

,
for which a special price is to be
,
.
,

had the l
, arge producer can also adv ertise more effectively an d
2 44 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

e conomically than the small producer ; but this is of no advan

tage to the grower of a staple crop which must be sold at the ,

regular market price in which case advertising is of little use

, .

Th e disadv antages of l arge scale farm ing The disadvan .

tages or diffi culties of large scale farming may be grouped into

-

three cl asses n amely geometrical seasonal an d temperamental

, , , , .

The geometrical di ffi culties are due to the fact that farming

necessarily requires considerable space or superficial area E ven .

intensive farming gardening etc where large scale farming

, , .
,
-

shows most signs of persisting need more space than most ,

other industries Large scale farming therefore necessitates

.
-

, ,

large spaces or large areas of land This means a loss of time .

an d energy in traveling from one part of the farm to another ,

transporting tools an d machinery seed an d crops to an d from , ,

different parts an d especially in going to an d from work M ore

, .

than that it generally increases the di ffi culty of supervision an d

,

direction The man ager cannot get quickly from one part of the
.

farm to another as is possible in a store or factory an d con se

, ,

quently only a sm all part of a large farm can be under his

supervision at any one time This necessarily limits very m ate
.

rially the possibility of econ omizing the only importa nt kind

of skill which large scale farming is capable of economizing
-

namely managing skill

, .

This possibility is still further limited by the seasonal diffi cul

ties In a factory there are certain operations which have to be
.

performed continuously the year round A n employee may be .

set at one of these operations an d he requires no further atten

tion beyond the necessary inspection an d accounting to see that ,

he puts in his full t ime an d does his assigned task in a satis

factory manner A ccordingly one human intellect is capable of
.

managing a large scale aggregation of such men by the aid of

-

modern business systems checking devices etc When the

, , .

working force is once organized and put in operatio n the work ,

246 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL ECONO M I CS

units as compared with manufacturing mining transportation , , ,

etc The only apparent exceptions are evidently in those regions

.

where the weather and the seas ons are singularly stable and mo
n otonous ; th at is on certain grain farms in the semiarid West
,
.

Even there however large scale farming is succes sful only

, ,
-

where the agriculture is of a very low grade But in addition to .

these diffi culties the farm manager has certain temperamental

,

di ffi culties to contend with diffi culties less easily understood

,

than those already mentioned but important nevertheless M en , .

who work on farms are as a rule more individualistic th an men

, ,

who work in urban industries M e n who long for hum an com .

p a n ion sh ip who,
dislike working in isol ation who herd ea sily , ,

do not as a rule remain on farms if there is a chance for them ,

to get work in a town Inasmuch as the towns are drawing up

.

on the farms for their workmen it generally results that the ,

men who stay on the farms are those to whom the lure of the
city is least attractive They are the most individualistic
.
,

the most impatient of rules of restraints of discipline ; in a , ,

word they are harder to manage in gangs This consid erably

, .

i n creases the difliculty of directing l arge numbers under one

management in farming and gives a corresponding ad vantage

,

to the small farmer in competition with the very large farmer .

The supreme advantage however of the medium scale of , ,

production over the large scale is that the work is performed by

those who have a direct personal interest in the result There
,
.

are therefore no perplexing l abor problems no questions of the

, , ,

hours of l abor or of the relation of employer to employee to ,

be solved Even if large scale fann ing were technical

.
-
l
y a little
more effi cient these social advantages would be on the sid e of
,

medium scale production an d would enable it to hold its own

-

in competition with large scale production Where there are

-
.

l arge numbers of wage earning agricul tural l aborers a class feel

-

ing is almost certain to develop among them and an organized ,

 M ANAG EM ENT 24 7

effort to resist the plans of the employers to increase outp ut .

There will be demands for shorter hours frequent holidays , ,

and sun dry privileges which al l taken together will han dieap
, ,

the farmer who has to depend on hired labor in his competition

with the farmer who does his own work In view of the fact .
,

therefore that the technical advantages are not defi nitely and
,

decidedly on the side of large scale production these socialad

-

vantages on the side of medium scale production will give it the

-

upper hand so long as we maintain the present social conditions .

There are social conditions however which might change all

, ,

this an d give a techniealadvantage to large scale production It -

.

is well known that slave labor necessarily means large scale pro -

duction Now slave labor is necessarily of a low grade an d can not

.

be self directed It must work under the direct supervision of

-
.

an overseer or boss This overseer must be a man of special

.

and somewh at exceptional ability an d must therefore be paid a ,

somewhat special or exceptional salary It would be a wasteful .

proc es s to employ such a man to superintend the work of two

or three slaves Even though the plantation owner does his own
.

superintending he would fi n d it a wasteful expenditure of his

,

time to superintend the work of a small number of slaves In .

order to get the full use of the time and ability of the overseer ,

there must be a considerable numbe r of slaves and su ffi cient

acreage which m eans l arge scale production
,
-
But any situation .

where there was a large mass of low grade labor either slave or -

free ineapable of directing itself would produce a similar result ;

, ,

that is it would necessitate large scale production If the mass

,
-
.

of the agricultural laborers do not know how to run farms an d

can not be even trusted to work alone without direct an d im
me diate supervision then of course they must work under over
, , ,

see rs .But an overseer could not economically give his time to

sup erinte nding the work of one or two free l aborers any more

than he could that of one or two sl aves The conse quence woul d .
2 43 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I CS

be that the economic advantages would lie on the side of l arge

scale production where men could be worked in gangs rather

, ,

than on the side of medium or small scale production But if a -

.

high scale of intelligence e ffi ciency an d initiative ca n be m ain

, ,

tain e d on the part of the mass of the agricul tural workers there ,

is not the slightest reason to expect that large seale produ ctio n -

will ever become the rule in agriculture The only chance for the .

advocate of large scale production is the importatio n of m asses

-

of cheap coolie labor to fi llup our l and an d crowd out th e inde

pendent self respecting native farmers
,
-

, .

Dear vs ch eap labor This reveals one of the fundamental

. .

antagonisms of interest among the different classes of our p op

ul ation .The class small as yet in this country which own s

, ,

land but does not work with its own hands is interested in get ,

ting a large mass of cheap labor which will enable it to cultivate

the land more profitably and increase the income fro m it The .

class which labors with its hands but does not own land is in
te re ste d for obvious reasons in keeping labor dear or wages
, ,

high But the middle class which both owns land an d works
.
,

with its own hands is divided in its interests A s owners of

, .

lan d the members of this class would like to see high rents
, ,

but as workers they would like to see labor well remunerated .

So long as the mass of the farmers of the country belong to

this class there are not likely to be labor di ffi culties or confl icts
between property owners an d wage earners .

A l arge mass of cheap labor would inevitably result in a sep

arati on of classes So long as we have cheap land and dear labor
.

the way is easy from the position of farm hand to farm owner .

Wages being high it is easy for the farm hand to save money
, .

Land being cheap it is easy for him to buy l and Therefore

, .

every farm hand who will practice ordinary thrift and foresight
may reasonably expect to become a farm owner B arrin g sick .

ness or accident there is no excuse for him if he does not

, .
2 5 0 P RI N C I P L ES O F RU R AL EC O N O M I C S

purpose may easily require the entire working time of one family
even when equipped with allthe known labor saving devices -

which can be used in that business But only a limited number .

can engage in such extreme agricultural spe cializ ation as this .

Th e vast m aj ority of farmers must necessarily be engaged in the

growi n g of the great staple products for which there is a large
an d perm anent demand To try to grow any of these staple prod
.

ucts or to engage in general farming on one acre or th ree or

, , ,

fi ve or even ten will usually be small scale farming I f it uses

, ,
-
.

the best equipment in the way of labor saving devices no fam -

ily can employ allof its time on so small a tract in growing

grain hay beef wool cotton or any of these great crops
, , , , , .

A great deal has been written in advocacy of small scale farm -

ing under such alluring titles as Three A cres and a Cow or ” ”

“
Three A cres an d Liberty (for those to whom the idea of
”

liberty is more inspiring than that of the cow) While three .

acres devoted to some high priced agricultural special

-
ty will bring
in a handsome income yet as already suggested the mass of
, , ,

our farmers cannot grow ag ricultu ral specialties Three acres .

devoted to any of the great crops which are necessary to feed

an d cl othe the race is a very poor wa to m a ke a living a n d
y ,

as l ong as l aborers can get reasonable wages they are surely not ,

going to make a stampede to get three acre lots A gain while -

.
,

a m an of good business ability m ay undoubtedly make a liv

ing off three acres yet if he has good business ability he is

,

usually not in need of three acres H e can run a bank a sto re .

, ,

or a larger farm an d m ake a much better living th an he could

,

from three acres even when liberty and a fluent cow are added
, .

There are however exceptional eases where this will prove a

, ,

useful combination These are well worth our thoughtful con

.

sideration but we must not think that we are solving a great

,

agricul tural p roblem when we are providing for a few e xce

p
tion alcase s .
 M AN A G EM EN T 25 I

I n the fi rst place there is the army of the unemployed in

every large city It is urged that they be put upon these small
.

tracts of land and allowed to make a living While this method .

,

even if it would work is a solution of an urban rather than of a

,

ru ral problem being merely a scheme whereby the cities may

,

relieve themselves of a burden of their own creation by shifting

it upon the country yet the rural economist ought to consider it
,

on generalph il an thropic grounds Experience has shown how .

,

ever that as a g eneral rule men who cannot get employment

, , ,

or make a living in an A merican city with its growing indus ,

tries and expanding opportunities will se ldom be able to make ,

a living in the country even if given the free use of a sm all

,

parcel of land O ceasionally there is a man whose health or

.

whose temperament un fits him for life in a crowded city or for

work in a gang under the surveillance of a boss who could do ,

well under rural conditions where work is in the open air an d

, ,

where it can be performed independently For such men it is .

a real godsend to be given an opportunity to get back to the

land and the three acre farm m

,
ay be the best thing for a
-

small percentage of these though the maj ority of them would

,

do better to take positions as farm hands on farms of a larger

size While a majority of those who attempt to make their own
.

living on these minute farms make rather poor livings even ,

this may prove an attractive altern ative in a country where so

c ialconditions are bad ; that is where trades are overcrowded ,

and wages low In general the worse the social conditions

.
,

are th e more men there will be to whom the three acre farm
,
-

will be an advantage But so long as wages especially the

.
,

wages of farm labor are as good as they are in this country

, ,

the number to whom this type of farming will appeal will

re m ain sm al
l .

A larger class who might be benefited by these small farms

consists of l aborers an d artisans h aving employment in regul
ar
252 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

trades They sometimes have a little extra time mornings ev en

.
,

ings and holidays which might be spent in their own gardens

, , ,

if they had gardens to better advantage than it is now spent

, .

Besides their children would undoubtedly profit greatly fro m

,

having some productive work to do during a part of the time

outside of school hours The chief di ffi culty in the way of.

the extension of this kind of small farm ing is the lac k of

adequate transportation facilities Even with adequate transpor .

tation facilities however only a small percentage of the people

, ,

would really gain anything from this source because of the lack ,

of the mental and more particularly the mo ral qualitie s n ece s

sary to make a good farmer or gardener But out of the millions .

of laboring people in our cities there would doubtless be many

thousands who would fi n d this kind of farming a great help in
getting a living for their families if land were to be had in ,

small parcels and if transportation facilities were su ffi ciently de

ve lope d to e nable them to get to an d from their work c on ve n
’
ie ntl
y If.one l aborer s family in a hundred or even one in a ,

thousand were materially benefited in this way it would be well

, ,

worth accomplishing But this type of farming usually reaches

.

a higher development in countries where trades are overcrowded

an d wages low than where the dem and for l abor is fairly good
,

and wages are fairly high U nder these conditions a l arger num
.

ber are driven by necessity to supplement their regular earnings

by work in their gardens utilizing their spare moments an d the
,

surplus labor power of their families But even in a co untry .

where wages are relatively high a wider diffusion of the knowl ,

’
edge of the gardener s art would undoubtedly result in a much
wider application of that art by wage workers and their families .

Gardens of this description someti me s ealled homecrofters,

’

gardens by English spea king people have become prominent

-

features of the environs of European cities such as Paris Lon ,

don an d Berlin They have had their highest development in

, .
254 P RI N C I P L ES O F RU R AL EC O N O M I C S

little left for himself if he tried to keep a pair of horses to do

his work unless as suggested above he is in a position to p ro
, , ,

duce some agricultural specialty H e would likewise fin d a .

reaping or a mowing machine a poor investment The gen .

eral result of such small scale staple farming is necessarily the

-

use of laborious an d ine ffi cient methods .

H owever a great increase in the agricultural population of

,

the country which seems so desirable to some people will nec

, ,

e ssarily result in either the multiplication of sm all farms or of

agricultural laborers If we are to have a wholesale increase in

.

the rural population anyway the former may be and probably

, ,

is the more attractive alternative It is the desire to escape

, .

both alternatives which more than anything else explains the

, ,

movement from the country to the city though doubtless less ,

commendable motives are frequently mixed with this one It .

is this motive undoubtedly which drives multitudes of people

from our own rural districts to the Canadian N orthwest where ,

land is still abundant .

In so far as the movement from the country to the city

has the result of m aintaining medium scale farming rather than -

small scale farming on the one hand or the formation of an ag

-

ricul tural proletariat on the other it is a wholly commendable ,

movement and all efforts to check it or to increase the agri

,

cultural population beyond the point where medium scal e farm -

ing can be maintained is wholly an d extremely vicious We

, .

must therefore expect the surplus population to continue to

leave the rural districts That is the only way by which a
.

high standard of rural living can be maintained .

That medium sized farms are more pro fitable than small farms
-

in a certain section of N ew York state has been conclusively

shown by P rofessor G F Warren of Cornell U niversity who
m
. .
,

furnishes the following tables They for a part of the results

.

of an agriculturalsurvey of Tompkins County N ew York , .

 M ANAG EM ENT 255

S I ZE O F FARM A N D C RO P Y I E LD S
TO WN P
SH I S O F I TH A CA, D RY D EN D A N BY
, , AND LA N SI N G

Y I E LDS PER ACRE

Acre s in farms
Oats (bushe l
s) Po tatoe s (b us he ls) H ay (tons)

3 0 or e ss l

Contrary to popular Opinion the medium scale farms are pro ,

-

duc in g as good yields or crops as the small farms except in the ,

case of hay The hay yields are slightly less on the bigger farms
. .

S I ZE O F F A R M R E LA TED TO P RO FIT S
5 8 6 FA RM S O P E RA T ED BY O WN ( T W N
E RS H . O S IP S O F ITH A CA , D RY D EN ,

D A N Y A N D LA N N G )
B , SI

N umbe r o f farms Ave rage siz e (acre s) Lba o r inco me

3 0 or e ss l

These fi gures
help to explain why according to the census ,

of 1 9 1 0 the sm all farms are disappearing

,
It is also true that .

the large farms of 5 00 acres and over are disappearing The

, , .

tendency is undoubtedly toward the medium scale farm as the -

most e ffi cient agricultural unit .

 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O NO M I C S

the questio n of the e quipme nt of a farm is partly one of propor

tio n .That phase of the question however has bee n suffi cie ntly , ,

discusse d al ready an d we m ay n ow cons ider the kin ds of e quip

,

me nt rather than the mere question of the quan tity of ea ch kind

to use in c ombination with the others .

P ow er The fi rst p roblem in the e quipment of a farm as

.
,

well as in that of a factory or a railroad is the problem of power ,

.

Every one is familiar with the facts re gardin g the revol utions
which have bee n wrought in other industries by the substitution
of new so urces of power particularly ste a m Whil ,
e the re are .

many other operations upon a farm where power is needed yet ,

the greates t nee d is in the treatm e nt of the so il t11rning it pul ,

—
,

ve riz in it a n d m ak ing a proper see d b d of it N e xt in im

g ,
e .

p orta nce to th is is the n ee d for p ow er in the tra ns por ta ti on of

crops from the fi elds to the barns and from the barns to the ,

markets and of se ed manures fertiliz ers fencin g materials etc

, , , , , .
,

to differe nt parts of the farm For none of thes e purp ose s is .

a stationary engine availab le ; they al l req uire tractio n power .

Wherever stationary power is needed me chan ica lpower of some ,

kind is cl early an d beyon d al ,

lquestion ch eaper an d more e ffi ,

cient than animal power But where traction is nee ded the re .
,

is no such clear an d indubitable advantag e in mec hanicalo ver

animalpower except where there is a suitable roadbe d prepared
,

espe cially for the engin e Th is is of course impos sible in m ost

.
, ,

of the farm work Some of the heavier work of the farm such
.
,

as pl owin g and drawing loads to market m ay be done econ om ,

ieally w ith a tra ction engine though even here the advan tage is ,

sometimes doubtful A n d th ere is a m ultitude of ope rations on

.

eve ry farm which cann ot be performed effi cien tly or economieal ly

e xce pt with anim al power H arrowin g drawing the c o rn plant
.
,

ers , gr ain dr ills etc cultiva,

tin g the .grow
, ing cor n c otto n p 0 , ,

tatoes etc ,
and al. l sim ilar tasks demand an imal rathe r than
, ,
258 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I C S

the high price of beef and partly be eause of the high cost of
,

horses But in spite of this apparent renewal of interest the

.
,

ox is a relatively small factor in the agricultural economy of

the nation as a whole A s a source of animalpower the horse
.

stands preé mine nt among domestic animals in this country and ,

the mule comes second but even he is not a close second

, .

According to the census of 1 9 2 0 there were on farms in the ,

U nited States ,
horses while mules numbered only ,

That census did not take the number of working

oxen but according to that of I 8 90 there were about
,

in the country In some parts of Euro pe however partic ularly

.
, ,

in central and southern France in Spai n and Italy and in , ,

some parts of G ermany the ox is still a factor of great impor

,

tance In parts of France an d Italy in particular cattle h ave

.
, ,

been bre d for work and not exclusively for beef an d m ilk .

H ence the oxen of these countries are probably more e ffi cient

as working animals th an any of the breeds with which we are

famil iar in this country except perhaps the D evons which used
, ,

to be noted for their excellence as working cattle When on e .

sees the huge white oxen of Tuscany with their rel atively rapid ,

g ait an d their prodigious strength one is prepared to believe

,

that they may be quite as e flicie nt as horses for heavy farm

work A s a matter of fact the author was told by a l
.
,
arge Italian

landown er who was also a scientific agriculturist that he had

, ,

made careful trials of both horses and oxen an d t hat he had

found the latter to be much more profitable There are reasons .
,

however as will be shown later why this might be true in I taly

, ,

and not true in A merica quite irrespective of the di fference in

,

the breeds of cattle .

Comparativ e advantages of h orses and ox en In generalthe .

advantages of using oxen are : ( 1 ) Their lower cost as compared

with horses ; ( 2 ) their lower liability to disease or unsoundness

and th eir greater ability to stand ex posure ; 3) the lower cost ,
 M ANAG EM ENT 259

both for purchase an d maintenance of yokes an d chains as

,

compared with harness ; (4 ) the fact that when they become

un fi t for work either through age or inj ury they can be fat
, ,

te ned an d turned into beef .

Stated more favorably the ox may be worked from the age

,

of three years up to seven or eight during which time he is

,

g aining in weight a,
n d then sold for beef his gain in ,
weight
an d value paying in part the cost of keeping him There are .

also certain minor advantages such as the slight saving of time

,

in hitching an d unhitching oxen as compared with horses the

fact that oxen are less nervous and excitable an d less inclined
to worry when at rough work such as plowing in stony or
,

stumpy ground ; the fact that they may be turned out to pas
ture when not in use with slightly less care an d attention
, ,

t han horses usually demand ; an d the fact that oxen can sub
sist on slightly coarser feed than h orses require .

O ver against these advantages are these disadvantages

I
. The slowness of movement of the ox un fits him for any
except such heavy wo k as needs to be done at a slow gait
r
.

A horse is more adaptable to a variety of purposes being able ,

to trot when necessary to walk rapidly when the n ature of the

,

work de m ands it or sl owly when that gait is required

, .

2
. M ost of our farm machinery requires the rapid gait of the
horse rath er than the slow gait of the ox This however could
.
, ,

be remedied by the manufacturers of machine ry by the simple

expedient of gearing the machinery higher if oxen were in
gene ral use But the fact that this is not done tends to pre
.

vent their coming into general use : Therefore there is a con

side rabl e social inertia in favor of the horse even if it could
,

be shown that oxen were more economical .

3
. It is prob able though
,
not de fi nitely proved th at the ,

horse is a better machine than the ox for transforming feed

into mechanical energy though the latter may be the better
,
2 60 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

machine for turning it into flesh If allowed to take a slower

.

gait with a correspondingly heavier load the average ox may

, ,

be able to pull as many foot pounds in a day as the average

horse in propo rtion to the food consumed This has not been .

put to a satisfactory scientifi c test .

H owever that may be there is no doubt th at one man with a

, ,

good team of horses will be able to do more work of the gen

,

eral an d miscell aneous kinds which come up on a farm in the

course of a year than he could do with a yoke of oxen though ,

he might not be able to do more of special kinds of work such ,

as breaking sod or plowing heavy ground In a country such .

as Italy where l abor is Cheap an d where it is therefore not a

,

matter of supreme importance to get as much work out of

each man as possible the lower cost of the oxen might easily
,

compensate for the smaller amount of work done But in a .

country like the U nited States where labor is dear it is highly

, ,

important th at it be economized an d that each man should be

enabled to accomplish as much as possible Therefore it may .

a
p y better to equip him with a te am of horses th an a yoke of
oxen even th ough the horses cost a great deal more provided
, ,

he will accomplish more with them This is a pri nciple of .

economy of very wide application If you are hiring a very .

expensive man you must not give him a cheap equipment for
,

his work provided you can get more an d better work out of
,

him by giving him a more expensive equipment But if you are .

hiring a cheap man it may not pay you to give him the e xpe n
,

sive equipment If one cheap man with a cheap equipment is

.

not able to do allyour work it may be Cheaper to hire two than

,

to give the one a m ore expensive e quipment The high price of .

A merican labor is the fi nal economic reason for the general

displacement of the ox by the horse on A merican farms and ,

the low price of labor in southern Europe is the fi nal econo mic
reason why the ox is still used in preference to the horse .
26 2 P R I NC I P LES O F RURAL EC O NO M I CS

thus realizing the same economy as is realized in the use of oxen .

H owever there is the unavoidable di sadvantage that if the horse

,

becomes unsound particularly in his feet or legs his value is

, ,

gone whereas the ox is still good for beef U ntil horse flesh
,
.

comes into general use as an article of food this will be a ,

permanent disadvantage to the user of horses .

Th e mul e The economic differences between the horse an d

.

the mule as a source of power are by no means so great as

those between the horse and ox The horse is the larger an i.

mal an d will on the average by reason of this superior size

, , ,

an d weight exe rt m ore strength on a S hort sharp pull than the

, ,

mule P ound per p ound however the mule is quite as capable

.
, , ,

though it is doubtful if he is any more capable Some e xtrava .

gant opinions are frequently expressed regarding the prodig ious

stren gth of the mule but these opinions are not based upo n
,

practical tests O n the other hand the mule appears to have

.
,

the more endurance A t steady work such as plowing which

.
,

does not require S hort an d Sh arp pulls but continuous hard ,

work over long hours the mule will probably do more work in
,

proportion to his weight A gain it is probable that he will

.
,

thrive on Slightly coarser food than the horse though the dif ,

ference in this respect is not so great as is popularly supposed .

P ound per pound he requires quite as much nourishment as the

,

horse though he may get along with a slightly larger propo rtion
,

of his nourishment in the form of hay an d Slightly less in the

form of grain This however is not always economical Cer
.
, , .

tain ly it is a mistake to assume th at the mule does not respond

to good feeding as well as the horse A gain the mule is less .
,

nervous and excitable than the horse an d wastes less of his ,

energy in worry an d excitement in try ing situations an d under

unkind and unskillful handling Finally the mule is better .
,

fi tted for very hot weather than the h orse The two qualities .

last named give him a decided advantage on the cotton and

 M AN AG EM EN T 263

sugar farms of the S outh where the work is done largely by

,

negro labor an d where it has to be done under intense heat

, .

O n the other hand the horse is slightly less expensive to

,

rear The cross be tween the m are and the j ack shows a lower
.

percentage of fertility than that between the mare an d the stal

lion M oreover during the early period of infancy the mule
.
, ,

colt is more susceptible to injury an d sickness than the horse

colt though afterwards the advantage is on the other side A n
, .

other advantage on the side of the horse particularly in N o rthern ,

cities is his greater size an d capacity for drawing heavy loads

,

over paved streets A gain his feet are believed by many to

.
,

stand the pounding on stone pavements better th an those of

the mule S till another advantage on the side of the horse is
.

the fact that the teamsters of the N o rthern Cities are more accus
tome d to the horse than the mule an d therefore will generally buy
,

him in preference This is an important item for the farmer who

.

expects to sell his mature an d seasoned animals to city buyers .

H owev er the market for mules in the S outh is a partial o ffset

,

to this ; but if there were as many mules grown as there are

horse s this market would soon be oversupplied Were it not
,
.

for the larger market for the horse it would seem that the pa ,

tie n ce an d steady endurance of the mule would fi t him so ad

mirably for farm work where there are fewer occasions than in
,

cities for sho rt an d sharp exertions of great strength as to cause ,

a great increase of his numbers particul arly in the hay an d ,

grain farms of the great central area of the U nited States .

M ech anical pow er As stated above where stationary power

.
,

is needed mechanical power is beyond all question more eco

,

nom icalan d e flicie n t than anim al power The use of mech an .

ical power for traction also is increasing an d will doubtles s ,

contin ue to increase but that it will ever completely displace

,

animal power is more th an doubtful Where a suitable road .

bed is prepared mechanical is proving superior to animal power

,
2 64 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

even for traction purposes an d it is very probable that it wil

, l
eventually displace animal power or nearly so on our roads an d
, ,

streets For plowing particularly in large fi elds it has some ad

.
, ,

vantages also an d may gain in favor as engines are improved

, ,

but it will probably be a long time before it displaces animal

power completely S ome of the large harvesting machines in
.

use in the Far West have been drawn by mech anical traction ,

but the experiment has not yet proved such an unqualifi ed suc
cess as to cause its general adoption An interesting combi .

n ation is being tried by means of which the dead weight of the

,

h arvester is drawn by h orse power but the machinery is run by,

steam or gasoline engines This is virtually a stationary engine

.

running the m achinery while the traction power is furnished by

horses Eight horses are able to pull the whole machine as a

.
,

mere load on wheels whereas it would take thirty two to pull

,
-

it if the traction had to run the machinery also .

For the runn ing of stationary machinery on a farm water ,

power is undoubtedly the most economical where it exists but ,

unfortunately those farms are very few The windmill is an .

equally economical source of power an d it can be used on ,

almost eve ry farm in almost any pl ace but it is suitable for ,

only a few kinds of work such as pumping water grinding

, ,

feed etc which do not have to be done at defi nite periods

,
.
, .

Where labor is dear it would not prove economical to use so

uncertain an d so uncontroll able a source of power as wind for ,

work which required labor as well as power There would be .

too many vexatious an d unprofitable del ays and interruptions .

AS between steam engines an d gasoline or explosive engines ,

for stationary power the choice must depend upon a variety of

,

Circumstances Where as on a dairy farm for examMe con

.
, ,

side rable qu antities of hot water are needed an d the same ,

boiler can be used for heating the water and running the cn
gine steam power is unquestionably more economical Again
, . ,
266 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

will be to reduce somewhat the number of work animals kept on

farms or to Check their increase somewhat leaving a l arger pro
, ,

portion of the produce of the farms to be turned into money ,

since a sm aller propo rtion will be used in providing power ,

that is in horse feed

,
.

Liv e stock It is safe to say that there is no such thing as

.

good farming without live stock except in the neighborhoo d of ,

large Cities from which abundant supplies of manure can be

carted or where it is found profitable to buy l arge quantities
,

of chemical fertilizers to be used in the production of high

,

priced agricultural specialties The relation between live stock

.

an d good agriculture is partl y cause an d partly effect Live .

stock is a cause of good agriculture in the sense that it is good

for the l and an d good for the farmer ; it is an effect of good
agriculture in the sense that good farming is necessary before

the live stock industry can reach its highest development

-
.

The benefi t which the l and receives from live stock may be
due in part to factors not well understood such as the tramping ,
’
of the soil by the animals feet ; but it is not necessary to give
such doubtful reasons when there are at least two that are un q ues
tion e d In the fi rst place the consumption on the farm of some
.
,

of its vegetable products an d the removal from it of only the

refi ned products or products combining great value with little
,

weight such as butter Cheese wool eggs an d meat removes

, , , , , ,

comparatively little fertility from the soil ; that is to say the ,

greater part of the value for fertilizing purposes of the food con
, ,

sumed by live stock is left on the l and in the form of man ure .

In the second place live stock particul

, arly sheep an d goats h ave
, ,

a liking for many of the noxious weeds grasses an d shrubs with , ,

which the farmer has to fi ght incessantly and they prove effective ,

allies of his in his e fforts to keep them down that is they help ,

to keep the farm clean Even poultry plays its humbl e part
.

in this work an d wages war not only on weeds but on insects

,
 M ANAG EM ENT 26 7

as well Any one familiar with the farms of the M iddle West
.
-

will have had occasions to notice some remarkable obj ect lessons
of this kind In a grasshopper year for example when pastures
.
, ,

are general ly suffering from these pests one farmer will occasion
,

al ly be found whose pastures Show very little injury from th at

source the reason being th at he has a large flock of turkeys
,

roaming over his pastures literally sweeping their path clean

,

of gra ss hoppers as they go O ur orchardists h ave probably not

.

yet begun to appreciate the help which they may get from poul
try in their e fforts to fi ght the multifarious insect pests which
al ways threaten them with ruin .

That live stock is good for the farmer as well as the farm
is due primarily to the fact th at they require constant attention
an d train him in habits of thrift econo m y and foresight They
, , .

are thus a source of education in the virtues which go to make

the good farmer The farmer who sells his hay grain or cotton
.
, ,

crop an d has no continuous business interest to occupy his time

an d thought during the interval be tween the sale of on e crop

an d the planting of another is on the average more likely to

, ,

fall irito habits of wastefulness an d shiftlessness The f act of .

his having a herd of live stock helps to keep him alert Again .
,

an imal s are more interesting than plants being a higher form ,

of life an d are more likely to create in the mind of the farmer

,

an interest in themselves When he devel ops a kind of love for

.

his animals as animals in addition to his interest in them as a

,

source of pro fi t he has a double motive for care an d industry

,

in their be half and this tends to make a more careful pains

, ,

taking man of him in every respect H owever in some e xcep.

,

tionalcases this has the unfortunate result of leading a farmer

to s pend more care and attention on his live stock than on

his family .

That good farming is necessary to the highest development

of the live stock industry is shown historically by the fact that
2 68 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

it was not untilaf te r the introduction of clover an d root crops

into England and the superior type of farming which resulted
,

from it that the great English breeders began to develop the

,

modern Engl ish breeds of live stock The reason was that for .

the first time th e se crops furnished winter feed in su ffi cient

quantities to enable the flocks and herds to be brought through
the year in good condition In A merica however up to the
.
, ,

pre sent time this prin ciple has n ot bee n so apparen t beca use
,

we have always had a frontier where cattle could be grown

Ch eaply on open land or range s When these range lands are .

exhausted an d our supply of ca ttle has to be produced on our

cultivated farms it will be found necessary greatly to improve
,

our Characteristic syste ms of culture particularly in the manage ,

ment of pasture s where there is probably greater room for

,

improvement than in any other branch of agriculture The in .

troduction also of superior forage crops such as al falfa is likely , ,

to have a profound reaction upon our live stock indus try A gain -
.
,

sheep husban dry is an imposs ibility in any community whose

mo ral and intellectual condition is such as to permit the com
mon our dog to multiply freely and prey upon the fl ocks of the
would be enterprising farmer
-
.

Tool s A S already suggested the que stion of the kinds an d

.
,

quantities of the tools machinery etc to use will depend partly

, , .
,

upon the S ize of the farm It will depe nd also upon the social
.

an d economic conditions in the community surrounding the

farm partly upon the character of the labor to be had and

, ,

particul arly an d primarily u pon the price which has to be paid

for that labor A mach ine is of course a labor saving d e vice
.
, ,
-

Whether it pays you to use it or not will depend upon whether ,

the machine costs less or more th an the labor would cost which

it enables you to save If the l abor costs less than the m

. ac hin e ,

obviously it will not pay to use the machine The exte n sive use .

of agricultural machinery is most e cono m ica l and will therefore ,

2 70 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

masses everyth ing in this central court which serves as front ,

yard barnyard and poultry yard an d into which Open the stables
, , , ,

the wagon an d tool sheds the gran aries etc In this square is
, , .

also the inevitable f mn ie r or m anure heap A ltogether it is a .

convenient arrangement but it does n ot make an attractive front

,

yard for the dwelling house In H oll and one frequently fi nds
.

everything in one building the dwelling in the front stables

, ,

in the back an d the haymow an d grain bins in the middle

, .

A mong people who are so scrupul ously Clean as the D utch this
is an excellent arrangement In parts of Italy one sees occa.

sional l a farm building fairly l arge an d commodious built of

y , ,

stone an d roofed with tile in which the ground floor serves as

,

stable granary etc while the upper stories serve as a dwelling

, ,
.
,

house O utside of N ew E ngland m any people in this country

.
,

do not know th at in this section the Characteristic arran ge

ment is to h av e the barn an d house connected with the wood ,

shed tool house an d possibly a carriage house serving as the

, ,

connecting link This is both convenient an d economical in

.
,

that it gives more room for less cost than could be got from
several disconnected buildings an d enables on e to pas s under,

shelter from the house to the barn It also serves as a Spur to .

cleanliness since it would be unpleasant to have a foul and

,

odoriferous barn in such close proximity to the house .

P roblems of s uperv ision and adm inistration The problems .

of supervision and administration cannot be discussed at length

in a treatise of this kind N othing but actual experience an d
.

training will fi t a man for the actual direction of the farm work
from day to day an d from hour to hour There is probably no .

other business enterprise of equal size which demands of its

manager such resourcefulness such decisiveness such energy , ,

an d push as a farm The seasonal character of the work

.

requires a constant and incessant changing of plans an d solving

of new problems O ne thing however needs to be said with the
.
, ,
 M ANAG EM ENT 27 1

g rea t e st e mpha sis an

,
d th at is th at
,
good accounting is the key
to allsuccessful administration whether in farm store factory
, , , ,

or transportation company This is a fact which farmers have

.

been slower than other business men to accept G ood account .

ing means of course much more than mere keeping of cash

, ,

accounts or a record of receipts an d expenditures

,
It means .

s uch a record as will enable the farmer to tell exactly at the end

o f the year how much eve ry part of the farm enterprise has cost

h im and how much it has brought in By this means only will

.

h e be able to determine j ust where the losses h ave occurred an d

j ust where the profits have been made U ntil he knows this .

he is in constant danger of one of the commonest mistakes ,

that of losing as much on one product as he makes on another .

Scientifi c management Every farmer in the corn belt is fa

.

miliar with the different ways of reducing such a simple opera

tion as the husking of corn to a system Each expert corn
.

h usker has his own favorite system by which the number of mo

tions involved in the husking of an e ar of corn and throwing it
into the wagon is reduced to an absolute minimum In the old .

days when the binding of grain was done by hand every expert ,

bin der had his favorite system by which the motions involved
in the binding of a sheaf of grain we re also reduced to the mini
mum S uch examples as these furn ish a basis or a be ginning
.
, ,

for the scientifi c study of farm management on a broader scale .

The same problem is involved in the harnessing hitching un , ,

hamessin g an d unhitching of teams in the handling of hay

, ,

an d grain in the arrangement of farm buildings in changing

, ,

from one kind of work to another The problem of the man

.

ager must always be that of reducing the number of motions to

a minimum an d of saving every second of time possible in the

performance of any of these Operations There is a vast fi eld of

.

study here an d endless opportunities for the exercise of the inge

nuity original
,
ity an d scientifi c precision of the farm manager
,
.
2 72 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

This kind of economy that is the kind which economiz es labo r

, ,

an d muscular ener gy is more importan t in this coun tr

, y where ,

wages are high than in any other country where wages are low
,
.

em
P robl s of buy ing an d sel ing A s suggested above the
l .
,

problem of buying and selling grows in importance as farming

develops from the self suflic in g to the commercial stage an d still
-

further as it develops from the growing of staple cro ps to the

growing of agricultural Specialties A side from the fundame n .

talproblem of the buyer n amely wh at to buy there are three

, , ,

problems of general importance from whom to buy how to ,

buy an d with what to buy

,
.

Th e m iddlem an The fi rst of these problems involves some

.

study of the commercial organization of the country for the ,

problem is really whether to buy from middlemen or as far ,

as possible from producers

,
Fundamentally the purpose of the .
,

middleman is to save trouble for both the producer and the con
sumer If the producer is to take time fi nding a consumer for his
.

product that time is lost to the work of production since he is

, ,

thereby prevented from producing as much as would otherwise

be possible The middleman who saves him that trouble and
.
,

enables him to devote all his time to the work of production ,

is therefore performing an important service an d is entitled to

some profi t on a transaction to pay him therefor A like s ervice .

is of course performed for the consumer So long as the profits

, , .

of the middleman are no more than suflicie nt to reward him

for the services performed neither the farmer nor the consumer
,

of farm products has any right to complain It sometimes .

h appens however th at the market becomes so overorgan ized

, ,

as actually to m ake work for the middlem an an d to put th e con

sumer more or less within his power ; for goods in the p rocess
of transition from producer to consumer are practica lly forced
by the organ ization of the m arket to go through certain spe
cial channels an d al lother ch annels are virtual
, ly clos ed The .
2 74 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

the middleman to such profits as would compensate him for the

real service he would perform .

How to buy The next question namely how to buy involves

.
, , ,

such possibilities as co operative buying as compared with indi

vidual buying Students of the labor problem of our cities have
.

come to lay great stress on what is known as collective bargain

ing By collective bargaining is meant the process by which a
.

whole body of l aboring men acting as a unit bargain through

, ,

their representative for wages It is held that this method gives

.

th e m greater bargaining power A Similar principle is involved

.

in what is known as cooperative buying on the part of consumers .

It is not always possible for the farm manager to enter into a

Cooperative alli ance with other farmers because of bad social ,

conditions It is not too much to say that one of the worst

.

drawbacks to A merican farming is the extreme individualism of

many of our farmers constantly showing itself in the form of un
,

willingness to Cooperate with their neighbors for their mutual

advantage . A few CoOpe rative stores have been run successfu lly ,

but by far the greater number of those which have been at

tempted have failed This is of course not entirely due to lack
.
, ,

of the co operative spirit It has frequently happened that a co

.

operative store has been started where there was no oc casion

for starting one where the local merchant was doing a fair and
,

legitimate business and charging no more than his service was

actually worth To undertake a co operativ e store in competition
.

with such a merchant is to invite failure for the excellent reason ,

that such a store ought to fail N evertheless a certain kind of

.

cooperation in the buying of such products as ca n be g raded

an d sold at standard prices such as fertilizers stand ard farm
, ,

machinery lumber an d the like can be done to advantage if

, , ,

farmers will only agree among themselves to cooperate an d will

not be held apart by suspicion The advantage comes not so .

much from saving the local merchant s profit as from placing ’

 M ANAG EM ENT 275

l
arge orders Sometimes however these large orders might as
.
, ,

well be placed through the local merchants as through co op

e rative organizations pure an d simple .

Credit The question with wh at to buy involves the question

.
, ,

whether to buy always with cash or to make a j udicious use of

credit What advice to give farmers in general on this subj ect
.

is an exceedingly delicate question The farmer who has not .

a very keen sense of values or is not in the h abit of keeping

accu rate accounts who does not understand the importa nce of
,

C harging for deterioration etc would better avoid the use of

, .
,

credit as he would the plague If he never m akes use of it he .

,

will probably not achieve a large de gree of success as a farmer ;

but if such an unbusinesslike farmer does make use of it he is ,

p retty certa in to become b ank rupt But the fa rmer who ha s a .

keen sense of values who understands business methods who

, ,

keeps accurate accounts an d knows what to charge for dete ri

oration an d who at the same time is a successful m anager in
,

the sense that he is able to grow good crops an d to sell them

to advantage should not hesitate to make a large use of credit
, .

By means of it he saves time H e can secure fertilizers farm .

,

machinery live stock etc much earlier than would otherwise

, ,
.
,

be possible If he is very wise in his purch ases or skillful in his

.

management he will m ake enough from the use of the credit

,

he has borrowed to pay the interest an d leave a handsome

p ro fi t be sides This pro fi t
. th at is the sum which he
,
m akes ,

from the purchases over and above enough to pay principal an d

interest represents the advantage of making use of credit
,
.

S ometimes the political an d social c onditions are such th at

capitalcannot be borrowed except at exorbitant rates or under
very unfavorable conditions Under such circumstances the .

honest and capable farmer is a victim of his bad social surround

in gs Therefore on e of the m ost valuable things for the honest
.

and capable farmer is a good system of credit by means of

2 76 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS

which he can reap a larger advantage from his own superior

managing ability than would otherwise be possible .

A state of society where the sense of fi nancial responsibility

is weak where debtors are in the h abit of dodging their obliga
,

tions where the general sentiment of the community sympathizes

,

with an d encourages them in their dishonesty where lenders and ,

so called
-
m oneyed men are unpopular and cannot get justice ,

there we h ave an invariably backward community S uch a com .

munity is an unfavorable location for an honest and capable

farmer because m oney and credit are invariably scarce interest
, ,

rates high an d prices low M e n with capital to invest men of

, .
,

enterprise an d forethought who make the prosperity of a com ,

munity will avoid such surroundings When such men are

,
.

lacking an d there remain only those with out any sense of fi nan
,

c ialresponsibility men who hate every one more prosperous an d

,

pro gressive than themsel ves such a community is doomed ,

to remain for a period at least unprosperous unprogressive a

, , , ,

reproach an d a byword among more enlightened neighborhoods .

There are four kinds of credit commonly made use of by

farmers individual credit store credit bank credit an d co
,
—
, , ,

operative credit Individual credit is where an individual farmer

.

borrows from an individual lender on such terms as the two can

agree up on This is the simplest form of credit an d if both par
.
,

ties to the transaction are honest and wise it is the most satis ,

factory of all H owever it is limited in its application It is

.
, .

S imilar to the case of a c onsumer buying directly from the p ro

duoer which is an excellent system but not always possible

, .

S tore credit S tore credit is made use of more or less in every

.

rural community In many cases it merely consists in buying from

.

the local storekeeper th ose goods necessary to keep the household

running and paying for them after the crop is harvested In
, .

other cases this system has undergone such a development as to

dominate the whole rurallife A large part of the business of a .
2 78 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

be exorbitant though it is never low The ban k is virtually a

, .

middleman performing much the same function an d entitled to

, ,

a reward for the same reason as a merchant SO long as a bor

, .

’
rower can borrow directly from the lender the bank s profi ts can ,

be saved ; but where it is d iffi cult for the borrower to fi nd a

lender or a lender to fi n d a borrower or where the personal
, ,

relations are such as to prevent dealing in a personalway with

one another the bank performs a real service They who have
, .

money to spare can deposit it in the bank and they who need ,

money can always fi n d it there Both are saved the trouble of .

fi nding one another .

A gain the bank generally deals impersonally an d accord

,

ing to fi xed rules which it will not vary for personal considera
,

tions In such delicate transactions as borrowing an d lending

.

this is a matter of greater importance than farmers commonly

realize P robably no one thing has worked so much disaster in
.

farming neighborhoods or produced more bitterness of feeling or

,

more fi nancial loss than making use of personalconside rations

,

in matters of credit In every neighborhood allover the M iddle

.

West there are men who remember to their sorrow tra nsactions
of this kind where they were induced by personal appeals to lend
,

money or indorse the personal notes of friends There is prob .

ably not a farmer above threescore years of age who has had a ,

reputation for business capacity an d integrity who has not bee n ,

burdened more th an once because of his reputation S uch men .

are al ways acceptable as indorsers of notes for their less scrupu

lous neighbors In times past they have continually been besieged
.

by requests for favors of this kind an d he may regard himself ,

as exceedingly fortun ate who has never lost money in thi s way .

O n e of the chief advantages of a goo d banking system is to

protect men of honor an d integrity against appeals of this kind .

Coop erativ e credit C o o perative credit ha

.s not had a high de
velopme nt in this country I n European countries particularly
.
,
 M ANAG EM ENT 2 79

a mong the smaller peasant farmers it has played a great part ,

in recent years Three distinct types of co operative banks have

.

be en developed The fi rst is known under the name of the

.

Raiffeisen system the second is known as the S chulze D elitzsch

,
-

system and the third is not known by an speci al n ame but

, y ,

c onsists of a group of men j o ined together for the purpose of

borrowing a considerable sum on their joint security each one ,

s ecuring his own S hare of the sum borrowed an d assuming his ,

e qual responsibility for the payment of the whole sum This .

system does not require any special organization of credit nor

does it require an institution known as a ban k to carry it into
ope ration A ny group of farmers say ten who wanted to borrow
.
, ,

$ 1 000 e ach for a period of fi ve years could S ign a j oint note for

By this means they could borrow at a lower rate of

interest than any one of them could Inasmuch h owever as .
, ,

there is joint responsibility this method could be adopted only ,

by a group of men who knew one another th oroughly an d had

’
c on fi dence in one an other s honor and solvency .

Th e Raiffeisen sy stem The Rai ffeisen system n amed after

.
,

H err F W Rai ffeisen its founder originated in G ermany after

. .
, ,

the famine years of 1 8 4 6 an d 1 8 4 7 H err Ra iffeisen had wit .

n esse d the su ffe rings of the peasantry under the h ard conditions

imposed by the money lenders A fter seve ral attempts he suc .

c ee de d in 1 8 4 9
,
in establishing at Flammersfeld a coOpe ra
, ,

tive loan bank The obj ect of this bank was to loan money at
.

a low rate of interest for productive agricultural purposes only

, ,

to such peasants as would comply with the rules l aid down in

advance . The plan succeeded and other banks were subse ,

q u ently formed in di fferent sections The principles on which .

th ese banks were organized are as follows : fi rst every individual ,

that goes into the scheme becomes responsible for al lthe cap i
talborrowed that is there is unlimited liability ; second money
, , ,

is loaned to a peasant for an agricultural purpose only an d the ,

2 80 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M IC S

pu rpose must me et with the approval of the repres e ntatives of

the ban k They willnot lend to an y one un tilthey kn ow what
.

he wants to do with the money an d are satis fi ed that it will pay

Izim to bo rrow ; that is they wil l decide whether or not the pur
,

pose for which he wants the money is lik ely to prove profitable
an d e nable him to pay bac k the sum bo rro wed an d l eave a sur

plus be s ides U nder th ese conditions a sense of solidarity an d

.

mutual res ponsibility is developed among allthe membe rs an d ,

practica lly nothing has ever be en lost through loans of this kind .

A third feature of the organization is that after the fi rst organ i ,

z ation new members are elected by a vote of those who are

,

already members A fourth feature is that thes e organ iz atio ns are

.

small and are restricted to narrow areas in order that only near ,

neighbors S hall be in the same organization This is made n eces .

sary by the fact that every member is res ponsible for loans m ade

to other membe rs In the fi fth place the ban k s management is

.
,
’

absolutely democratic the fi nal autho rity on al lloca l questions

,

being the general meeting in which every member has one vote .

The books of the bank are open to al l membe rs for inspection .

itz sch sy stem The S chulze D elitz sch banks

z e Del
Th e S ch ul -
.
-

originated at about the same time as the Rai ffeisen banks but ,

differ from them mainly in that they deal with a somewhat

wealthier class of people a large part of their loans being for ,

commercial and industrial purposes They do not al ways ins ist .

upon unlimited liability They raise their funds sometimes by .

the issue of shares They pay salaries to their o ffi cers and

.

1
sometimes make use of collateral secu rity .

A system of cooperative credit resembling the Raiffe isen

system in some particulars has had a remarkable development
, ,

in recent years in D enmark an d Ireland where it has been an ,

1 An e xc e ll e n t ac c oun t of b oth th e s e s y t m f dit m y b f u d i

s e s o c re a e o n n an

l by
artic e P ro f E W Ke mme re r, i B il y Cy l p di f Am i an
’
e sso r . . n a e s c o e a o er c

Ag i ul tu
rc re , V ol I V , pp
. . 26
9
-
276 . See al H n y W W lff P p l B k
so e r . o , eo e s
’
an s.
28 2 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M IC S

favorable terms ,
no se rious drawbac k fromthe standpoint
an d is

of the individual farmer But there is no reason why c oiip a afi ve

.

cre dit as sociations with limite d liabil

,
ity shoul d not have c on ,

side rabl e development in th is country .

P robl ems of se l
ling The problem of sellin g the farm crops
.

invol ves some of the same questions as the problem of buyin g ;

whether for example to sell directly to consumers or to mid
, ,

dl em e n whether to sell individual

,
ly or coope ratively an d oth er ,

S im ilar ques tions involve the same cons iderations as were me n

,

tion e d in the dis cuss ion of the generalproblem of buyin g As .

al ready pointe d out the problem of selling is a relatively s imple

,

one so long as the farmer grows only staple crops For such
,
.

crops there is always a market at some price and the p rice is ,

always quotable But the grower of agriculturalspe cialti es must

.

look for a special market Where such a spe cialmarket exists

.

he may succeed in getting a spec ial an d highly remun erative

price but unles s he succeeds in fi nding a spec ial market he
,

may not be able to sell his product at any price T he re fore .

everything depends on a special market and the farmer s spe cial ’

skill as a seller .

In the selling of farm crops either staple or spe cial there are , ,

c ertain general considerations of im portan c e to the stude n t of

economics and incidentally to the farmer as well There are for .

,

example four well recognized methods of selling : fi rst s elling

,
-

by individual units ; second selling in bulk ; third selling by , ,

sample ; and fourth selling by grade or stan dard These four

, .

meth ods may be illustrated as follows In the sale of a horse ,

particularly a blooded horse the fi rst of these methods is al, one

possible Each indi vidual h orse has his own in dividual qualities
.

an d his own individual val ue Each indiv idualis therefore a unit

.

an d is sold as a unit I n the selling of bee f cattle or hogs the

.

whole bunch will be sold at a specifi ed price per poun d or per

hundredweight but the whole bunch must be seen by the buyer
,
 M ANAG EM ENT 28 3

an d the price agreed upon This is selling in bulk A mong the

. .

agricul tural specialties or even in the s ale of fruits an d ve ge

,

tables the method of selling by sample is frequently adopted

, .

The whole quantity is not inspected but samples are shown and
,

the p rice is fi xed on the basis of these samples O n the large .

produce exchanges such as the Chicago Board of T rade how

, ,

ever such standard products as wheat pork etc are graded by

, , , .
,

responsible authorities and the buyer then merely buys so many

,

bushels or pounds of a certain grade H e is indifferent as to

.

wh at particular bulk he gets so long as he gets the requisite

,

quantity of the required grade H e does not even see a sample

. .

This is selling by grade or standard .

T h e fi rst of these methods is the most expensive an d the ,

last is the least expensive method of sale but the l ast is pos,

sible only in a few cases Wherever it is possible a good deal of

.
,

s oc ial energy m ay be saved by its adopti on an d moreover the, , ,

margin between what the producer gets an d what the consumer

has to give is much smaller than it is in any of the other cases .

The middleman is enabled to handle products in very large

quantities ; therefore a very small profi t on each unit of the
p roduct en ables him to a
p y the expense of his business an d to
l eave a profi t for himself Where this method is not possible
.

the dealer must do a great deal of inspecting an d this involves a ,

g rea t dea l of dickering on the m arket E very such

. expendit ure
of time an d energy has to be paid by the producer or by the

consumer or by both This larger payment shows itself in a

, .

w ider margin between what the producer gets an d what the

c onsumer p ays th an is necessary where th e fourth method of

se lling is p racticed . The difference between selling by sample

an d selling by grade or standard is well illustrated in the cases

of cotton and wool The former can be easily graded but the
.

latter cannot Accordingly the former is sold by standard or

.

g ra de where
,
as the l atter is sold by sample .
2 84 P RI N C I P L ES O F RUR A L EC O N O M I C S

Speculation in farm crop s There is also a question when to

.

sell Is it best to sell as soon as the crop is harvested or to hold

.

for a rise in p rice or may it be better to sell before the crop is

,

harvested ? Either to sell before the crop is harvested or to hold

for a rise in price involves speculating on the market A s a gen .

eral rule it is safer for the farmer to stick to his work of farm
,

ing an d to leave speculation to those who make a specialty of it .

This is a principle well recognized by Successful business men

in Other branches The successful miller for example avoids
.
, ,

speculation as far as possible If in order to get business he .

must contract long in advance there is a speculative risk in ,

volved This risk he un iformly covers by buying his wheat in

.

advance .That is to say suppose a miller has contracted to

,

deliver 1 000 barrels of flour per week for the next six months
at a fi xed p rice H e kn ows what the price of wheat is but he
.
,

does not know what it will be three months from to day If the .

price Should go up and he should continue to buy from week

,

to week in order to fulfi ll his contract to deliver flour at the

price agreed upon it might wipe out his profits though of
, , ,

course these would be increased if the price of wheat S hould

,

fall But of course his business is that of milling an d that

.
,

requires all the attention an d energy which he is capable of

expending H e has no time n or energy therefore to expend in
.
, ,

studying market conditions and determining whether to spec

nlate or not To render himself perfectly safe he buys to day
.
-

at a fi xed p rice wheat en ough to l ast him for the whole six
,

months and to enable him to carry out his contra ct By this .

process he may know where he stands While it looks like .

speculation it is in reality a means of avoiding speculative risks

, .

Again a miller who has not a contract for delivering flour at

,

a speci fi ed p rice but who expects to be able to sell his flour at

,

some price as fast as it is manufactured may decide in order , ,

to be sure of a constant supply of wheat to buy in advance a ,

286 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

the farmers Cooperative storehouses elevators etc coopera

.
, , .
,

ti on in the hiring of selling agents etc will prove highly profi t

, .
,

able to those who are willing and able to cooperate N umberless .

illustrations could be found in support of this conclusion The .

potato growers of A roostook County Maine began growing , ,

potatoes before there was a well developed system of handling

-

their crop through private enterprise By the coope rative build .

ing of storehouses an d the cooperative selling of their crops

they succeeded in getting the advantages of a highly organ
iz e d m arket without waiting for private enterp rise to develop
a system of handling the crop .

The growers of agricultural specialties have two well recog -

n iz e d methods of selling their products O ne is judicious adve r .

tisin g an d the other is the exhibition of their products before

the eyes of prospective purch as ers The question of the econ .

om y of adve rtising has been discussed a great deal by economic

writers an d much can be said against it from the economic po int

,

of view It is urged that though advertising may be a means of

.
,

attracting trade from one dealer to another it really se rves no ,

social purpose Since on e loses as much as another gains When

, .

two rival grocers or manufacturers advertise the alleged merits of

their respective brands of soap or codfi sh it is di ffi cult to see ,

what social purpose is ful fi lled It is not probable that any more
.

soap or codfish are bought than would be bought if there were

no advertising If that be true allsuch advertising is a waste
.
,

of social energy and is therefore undoubtedly an d unqualifi edl y

wrong But these obj ections cannot apply to the reasonable ad
.

ve rtisin g of an agricultural special ty S uch advertising is infor .

mationaland is a real service to the buyer as well as to the seller .

A n agricultural specialty being something for which there is no

,

well organized market no constant and ealculable demand and

-

, ,

no quotable price it is not always easy for the seller an d the

,

buyer to get together Reasonable advertising informs th em of

.
 M AN AG EM ENT 23 7

’
one another s whereabouts and enables them to transact busi
n ess
. S uppose for example that A has a special
, ,
ly trained sad
dle horse for sale an d feels th at he ought to get a special price .

B may be looking for just such a horse but may n ot know ,

where it is to be had A notice in the advertising columns of a

.

reputable paper gives him the information he needs an d both ,

buyer and seller are benefited There is nothing in this argu

.

ment however to justify the extravagant advertising which

, ,

sometimes disgraces the pages even of some of our reputable

p apers where
,
impossible horses of prodigious size a n d action
are represented in connection with the tallest kind of me n dac

ity as to the telescopic merits and microscopic prices of the

an imal s which the advertiser has to sell .

M ark ets and fairs Whenever possible the ideal method of

.
,

selling agricultural specialties is that of exhibiting them Re g .

ular periodic m arkets where such things can always be found

, ,

an d where buyers are always present h ave been proved in al

,
l
ol d an d highly developed countries to be the most e ffective
way of bringing buyers an d sellers together This method has .

n ot had a high development in this country for the reason mainly

th at our farmers have generally been more interested in staple

c rops than in specialties an d also because the organiz ation of
,

our nation al economy has tended to produce a wide geograph

icalseparation of the producers and consumers T he western .

,

sp arsely settled areas h ave produced for the eastern densely ,

se ttled ar eas .This wide geo graphical separation has tended to

place producers and consumers in a position of dependence upon
co mmission merchants and other middlemen When our popu .

lation is more uniformly distributed an d each center thereof

,

be comes more Closely dependent upon its immediate surround

in gs for its agricultural products there will doubtless be a revival
,

of interest in periodic open m arkets where buyers an d sellers ,

producers an d consumers can meet together

, .
2 88 P RI N C I P L ES O F RU RAL ECO N O M I CS

Too much must not be expected in this direction however , .

d
Any careful observer of the public markets an d fairs of the O l
World must have been impressed by the great waste of time
involved in a system which requires so many people to sell a
given amount of produce A mong people with a low standard
.

of living whose time is worth very little this was te does not
, ,

seem to be a great burden ; but so long as A merican farming

remains prosperous an d A merican farm wages high it will prob
,

ably never seem like a wise economy of energy for the pro

duce rs to spend their time on market days trying to sell their

products When population becomes more dense and labor be
.

comes Cheaper in consequence the wasting of labor will not

,

seem quite so unprofi table .

A side from their purely educational purposes the coun ty

,

and state fairs an d other agricultural exhibitions have served

the purpose of facilitating the buying an d selling of agricul

tu ral specialties This is particularly true of live stock A s a
. .

matter of fact it is this reason rather than the hope of winning

,

prizes which induces the average farmer to place his products

,

on exhibition .
2 90 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURA L ECO N O M I C S

I . W AGE S
The wages of a farmer who does all or a part of his own
work may be considered to be the amount which he saves in
his wage bill by reason of the fact th at he works himself The .

rent of a farmer who owns allor a part of his land may be con
S ide re d to be that amount which he saves in his rent bill by

reas on of the fact that he is using his own land an d the inter
est of a farmer who owns a part or allof his capitalfree from
debt as that amount which he saves in his interest Charges by
,

reason of the fact that he uses his own capital A nother way of .

’
stating the same thing is to say that such a farmer s wages are
the amount that he could get by hiring out to some one else ,

that his rent is w hat he might get by renting his land to some
one else and that his interest is what he might get by lending
,

his capital to some one else If when he adds these sums to .

,

gether he fi nds that they exceed his actual average income then
, ,

he is making no pro fit but is sustaining a loss instead I n that

, .

case he would do better at least he w ould m ake more m oney

—

—
if he would rent his land lend his capital an d hire out to , ,

some on e else But if he fi nds that his average total income ex

.

Ce e ds the sum of these three special incomes then he is making ,

a pro fit as a farm m anager that is as an independent farmer , , .

V al ue The problems of wages of rent an d of interest are

.
, ,

S pecial ph ases of the general problem of exchange value an d

price A concrete individual article such as an egg a loaf of

.
, .
,

1
bread a horse etc has value only because it is wanted ; an d
, , .
,

the more it is wanted in comparison with other things the ,

m ore value it will h ave ; that is the more of these other things ,

will be given in exchange for it O ther things equal if there are .

,

avail able a great m any other eggs beside s the one in question ,

1 I n this disc uss ion e x c h an g e va ue l is a lw y a s to b e un d e rstoo d whe n the

wor d l
v a ue is use d .
 D I STRI BU T IO N O F A GRI C ULTURA L I NCO M E 29 1

that one will be less wanted than it would be if eggs were

searce The same proposition might be repeated with respect
.

to the loaf of bread the horse or any other article of exchange

, ,

which one might have in mind This is the simple mental fact .

which lies back of the great an d well known law of demand -

an d supply .

In order to understand fully the reason for this fact we must

recall the distinction made in a previous chapter between con
’ ’
sumers an d producers goods Consumers goods it will be re .
’

membered are goods which are wanted for their own sake an d
,

not for the sake of some other goods which they help us to get .

They include such things as food wearing apparel household , ,

’
furniture etc P roducers goods on the other h and are not
, .
, ,

wan ted for their own sake but for the sake of other things
,

which they help us to get They include such things as plows

.
,

harrows reapers fertilizers etc

, , , .

’
With respect to consumers goods the reason why each unit ,

of a large supply of a given commodity is other things equal , ,

less wanted than each unit of a small supply is found in a rather

simple physiological fact known as the satiability of wants that
is to say every want is satiable an d the more nearly it reaches
, ,

the point of satiety the less intense it becomes Stated in lan .

guage so simple an d obvious as to appear almost ridiculous this ,

simply means that if you give a man allhe wants of a certain

thing he will not want any m ore an d the more nearly he comes
,

to having allhe wants the less intense will be his desire for
,

more This applies to every person in the community When

. .

there is a large supply of a given article of consumption the ,

desires of its consumers in general are more nearly satis fi ed

than when there is a small supply Consequently the desire for .

e ach unit becomes less intense that is the average consumer , ,

does not want more than he has with quite the same intensity
that he would if he did n t have so much already S imple as
’
.
292 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I CS

this may seem it is the sum an d substance of the whole theo ry

,

of value in so far as it applies to consumers goods It is the

,
’
.

bas is also of allour moraland ae sthetic values .

’
With respect to producers goods or productive agents how , ,

ever the case is not quite so simple S ince the des ire for a
, .

productive agent is based on the desire for the thing which it

helps to produce it would follow that if the thing produced
,

becomes more abundant and the desire for it less intense then ,

the desire for the thing which produced it would also become
correspondingly less intense S ince one result of an increase
.

of the supply of a productive agent would be to increase the

supply of its products we have one very good expl
, an ation of

the reason why the desire for each unit of it diminishes as

the supply increases But there is another reason more impor
.

tant th an that one which may be found in the l

, aw of diminish

in g returns U nder this l

. aw if the supply of one factor of,

production increases relatively to the o ther factors each unit ,

of this one factor becomes less productive .

Let us see how this principle applies to the price of such an

agent of production as farm l abor If the number of laborers in .

creases while the land an d the tools remain the same or if the ,

number of l aborers Should increase more rapidly than the land

and the too ls then there would be less land and fewer tools for
,

each laborer to work with U nless at the same time the laborers
.
, ,

have learned something new about farming they will ordinarily , , ,

n ot be able to produce so much per m an with less land and cap

ital as they could with m ore S ince the product of each unit of
.

labor is cut down by this relative increase in the number of units ,

an d since the employer s desire for labor is based u on its prod

’

p
uot it follows as a matter of course th at the employer s desire
’

for each unit of labor diminishes as the number of units increases

relatively to the other factors of production When the employer s .
’

desire for each unit diminishes the price which he is wi lling to ,

2 94 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

would pay for the services of the second man S ince two men .

produce in this case only $ 6 00 more than one man two men
, , ,

are obviously worth $ 6 00 more than one m an If however .

, ,

1
wages in the community are only $ 4 00 per year o r for the
farming season it would certainly pay the farme r to h ire a
‘

se c o n d m an if a second man is to be had si n ce he woul d

, ,

make $ 2 00 by the process .

S u c h a l arge profi t as this would lead him to co n sid e r whether

it mi ght n ot pay h im to hire a third man also N ow suppose .

that th re e men on the s me farm could produce $ 2 000 on the

a

average an d in the long run This gives a marg inal product ,

,

unde r the terms of the illustration of exactly $ 4 00 ; that is the , ,

third man a dds $ 4 00 to the p oduct over and above what two r

me n Could produce If as w e h lve assum ed $ 4 00 is also the

.
,
a
,

cost of the third man to the e mplOy er it is a matte r of indiffer r

,

ence to the latter whether two men cu three men are e mployed ,

S ince he neither gains n or loses by the em ploymen t of the third .

If however the margi nal product were even one dol

, , lar greater

than the cost of the third l abore r it woul d pay the farm er to hire ,

the third man though the profit would be only on e dollar

, .

N ow suppose th at in the country generally there were so few , ,

l aborers that in a normal distribution there w ere only two for

, ,

every such farm as the one we are conside rf ng th e te n dency ,

would be for wages to be fi xed at $ 6 00 or the marg inal p roduct ,

of labor If the wages were more th an $ 6 00 e very farme r who

.
,

knew his business would dispense with one m ain T his would .

leave a good many of the existing supply of

and they would begin to offer to work for l e

less than $ 6 00 then every farmer who knew his b

,

want to hire an extra man an d every man would ,

If wages were very much less than $ 6 00 then ,

1
U nd wag e s a e i lude d e ythin g whi h th e lab
er r nc ev r c o re r r

wor k in luding b oa d lodg ing wa hing an d the p i il g

, c r , , s , o r rv e es .
 D I ST RI B U T IO N O F A GRI C ULTURA L I N CO M E 295

farmers would want to hire still more men an d there would n ot ,

b e enough men to go around This would again force up wages

.

approxim ately to the average m arginal productivity of l abor .

O f course no farmer can tell in advance j ust what the mar

g in al product of l abor is going to be because he cannot tell wh at ,

th e season is going to be like N eve rtheless they who S how the

.
,

be st judgment in the m atter will other things being equal suc

, ,

c e e d best an d they who Sh ow the po orest j udgment will succeed

,

least or become bankrupt most frequently In the long run the

,
.
,

farms will get into the hands of those who succeed best and
-

thus it will happen eventually th at those farmers who remain

, ,

in business will actually be hiring as many men as will on the ,

average one season with another produce a m argin al product

, ,

approxim ately equ al to their wages To hire more or fewer .

men would be to lose pro fits .

There are very defi nite mathematical laws for example de , ,

te rmin in g the course of a rifle bullet A good marksman may .

not know anything about these laws H e merely aims at the .

m ark gauging his sights on the basis of his experience N ever

,
.

th e le ss whether the theory of proj ectiles be understood or not

, ,

the best marksmen will actually conform their practice knowingly ,

or unknowin gly to that theory If we could imagine a compe

, .

tition in which there were a limited number of rifles an d a great

many men seeking to own them an d where ownership was to ,

be secured only by S howing superior m arksmanship then it would ,

happen that the rifles would fall into the hands of men who con
formed most cl osely knowingly or unknowingly to the theory
, ,

of proj ectiles U nder such conditions one could safely say that
.
,

in actual practice the rifles were being used in accordance with

,

the th eory of proj ectiles S ince there is just such a competition

.

for the ownership or possession of farms and Since they who ,

co nform most closely to the laws of economics will succeed best

in that competition it will happen that farms willbe managed

,
2 96 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURA L ECO N O M I CS

in the end or in the long run in accordance with economic

laws It is for this reason that one may feel safe in saying that
.

wages will actually tend to conform to the principle of marginal

productivity Those farmers who depart most widely from this
.

principle will fail an d those who conform most closely will

,

succeed an d remain in control of the business of farming .

II . RE N T

The law of demand an d supply which in its application to ,

productive agents is as we have j ust seen based upon the law

, ,

of marginal productivity applies as well to the rent of land as

,

to the wages of labor But there are certain peculiarities in the

.

supply of land which need to be taken into account In the fi rst .

place the supply of any particular kind of l and is almost a fi xed

,

quantity whereas the supply of any kind of labor is variable In

, .

the second place land is immovable whereas labor is movable

, ,

an d can be brought from pl aces where it is l ess wanted to

pl aces where it is m ore wanted The fi xity and immobility of .

land make it more diflicult to adj ust the supply to the demand
than is the case with an agent of production whose supply
may increase or diminish an d which may be moved from on e
,

place to another in response to changes in demand .

By reason of the fi rst of these peculiarities it happens that

certain tracts of land possessing special qualities which can not
,

be reproduced acquire a sheer scarcity value A gain since the

, .
,

supply of l and is always a fi xed quantity its value al ways tends ,

to rise higher and higher as the population increases more and

more But the second of these two peculiarities is by far the
.

more impo rtant of the two By reason of the i mmobility of

.

land a tract which is favorably located may acquire a pure site

,

or situation value independently of its physical or Chemical fer

,

tility Two laborers of equalenergy intelligence an d skill wil

. l , ,
2 98 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L ECO N O M I CS

change in the land but through his Sheer inability to handle

,

it e fliciently When . he h as alre ady such a qu antity under his

management th at to undertake the man agement of a few more
acres would divide his attention an d cause a Slightly less e ffi

cient m anagement of the whole the question for the farmer is , ,

Will the additi onal acres add as much to the total product of
his whole business as they will cost ? This is different from
the question Will these acres themselves produce as much as it
,

will cost to cultivate them ? The former question alone relates

to the marginal productivity of his land .

The case is even clearer when we assume that the farmer has
a fi xed qu antity of labor an d capital at his disposal an d is debat

ing the question whether to rent (or buy) a few more or a few
less acres If he uses more land he will spread his labor an d
.

capital a little more thinly that is he will cultivate his land a

, ,

little less intensively which will ordinarily result in a Slightly

,

smaller product per acre This may be more than counte rbal
.

an ce d by the larger number of acres but the addition made by ,

the few addition al acres will not be their total product It will .

be the product of the whole farm when these acres are added ,

minus the product of the wh ole farm when these acres are not
included For example if the farmer with labor an d capitalat
.
,

his disposal can grow 5 0 bushels of corn per acre when he

cultivates 4 0 acres an d only 4 2 bushels per acre when he culti
,

vates 5 0 acres with the same labor an d capital the additional

, ,

1 0 acres are wo rth at the outside only 1 00 bushels a year to him ,

th at being the amount added to his total crop by the additional

1 0 acres .If by spreading his labor and capital over 6 0 acres he
gets only 3 6 bushels per acre the l ast 1 0 acres are worth at the
, ,

outs ide only 6 0 bushels that being the amount by which his
, ,

total crop is increased by the addition of those acres A gain .

,

if by spreading his capital an d labor over 7 0 acres he succeeds ,

on the averag e an d in the long run in getting a crop of only ,

 D I STR I BU T IO N O F AGRI C ULTURAL I N CO M E 2 99

3 0 bus hels per acre , then the last 1 0 acres are worth 6 0 bushels
less than nothing to him because the addition of this new area
actually redu ces his total crop N ow when land is so abundant
.

in a certain community relatively to the numbe r of farmers an d

,

th e quantities of labor an d capital as to allow 7 0 acres on the ,

average to every such farmer as the one assumed in the fore

goin g illustration or a proportional amount to other farmers

,

with di fferent equipments it is evident that land would com,

mand no rent at all as suming t/zat ilze lan d is allequa ll

, y de s ir

a ble Even if he could get his land absolutely free of rent it

.
,

would not pay any such farmer to cultivate as much as 7 0 acres .

The refore if land were free some of it would be allowed to lie

, ,

idle and no own er would be able to rent his land for a price so
,

long as these conditions remained .

Th e difi erentiall aw of ren t If however the land were not

.
, ,

alle qual ly des irable an d it never is al

,
lequally desirable in
an y c o m mun ity ,
then the more desirable acres would com
mand a price or a rental So long as there remained any free
.

land anywhere in the community the rent of any special piece ,

woul d n ormally represent the preference of the renter for it as

com pare d with land which he might h av e for nothing The .

p oo r e r or more di ffi cult of access this free l and is as comp a re d

with the spe cial piece in question the higher the degree of ,

p re fe re n c e for the la tter an d the higher its rent will rise

,
This .

is one phase of the famous di fferential theory of rent which has

p l
a y e d s o prominent a p art in the economic discussions during
the last century . It is beyond allquestion a true theory the
, , ,

o nly q uestion be ing whether it is so sign i fi cant as many e con o

mists have supposed .

Rent as determ ined by marginalproductivity S ome are now .

con ten din g that the larger an d more fundamental principle is

that of the m arginal productivity of l and For every farmer .

the real an d im mediate problem is how much he can produce

 00 P RI N CI P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I CS
3

when he has the use of a certain piece of land over and above ,

what he could produce if he did not have the use of it That is .

what determines the price he can afford to pay for it The pres .

ence of free land an d the possibility of substituting some of it

for the land which he is considering is only one and th at not , ,

the most important factor in the larger an d more immed iate

,

problem of how much it is worth for use .

O n e special difliculty with the di fferential theory of rent as ,

commonly stated is that the same piece of land is worth differ

,

ent sums to different men To take an extreme case an acre of .

,

land is worth very little to an Indian who is not yet Civilized ,

an d who uses it principally for hunting By such a method it .

takes hundreds of acres to furnish a rather meager living to

an Indian family To a white farmer the same acre is worth a
.

great deal more than it is to the Indian hunter and for this ,

reason the former can afford to pay the hunter more than the
land is worth to him an d still make a very good bargain .

But for the same reason the same acre of land is worth a
, ,

great deal more to a highly skilled scientific farmer than it is to

a shiftless unbusinesslike farmer
, S ince the former can make .

an acre produce so much more than the l atter can an d at lower ,

cost the former can pay more for the land than the latter can
, .

If the unskillful farmer is already in possession it is only nec ,

essary to o ffer him as much as or a little more than the land is

worth to himself This the more skillful farmer is easily able to
.

do either as renter or purchaser Thus the land tends to pass

, .

l
into the hands of the more skillful farmers .

A gain there are great differences In the ways in which vari

,

ous kinds of l and respond to skillful and scientifi c treatment .

Land which does not respond to such treatment may be worth

very littl e more to the scientific or successful than to the
1
Cf . an e x ce ll e nt artic e l by H e nry C Ta . yl o r, Th e Diffe re ntial R e nt of
F mLa d
ar n ,
”
in th e Quarterl
y j ou rn alo
f Econ omic: for A ugust, 1 90
3 .
3 0 2 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I CS

for land This increasing desire for land makes rents and land
.

values high The logicalo rder is as follows A scarcity of good

.

land makes a scarcity of agricultural products relative to the de

mand for them A scarcity of agricultural products relative to
.

the demand for them makes high prices H igh prices for agri .

cultural products m ake farmers prosperous an d increase their de

sire for agricultural land This increased desire or demand for .

land an d the scarcity of its supply make high rents In other .

words the price paid for the use of a piece of land like the
, ,

price of anything else is an indication of its desi rableness an d

,

the desirableness of a piece of land depends in part upon how

much one may make from its use an d this in turn depends in ,

part upon the price of its products .

Th e singl e tax In the minds of certain social reformers

.
,

known as single taxers the rent of land is n ot earned by ,

the landowners In j ustifi cation of this position they begin by

.

distin guishing very sharply between land and improvements

on it Land in the sense of the original an d indestructible
.
,
’
properties of the earth s surface is n ot at allthe product of ,
’
any man s labor frugality or forethought but is a free gift of
, , ,

nature It becomes the property of a man not because a man

.

makes it but because he appropriates it H aving appropriated

, .

it an d being protected by others that is by soc iety in its

, , , ,

possession it becomes his legal property and he can there

,

after exclude others from its use or exact a p ayment from them

therefor This payment which he exacts becomes an income

.
,

which is n ot a payment for any service which he h as re ndered

to soc iety or to the world It is otherwise with the improve .

ments upon the land When the land is drained an d thereby

.

made more productive the man who does the draining is ren
,

dering a service A s a result of his work the world has some

.

thing which it would otherwise n ot h ave had but the naked ,

land was there anyway and the world has noth in

g n,e w by
 D I STRI BU TIO N O F AGRI CULTURA L I NC O M E 0
3 3

reaso n of his having appropriated it That part of the owner s .

’

in com e which comes from the improvements which he puts

upo n his l and is virtually his own product but th at part which ,

comes from the original properties of the land is not his own
product : it is the result of his appropriation of a natu ral
re so urce an d not the result of his own productive work .

By way of illustra tion let us assume that a certain farmer

has an average income over an d above al ,
lexpenses insurance , ,

dete rioration etc of $ 2 000 ; that he and his family are doing
, .
,

work which on the m arket would bring in $ 1 000 an d that

, , ,

he has spent in buildings in improving his land and ,

stoc k in g it with tools m achine ry teams etc

,
If interest is 5 per
, , .

ce nt then $ 5 00 of his income would be interest Under these

, .

’
as sumptions the farmer s real earnings would be $ 1 5 00 The .

re maining $ 5 00 would not under the assumption be payment

, ,

for his work during that year the $ 1 000 covers that Nor
,
—
.

woul d it be payment for previous work in improvi n g his land ,

erecting buildings etc the $ 5 00 covers this year s share of

, .
,
’

that What then is the extra $ 5 00 ? It is the rent of the land

.
, , ,

or th e i ncome which comes to him by reason of the fact that he

is in possession of a small section of the earth s surface There
’
.

fore say the single taxers while he has obviously earned his
, ,

$ 1 5 00 he has not earned this other $ 5 00 .

The que stion at once arises S uppose th at the farmer has ,

bought the l and from some one else payi n g for it , ,

bes ides an oth er for the buildings improvements , ,

stock etc, Is not the $ 5 00 interest on the investment in the

.

lan d as much his rightful income as the other $ 5 00 interest

on the i nve stm ent in i mprovements ? It would seem so A t .

any rate ,
the single taxers h ave never be en able to satisfy a

maj ority of the voters that this is not true The most that .

ca n be said is that this farmer has m ade a mistake in pay

in g another man for land which the l atter never

3 4
0 P RI NC I P LES OF RURAL ECONO MI C S

produced This man the seller has secured this large sum of
.
, ,

money without having earned it The present purchaser hav .

,

ing paid for something which he ought not to have paid for is , ,

according to some of the more extreme an d partisan single

taxers entitled to no consideration The $ 5 00 which re pre

, .

sents the rent of the land ought to be taxed away even though ,

this would virtually con fiscate the which had been

paid for the land S ome of the more moderate Single taxers
.
,

with a somewhat keener sense of justice propos e either to ,

compensate the present owners or to tax away only the future

increases in rent exempting entirely from taxation any value
,

which is due to improvements which the owner has made or

shall hereafter make upon his land It is di ffi cult to fi n d any .

valid obj ection to this more moderate program aside from the
diffi culty of applying it which is after all probably less than
, , ,

that of applying any system of taxation now in existence .

It is so startling as to be almost unbelievable and yet it ,

is a demonstrable truth that if the govern ment had pursued

,

from the beginning the policy of taxing only the rent of land ,

we should h ave had a practically burdenless tax The farmer .

in the above illustration would not h ave had to pay

for the naked land for the naked land would never have had
,

any particular selling value Whatever value it had would h ave

.

gone to the government in the form of taxation O n the other .

hand every improvement placed upon the land by its owner

,

would have escaped taxation altogether The resul t would .

have been th at this farmer instead of paying for the

farm that is
, ,
for the l and an d for the im
p rov e me n ts on it would
,
h ave p aid o nly for the improve
ments H aving saved
. as the purchase price of the

farm he would be able to pay the taxes with the interest thus
,

saved ; that is to say if he had ,

in cash he could pay ,

for the farm and put the other at interest .

 06 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I CS
3

making the tool then there is no real net advantage in making

,

the tool The apparent income from its use is n ot a real income
.

since it only p ays off the principal But if the total apparent
.

income from the tool is greater than the quantity which might
have been produced by the time and labor spent in making it ,

there is a real net advantage in making the tool This surplus .

is in other words the real increase in productioriresulting from

, ,

the use of the tool an d this surplus alone is interest

,
.

If instead of using the tool himself the owner hires it to some

, ,

one else the distinction between wages and interest becomes a

,

little clearer but is not yet as clear as it might be In so far

, .

as the income which the own e r receiv e s only reimburses him

for the time which he spent in making the tool it is wages or , ,

deferred wages to be pe rfectly accurate If the total income is

,
.

more than su ffi cient to reimburse him for his time or to give ,

him the quantity of goods which he might hav e produced with

the time an d labor spent upon the tool this surplus is interest , .

If instead of making tools himself the owner hires other men

, ,

to make them for him and then hires these tools to other me n it
, ,

is clear that he gets no interest from his tools unless his receipts
are more th an suflic ie n t to reimburse him for the wages he has

paid out to his own workmen O r again if in the makin g of

.
,

the tools he has incurred other expenses than wages he must ,

be reimbursed for allthese expenses before he can be said to

get any interest A llthe surplus would be interest
. .

Le t us now consider another case S uppose that instead of .

hiring men to make tools for him an d then hiring the tools to
some one else he buys them outright of the man who m ade them
,

an d then uses them himself Buying them outright of the man

.

who m akes them probably means paying outright a su ffi cient

sum to cover allthe costs of production including wages U n , .

less each tool enables him to add to his production over and ,

above what he could produce without it enough to more th an ,

 D I STR I BU T IO N O F AGRI C ULTURA L I NC O M E 0
3 7

cov e r the price which he paid for it it is of no advantage to him

,

to have purchase d In other words it yields him no interest ;

.
,

but whatever it brings him in excess of the purchas e price is

inte rest Again let us suppose that instead of using the tools
.
,

himself he hires them to some one else That which he receives

, .

for their use in excess of the price which he paid for them and ,

that alone is interest Finally let us suppose that he employs

, .
,

other men to work with the tools which he has bought which ,

is the cas e of a modern capitalist employer Wages must of .

,

course be paid for the labor that uses the tools The total
, .

combin ed product of the l aborers and the tools must therefore

cove r not only the wages of the l aborers employed and allthe ,

oth e r costs of operation including risk etc ,

but also the origi ,
.
,

nalcost of the tools before any interest accrues to the own er

, .

If any surplus remains it may be regarded as interest A care

, .

ful management of the business with accurate accounting will , ,

enable the own er to set aside a certain sum each year for main
tenan ce and depreciation which is to set aside e ach year th at
,

year s share of the original cost If anything remains each year

’
.
,

it may be re garded as that year s interest and thus the own er

’

may rece ive interest every year from the very beginning of his
enterprise .

Al lthe cases which we h ave thus far considered are funda

mentally alike the difference being incidental to the different
,

stag es of industr ial development under which they are found .

They are allalike in th at interest accrues by reason of the fact

that the increase d product resulting from the use of tools is

g rea t er th an the product used up or given up in m aking or

g ain i n g p os s es sion of them .

The case is complicated somewh at but n ot material ly changed

, ,

wh e n money is introduced into the transaction S ince money is .

simpl y general purchasing power or a gene ral clai mon the com
,

munity for a share of the commodities on sale in the community ,

 08 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S
3

the lending of money is virtually the lending of tools or other

goods When he lends his money he transfers that power to the
.

borrower which is virtually the same as transferring the tools to

,

the borrower When the borrower pays interest to the lender

.

he is therefore vi rtually paying for the use of tools From this

, , .

point of view the case becomes almost identical with those

considered above where no money intervened , .

But how does it happen that a tool or any productive agent

will sell to day for less than the whole of its future product ? If a
-

certain tool will enable me to produce 1 0 a year more than

I could without it an d if it will last for a period of 1 0 years
, ,

why should I not be willing to pay $ 1 00 for it ? If I do then ,

the toolmaker gets in cash the whole future value of the tool ,

an d I get no interest In the course of 1 0 years I merely get

.

back the principal that is the ori ginal price of the tool O r why
, , .
,

should the toolmaker be willing to sell such a tool for less than
$ 1 00 ? If he is willing to sell it for $90 an d I am willing to ,

a
p y th at for it then he is willing,
th at I should g ain $ 1 0 th at is , ,

$ 1 per year for waiting T hat is interest a very low r ate to be

.
,

sure but interest nevertheless If I am unwilling to give $ 1 00

,
.

for such a tool but insist upon getting it for something less than
,

this amount then I am insisting on interest M en generally act

, .

in just this way though some of them inconsistently disapprove

,

of interest (in theory) at the same time their disapproval be ing ,

based upon a misunderstanding of the problem of interest .

The reason why such a tool does not sell for $ 1 00 or why ,

an
y piece of ca pital will not sell for its whole future value is ,

simply that men do not like to wait They would rather have .

something now than have the same thing or its exact equiv
ale nt in the future S ince waiting is as necessary as working
.
,

an d since men do not like to wait an better th an they like

y
to work it follows that they must be paid for waiting j ust as
, ,

surely as they mu st be paid for workin g Waiting is involved '

.
 0 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
3 1

need to learn this lesson because both are led sometimes to i gnore
,

it ; but the evil results of this ignorance weigh most heavily upon
the poor and they therefore have the best reason for knowing
, , ,

this truth which is in a most literal and material sense the truth
, , ,

which shall make them free The falsity of the proposition that .

l avish expenditure m akes work and thus benefi ts labor has been , ,

dem onstrated more frequently probably than any other economic , ,

fallacy and yet it is still occasionally heard This is so clear as to

, .

leave no room whatever for doubt or discussion in the mind of

any one who will follow the demonstration through .

If I have a dollar to spend an d I decide to spend it for some ,

trifling luxury I do it is true set labor to work producing that

, , ,

luxury or more accurately I encourage the industry which pro

, , ,

duces it ; but if I spend it for a tool instead of a luxury I set labor ,

to work to the same extent producing the tool or I encourage

, , ,

the toolmaking industry Therefore the two cases are equalup

.

to this point There is this difference however when we ca rry

.
, ,

the anal ysis further : when I have bought the luxury an d con
sumed it it is gone forever I may get some ephemeral sati s
, .

faction out of it but it is destroyed as effectually as if it had

,

been burned or cast into the sea so far as the rest of the world ,

is concerned If however I buy a tool to help me in my work

.
, ,

of production I am thereafter enabled to produce more an d to

,

contribute more to the wealth an d satisfaction of the rest of the

world The rest of the world is to that extent the gainer by my
.

frugality and owes me accordingly .

Even though I do not myself use the tool but allow it to be ,

’
used by somebody else the world s production of wealth an d sat
,

isfaction is thereby increased and the new income which I rece ive,

for the use of the tool is merely a partial return for the contribu
tion which I h ave made to the increased productivity of the world .

This contribution is partially neutra lized if I then consume my

ne w income l avishly ; but if I in turn invest th is increase d , ,
 D I STRI BU T IO N O F AGRI CULTURA L I N CO M E 3 1 1

in co me in more and better tools the world is the double gainer,

by my frugality The sum of the whole m atter is that in pro

.

portion as my economic life is a long series of expenditures for

luxurie s I direct a fraction of the productive energy of the world
,

in to the production of luxuries which serve me alone O n the .

oth er hand in proportion as my economic life is a long series of

,

inve stments in tools of various kinds I turn a certain fraction of ,

the productive energy of the world into the production of tools

which serve the world as well as me which in fact must serve , , ,

th e world in order that they may serve me .

It ought not be diflicult to see that the same results follow

'

when I deposit my dol lar in a savings bank as when I spend it

myself In ca se the savings bank lends my dollar to some one
.

who buys a luxurious trifle with it the results upon the rest of ,

th e world are the same as though I had myself bought the trifle .

It is a m atter between us two alone I have virtually loaned him .

th e trifle But in cas e the savings bank l

. ends my dollar to a man
who spends it for tools this also is the same so far as the rest
, ,

of the worl d is concerned as though I had myself bought the

,

tools This man is able by means of the tools to produce more

.

for some one else and some one else pays him for that additional
,

service H e in turn pays me for the use of the tool They who
.
, , .

re ceive the service must prefer it to the price which they pay
for it otherwise they would not buy it H e must get more for
, .

th e extra service than he pays me for the use of the tool other ,

wise he wou l d not borrow it of me There is thus a profi t all .

around .

These considerations are more important to day than they -

ever were before in the history of the world an d they are grow ,

ing more important every day The reason is that capital is .

coming to play a more and more important rOle in industry .

This in turn is the inevitable result of our own inventiveness

, , ,

which is responsibl e for the ushering in of this age of machinery .

3 1 2 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

There was a time when a farmer could succeed with very little
capital for the simple reason that n obody used a great deal H e
, .

was as well equipped as his competitors in the industry an d

could produce as cheaply as they But in this age of labo r .

saving devices he must be as well equipped with these devices

as his competitors otherwise he will not be able to produce
,

cheaply enough to sel lhis products at a profi t But to equip .

himself with allthese modern machines and implements is to

posses s a large amount of capital as compared with the farmer
of a centu ry or even a generation ago Capital does not rain .

down from the sky nor does it come into existence in any
,

other mysterious way It comes into existence through the sim

.

ple process of saving and investing So long as I spend all .

’
my income for consumers goods I Shall never become a cap
ist Eve ry time I spend a dollar for a productive tool rather
ital .

than for an article of consumption I become a ca pitalist to the

,

extent of a dollar If I spend a great many doll

. ars in this way ,

I become a great capitalist an d that is allthere is to it It is

, .

true as pointed out already that I may spend my dollars for

, ,

tools directly or I may spend them indirectly through the

medium of savings banks or other credit institutions .

S ince capital is coming to be a more an d more indispensable

factor in industry it follows that the man who supplies capital
, ,

that is who spends his income for tools rather than for con
,

sumers goods is coming to be a greater and greater benefactor

’

, .

H e supplies a thing which is needed more than it was ever

needed before an d which is coming to be more needed every
,

year Society usually pays highest for what it most wants

. .

That is the simple and logical explanation of the fact that the
capitalist is co ming to be a more and more important perso nage
in every progressive society This is as simple and logical a
.

result as it was that the soldier should have been the most
important personage in an age when society needed soldiers
 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS
3 4
1

are not thus exterminated but left to breed more of their own
,

kind in order that future generations of knaves may have a

plentiful supply of fools to prey upon we shall continue to h ave ,

abundant crops of both fools an d kn aves to affl ict us unless ,

something is done about it When modern states awaken to

.

the full signifi cance of the distinction made in Chapter I be

tween the economic an d uneconomic ways of getting a living ,

an d try to suppress al luneconomic ways as effectually as they

are now trying to suppress s ome of them such as stealing , ,

forging notes counterfeiting etc the problem will be solved

, ,
.
, .

M eanwhile we must depend upon the education of the people ,

especially the rural people against the methods of knavery in

,

order that they may avoid being victimized .

H owever there is comparatively little spurious capital em

,

ployed in agriculture ; therefore there is less need of qualifi ca

tion in our commendation of the ruralcapitalist than there is
in the case of the urban capitalist With practical ly no qual .

ifi cation one may say th at he who increases the suppl

,
y of
agricultural capital by spending his income for tools rather
,

than for consu mers goods is rendering a service to society and

’

is therefore earning whatever income he gets from his tools .

If he invests unwisely that is if he buys tools which do not

, ,

add to his produ ctive power he does not render any service
, ,

nor does he get any income from the use of his tools In pro .

portion as his tools do actu ally add to his production in that ,

proportion d oes he increase his serviceableness to society and ,

in that proportion also will he be rewarded by a larger income .

T his larger income is interest In agriculture this looks simple

.

enough There are not many socialists in the country In the

. .

city there are so m any uneconomic forms of ca pita spu rious

capital as we term it that it requires considerable j udgment
”

and discrimin ation to see the inherent value of real capitaland

the real ca pitalist There are a great many socialists in the city
. .
 D I STRI B U T IO N O F AGRI CULTURA L I N COM E 3 5
1

IV . P R O F IT S

As a lready indicated the profi ts of farming are what is left

,
’
of the farmer s annual income after allowing himself wages for

his own labor rent for his own land and interest for his own
, ,

capital It is of course by no means certain that there will

.
, ,

be any pro fits unless the farmer is a good manager In fact it .

,

is doubtful whether half the farmers of this or any other country

make any pro fits at all while it is certain that the poorest of
,

them do not In the growing of sta ple products where there

.
,

is little opportunity for selling at fancy prices pro fits accrue ,

mainly to those who are able to reduce the cost of production

below that of their less effi cient competitors I n the growing of .

agricultural specialties pro fits may result from reducing the cost

of production but they result mainly from the production of a

,

fancy product which will sell at a fancy price and from skillful ,

s elling which is necessary to secure the maximum price

, .

It is of course a question whether pro fits as thus de fi ned

, ,
’
should not be classed as a part of the wages of the farmer s
own l abor If the grower of a staple product is able to secure
.

pro fits only by reason of the superior management whereby he

increases his product above that of his competitors or reduces ,

his cost of production below theirs his labor is of a superior

,

orde r an d wou l d ordinarily command a superior salary on the

market If such a farmer allows himself a superior salary corre
.

spon din g to his superior m anaging ability would he have any ,

thing left in the way of profi ts averaging one year with another ?
,

O r in the growing of an agricultural specialty where pro fi ts ,

depend partly upon good salesmanship if the farmer allows ,

himself a superior salesman s salary will not this cover allth at

’

is commonly called pro fi ts ?

There is one thing which the independent farmer does ,

wheth er he be a grower of a staple crop or a specialty which is ,

 15 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
3

di ffi cult to bargain for on the market and which would scarcely ,

be included under wages rent or interest H e acts as an in

, , .

surer of the landowner from whom he rents l and of the capi ,

al
t ist from whom he borrows capital and of the laborers whom
‘

he hires That is to say if he rents land and pays cash rent

.
, ,
’
the landlord s income is assured even though there be a part , ial
crop failure A complete failure may render the payment of rent
.

impossible and in an extreme case of this kind the landlord s

,
’

income may be cut off also But if the farmer has anyth ing
.

with which to pay rent it must be paid whether he has any in

,

come left for himself or not Thus the lan dlord is in a saf er
.

position as regards crop failures etc than the farmer is S imi , .

, .

larl y with the capitali st from whom the farmer borrows his

capital Interest must be paid whether there is a crop failure

.
,

or not so long as the farmer has the wherewithal to pay By

, .

this arrangement the lender of capital is in a safer position than

the farmer who uses it because the farmer loses allhis income
,

before the lender loses any of his A gain the farm l aborer s
.
,
’

wages must be paid whether there is anything left for the farmer
or not The farm laborer bears none of the ordinary risks of
.

crop failure of loss of live stock etc and nothing but the com
, , .
,

p le te an d irretriev able b ankruptcy of the farmer will cut off his

wages H e is thus in a safer position than the farmer so far as
.

the ordinary risks of farming are concerned Thus we see that .

the independent farmer bears the burden of these innumerable

an d unforeseeable risks H e stands between the other three
.

cl asses and these risks and so long as he is able to stand up

,

against the blows of misfortune they are protected These blows .

fall upon the m only after the farmer has bee n completely
knocked out .

Because of the greater risk which the farmer assumes an d ,

because of the relative safety which the l andowner who rents out
his land the ca pitalist who len ds his ca pital and the l
, aborer ,
 18 P RI N C IP LES O F RU R AL EC O N O M I C S
3

to pay a pre mium of $ 1 00 e very 5 y e ars for the a

s ke of bein g
ins ure d .
1
A hun dre d do llars paid
r would cost in an v on e vea

him in the way of sac rifice an amount of util ity re prese n te d bv

such a parallelogramas H CG B In eleve n pavme nts eac h cov er .
,

in g a pe riod o f 5 years he ,

woul d have paid $ 1 1 00 ,

which would make a total

sa crifi ce re prese nted by th e

p ara l
lel o gra m D C A B But .

the loss of $ 1 000 in an y

one year would in v ol v e a
sacrifi ce re prese nted by th e

irre gular surface EC FB .

S in ce this surface is larger than th e paral lelogram DC A B he ,

would lose les s in the way of real utility by paying $ 1 1 00 in

55 yea rs tha n by l os ing 5 1 000 in an

y one ye ar .

In the ease of ordinary in surance the shiftin g of the ris k

from the insured to the ins urer does not dimin is h the n umbe r
of losses to be born e but it diminis h es the amount of risk be
,

caus e the l oss ean be more eas ily borne by th ose upon whom it

is sh ifte d ; it bears less heavily upon the insure r than it would

upon the in sured It is for this reaso n that the insure d ca n
.

afford to pay in premiums more than enough to enable the in

surer to meet the lo ss es This familiar principle of insuran ce

.

e xplain s how it happens that there are p ro fi ts in the in s urance

bus in ess .

It is evident that in the ca se of the farmer as was shown to ,

be true in the eas e of the in surance c ompany so much of his ,

gross income as is necessary to cover his real risk or to make ,

1 Th e p re mium of $ 1 00, if we tak e in te re s t in to ac c o un t, mig ht b e re uc e d d

to th e sum w h ic h , p rin c ip a an d in te re s t to e th e r, wo u
l $ i ld q l
g e ua 1 00 n 2 2
}
y e ars, th at is , th e av e rag e ti me b e twe e n th e p ay me nt of the p re miumand the
l
oss by fire .
 DI STRI B UTIO N O F AGRI C ULTURAL I NCO M E 3 9
1

good his losses is not to be classed as profits O nly that which

, .

he wins because of favorable changes in the market over and

above what he loses because of unfavorable changes can be so

classed H ow does there happen to be a surplus in this case ?

.

It must be as in the former case because the risk to him is less

, ,

than it would be to those whom he relieves of it A s compared .

with the laborers it is probable that a given loss would affect

,

him less seriously than it would them The loss of any con sid .

e rabl
e part of their wages which would frequently happen if
,

they bore their own risk or took their own chances with the
market for their products would mean serious deprivation But
, .

there is no reason for believing that a gi ven l oss would on the ,

ave rage affect the farmer less seriously than it would the land
,

lord an d the capitalist of whom he hires his land an d capital .

They are usually in as good a position to bear a loss as he is .

But there are reasons for believing that the skillful farmer will
experience fewer losses than would be experienced by those
whom he relieves of risk whether they be l ,
aborers landlords , ,

or capitalists This is due to no actuarial principle as in the

.
,

case of the insurance company but to the farmer s superior fore

,
’

sight an d skill in avoiding losses That is a part of his special

.

function and in the performance of it he can be assumed to

,

develop specialskill This part of his income is therefore due

.
, ,

to the fact that he is able to avoid l osses more effectively than

the others whom he relieves of their risks Even if he pays .

them what they might be expected to earn on the average an d

in the long run counting the losses with the gains resulting
,

from fluctuations of the market an d other fortuitous circum

stances,
by so m anaging the business that the losses are re
-

duce d an d the gains increased the farmer will fi nd himself in

,

the possession of a surplus without having robbed or outbar

gained any one This means that this part of his surplus is due
.

to the fact that he is able to reduce the risk which he assumes

3 20 P RINCIP LES O F RU RAL ECO NO M I C S

o w t hat wh ich the

be l othe rs would have had to ca n y if he had
not re l
ie v ed the m .

But e ve n if the farmer is not abl e to avoid loss es more suc

ce ssful l t ha n the others whom he relieves of risk he m ay still
y ,

se cu re an incom e through his function as a risk tak er The .

owne r o f an fac tor of production will ordinarily accept as hire

y
so m e thin g l e ss t han its ave rage margi nal product on condition ,
’

th at he be re l ieved of risk The loss of a given sum out of one s

.

cu stom ary income is a m atter of more concern than the gain of

an equalsum in addition to one s customary income A lmost

’
.

any o ne wou l d th e re fore accept an assured income in preference

to an unce rtai n one eve n thoug h the chances were that the uh
,

ce rtai n o ne wou l d ave rage in the long run something more

, ,

than the assured one A ssu red wages interest or rent for ex
.
, , ,

am p l e o f, $ 1 000 a y ear w ould be acc ept

. e d by the average m an

in pre fe re nce to the unce rtain earnings of business even though ,

the se unce rtai n earni ngs mi ght be expecte d in the long run to
ave rage as hig h as $ 1 1 00 a year By taking advantage of this .

te nde ncy in l a rgaining for l abor l and and capit al the farmer
, , ,

wil lthe re fore find himse l f in the possession of a surplus pro ,

vide d he does not fail thm ugh sudde n l oss es before he has

had time
”

to pro fit hv the ave rage of the l

ong run .

Let us supprwe that a

give n fun d of l
abor la n d an d ca pit
a l , ,

can on the ave r

, age and in the l ong run pro duc e $ 1 000 a year . .

fi rs t is the amount whic h then fa rms woul d rec eiv e if they '

trw r vee r to
r
war
. w e re vee rs ris ng 8
i hi
gh as $ 1 5 00 an d again .

13 15 13 as l
ow as $ 5 00 . Raine r than czke the ir chan ces with
h e r 2 l‘o and do wns the Lrbc re m in fi rm and cap ital
ia s wil
l
n
c m ‘v
te wfil
in g man e nt r sdpulated income of something
l
ess than ded am one is abl
at $ 9 5 0 pro i
) . ve to make :
 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S
3 2 2

’
T hat part of a farmer s income which is due to his ability to
reduce his risk by his superi or s kill in guessing at the weather
an d the probable conditions of the market is cl osely akin to h is

wages of supe rintendence an d might almost as well be pl ac ed un

der that head as under pro fits But inasmuch as it is so Closely

.

related to the function of risk taking it seems better on the , ,

whole to include it under the latter head It is the pecul iar

,
.

reward of the spec ulator in the be tter meaning of that te rm

, ,

whose special S kill if he has any cons ists in knowing better

, ,

than others when to buy and when to sell Every farmer is a .

speculator in the sense of being compelled to make expenditures

in advance when it is uncertain what the crops or the market
will be and he is the one who gains or loses by such tra n sac
,

tions I n so far as this is a necessary part of every bus iness

.
,

including that of farming the in come secured by special s k ll

,
i

in this direction must be regarded as earned .

Specul ation in the purely commercial se nse which consists ,

simply in buying things when they are believed to be cheap an d

hold ing them for a rise without any industrial purpose whatever
, ,

is not a wholly barren function th ough there are fe w communi ,

ties in which it is n ot overdone Wherever it is necessary that .

goods should be produced a l ong time in advance of their con

sumption it is also necessary that some one should hold them
,

during the interval This consists not only in housing or storing

.

them but also in waiting to get the value out of them or to get
, ,

one s m oney back as it is sometimes expressed ; and waiting as

’

, ,

we saw in the discussion of interest is burdensome when m arried ,

too far The producer must wait a long time for his reward
.
,

or the consumer must buy a long time in advance of his needs ,

unless some one else will come forward an d relieve th em both of

the necessity of waiting by buying the products of the producer
when they are produced and holding them for the c onsumer
until he needs them The reward for waiting is intere st but in
,
,
 D I STRI BU T IO N O F AGRI C ULTURA L I NCOM E 3 3
2

a ddition to waiting there is the risk of losing It is as necessary .

that some one should risk his capital as it is that some one should
wait But no one is likely to do this unless he is tempted by the
.

h ope Of a profit Whoever does it under such an inducement is

.

to that extent a speculator To be sure he may be several other

.
,

things besides ; he may be the storer of goods as in the case ,

of the owner of a warehouse an d a distributor Of goods as in

, ,

th e case of a merchant ; but in so far as he is merely a buyer

of goods when they are Cheap and a seller when they are high ,

he is a speculator .

Le t us suppose as an extreme illustration that n o one were

, ,

willing to hold any part of a wheat crop from the time of its
h arvesting until such times as it was most needed The whole .

crop would then have to be used up at oncec ap din order to be

so used it would have to be put to very inferior purposes or used ,

in the satisfaction Of very inferior wants Consequently its util .

ity or want satisfying power would be very low D uring the

-
.

remainder Of the year there would be a scarcity of wheat an d ,

many important wants would have to go unsatisfi ed By holding .

a part of the crop till it is needed m ore th an it is im mediately

after h arv est its utility would be greatly increased an d the well
,

being Of the community enhanced Whoever does this holding

.
,

whether it be the farmers themselves the millers or a special

, ,

Cl ass of specul ators is serving the community by increasing the

,

want satisfying power of some of the goods in its possession

-
.

Whatever in the way of pro fits is secured by this process may

be regarded as payment for this service .

But much that goes on under the name of speculation does

not deserve that n ame in spite of its Opprobrious sound Gam
,
.

blin g is a better n ame for th ose transactions which pretend to

be buying an d selling but which Consist really in betting on the
,

course Of the market It is quite as easy for a couple of men

.
,

e ith er in or out of the stock market or the board Of trade to ,

3 4
2 P RI N C I P LES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

bet on the state of the market at some future time as it would

be to bet on the state of the weather ; and one kind O f betting
would serve about as important an economic purpose as another ,

even though the one was done under the form of buying and
selling without any real transfer of goods H owever SO long as .
,

it is impossible to distinguish for le gal purposes betwe en le giti

mate speculation an d gambling under the fo rm of buying an d
selling products it is generally considered best to allow them
,

both to go on together since the one serves an important eco

,

nomic purpose an d the other affects only the parties who par
ticipate an d does no one else any harm
, .

Certain fallacies regarding the influence O f specul ation upon

prices have been given currency not only on the popular pl at ,

form but even in the halls of Congress The O pin ion is ex

,
.

pressed for example that the custom of short selling as it

, ,

is called that is of selling wheat on the board Of trade when

, ,

one has no wheat to deliver has the effect Of depressing the ,

price of wheat Since more wheat is Offered for sale than

.

there is in existence this inordinately large supply of fi ctitious

,

wheat must it is argued have some of the influence of an over

, ,

supply Of real wheat The di ffi culty with this argument is that

.

it overloo ks the fact that for every fi ctitious sale there is also a
fi ctitious purchase O n e might argue on the opposite side that
.
, ,
”
the purchasing of more wheat than there is in existence must
have some Of the effect of a real demand for real wheat and thus ,

raise prices A S a m atter Of fact these two processes counte ract

.
,

each other P erhaps it would be be tter to say that they have no

.

more influence on prices than would result when two gamblers

merely bet on the probable price Of wheat at some date in the
future While this betting would be reprehensible it would
.
,

h ave no influence whatever Upon the course of prices .

W hat is kn own as a corner h owever is quite a di fferent ,

”

thing If one of the gamblers in the foregoing illustra tion took

.
 6 P RI N C I P L ES O F RU RAL EC O NO M I C S
3 2

latter case are more than proportionally superior S o great is the .

preference for the former class of haz ards that a great m any
men one might almost say the majority of men — will risk
$ 1 on the chance of winning $ 1 000 even when it is well kn own
,

that there are 2 000 chances to I against their winning T hat is .

why lotteries flourish where they are not suppressed by l aw But .

very few will risk $ 1 000 on the Chance of winning $ 1 even if ,

they knew that there were 2 000 chances to I in favor of their

winning If a company should Offer to sell 2 000 tickets at 1 000
.

each only one Of which was a bl

,
ank al lthe rest drawing prizes
,

of $ 1 00 1 each it would be maki n g a better Offer than any l ottery

,

ever has made or ever could make but it would not be able to
induce many individuals to buy tickets A n d yet such a com .

pany would be offeri n g a good risk as ris ks go and any one who
, ,

would continue buyi n g such risks would gain in the lo n g run ,

though he might lose allhis money on the fi rst venture .

O utside of mini n g an d of a few extra hazardous enterprises-

i n dustri al and commercial risks bel ong in the class where rela
tive ly l arge sums must be h azarded on the chance of small gains .

This is preem inently true of the risk taken by the independent

farmer S uch risks do not appeal to the gambling instinct and
.
,

consequently they do n ot attract men except where the chances

are good in the lo n g run that is where the gains on the whole
, ,

exceed the losses Those who embark intelligently on such e n

.

te rp ris e s will in the lo n g run receive profi ts

, ,
But in such extra
.

haz ardous enterprises as appeal to the gambling instinct by the ,

chance Of large gains from small investments men are so over ,

anxious to invest that the losses on the whole exceed the gains ,

an d there are no pro fi ts for such men as a cl ass though of course ,

a few win large prizes It is in the former class of enterprises

.

th at the irksomeness of the risk deters men from embarking ,

reduces competition an d improves the chances of those who

,

have the foresight or the hardihood to enter .

 D I STRI B U T IO N O F AGRI C ULTURAL I NCO M E 3 7
2

For the sake of illustration only let us assume that two men
,

are trying to sell lottery tickets ; one is tryi n g to sell tickets of

the common kind an d the other is tryi n g to sell a kind which

n o lottery ever th ought of offering T he fi rst has a box contain

.

ing 2 000 tickets allof which are blan ks but one but that one
, ,

will draw a prize of $ 1 000 The second has a box con taining
.

2 000 tickets only one of which is a blank ; al

, lthe rest will draw

p rizes of $ 1 000 S
. uppose als
,
o th a t ,
t h ese tw o men are equ ally
e nerge tic an d skillful as salesmen ; that each is to sell his own

tickets allat a uniform price but that that price is to be de

,

te rmine d by the willingn ess of purchasers to buy What is the .

s gl zes t price at which each will be able to dispose of al l his

tickets ? M athematically the first man s tickets are worth ex
,
’

actl y 5 0 cent s each th at is the ,

tot a l prizes divided by
the total number of tickets ( 2 000) gives 5 0 cents But if the ex .

rie n ce of lotter ies is a guide th ere is not the slightest d ubt

p e n y ,
o

that the first man would be able to sell allhis tickets at more
than 5 0 cents apiece T he buyers as a class would then lose
.

more than allof them together gained But the second man s .
’

tickets would be mathematically worth that is the ,

total prizes divided by the total number of tickets

( 2 000 ) leaves th at sum It
. is so prob a ble as to a mount to a

practical C ertainty that he would n ot be able to sell his tickets

,

at that price but would have to take a much lower price

,
In .

that case buyers as a Class would gain by buyi n g ; that is their ,

total gains would exceed their total l osses For some psycho .

logical reason which need n ot be discussed here men evaluate

, ,

these different kinds of risks in this way .

N ow it h appens that industrial an d busi n ess risks are un

avoidable and if production is to be carried on some one must
, ,

be induced to assume them But these risks are associated with

.

investing in enterprises of vari ous ki n ds When the enterprise .

is such that small sums may be risked an d the pro fits though , ,
3 2 8 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

very un certain are v ery large the gamblin g instin ct wil

, ,
l l ead
men to in t freely S hares in such ente rprises ean be sold at a
.

price so high as to make it ce rtain that in vestors as a class wil l

lose just as the buyers of the first box of tickets in the fo re goin g
, ,

illus tration are sure to lose But when the enterprise is such that
,
.

l arge sums must be ris ke d and the profi ts though smal

,
l are , ,

f a i rly ce rta in men a

,
re so relu ctant to in vest th at the pri ce which
has to be paid ( for the farm for example or the farming equip
, ,

ment) is so low as to make it certain that they who do invest

will gain as a cl ass j ust as the buyers of the sec ond box of
,

tickets in the foregoing il

,
lustration wil lgain as a cl as s , .

There is a certain parallelism betwee n the ris k th eory of prof

its and the abstinence th eo ry of interest In the discussion of in .

te rest it was se en that the nec es sity of waiting for the product

of a piece Of capitalte nded to reduce its prese nt value somewhat

be low the sum total of its future earnin gs The one who buys .

it at its prese nt value and waits for its earn ings to mature will ,

for this reason secure a surpl us in the form of interest In a

, .

similar way the ris k connected with earry in g on any e nterpris e

,

un der u n stable conditions may reduce the prese nt value of the

equipment in cluding the l
, abor employ e d somewhat be low the ,

probable value of its product even after allowan ce is made for

,

interest Those who undertake such enterprises may be ex

.

p e cte d
,
in the long run to secure a s
,
urplus in th e form of pro fi t
s .

But we saw in our discussion of the interest problem that not

al lwaitin g is equal ly burdensome some bein g done without any
,

hope or expectation of reward in the form Of interest S imilarly .

,

not allrisk is equally burdensome so me be ing undertaken for ,

the sake O f the excitement of the hazard In the ease of an .

enterprise which appeals to the gambling instin ct the eagerness ,

of men to buy the risk will gi ve it a sel ling val ue so mewhat

greater than it is really worth so that they who persist in buy
,

ing such risks invariably lose in the long run more than they
33 0 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S

R
D E
l

A U
M
P
S
B N D I P P R RR N CR
C O
l

R
C
P v

A PPL ES B os ton
N B l dwi
o . I a n
A PPL ES C h ic ag o

A PPL ES Live rpo o l

B tN es B l dwi o . I a ns
A PPL ES No . Y akima , B o sto n

J onathan

A PP LES M ain e P o rtl

an d
( bbl ) (bbl )
. .

BA CO N \V es te rn B o sto n
l
H o me c ure d l
(b .
) ( l
b .
)
B EEF B os to n

( p e r hun re d dw e ig h t ( c wt ) ( cwt )
. .
l

of ste e r )
W orc e ste r B os to n
W orc e ste r C o . B e st

B UTT E R B o s to n

B o sto n . I a— z o
.

C O RN TO A L CO H O L k
P e in , Il
l . k
P e in, Il
l .

S UGA R C O RN H ight t w s o n, l d lp hia

P hi a e

D W A RF B ROO M C O RN
( to n ) ( to n )

E GGS T aun to n, B osto n an d

E GGS Vt . an d N . H . B os to n

Bos ton

M ain e B os to n

H A Y , T ru o rrrv b d
C am ri g e

1 For me at to er, an d
re tail 5 for guts , e tc .
, to pac ke r .
 D I STRI B U T IO N O F AGRI C ULTURAL I NC O M E 33 1

WH B RB Do ss T H B D IP n RR NCR Go ?

k
P ic in g , b
re ig h t, l c om m iss io n , f so rtin g ,
arre , 5 ;
lb l
a e in g , c arting , e tc , sto rag e , .wh o e sa e r, l l re tai e r, l
G rowe rs A ssoc iation ,
’
rai roa rate to C hic ag o, l d who l e sa e r, l
l
re tai e r, $ 3
5 0 .

B arre , l 5 ; re ig ht, c o mmi f

ss io n to e x p orte r, sa e s a n , e tc l m .
, $1 . 00 ; re tai e r, l
G rowe rs A ss oc iatio n ,
’
f re ig h t, f
re rig e ratin g , e xp re ssag e ,

wh o e sa e r, l l re tai e r, l
B k ro e r, co mmission man , re tai e r, l
F ight
re d ig, p k i g re ss n h ipp i ,g wh l ac n , s n , o e
l
s a e r, t il re a e r,

F d ee f ight
e r, kill i g d h ill i g
re , p k m t n an c n , ac er on ea ,

wh l l o e sa e r,t il 5 ( ll p h u d d w
re a ig h t f t
e r, ) a er n re e O s e er

F ig ht $0 00 5 ; wh l l
re , 2 t il o e sa e r, re a e r,

C m y
re a er p g
, t ilex re s sa e, re a e r,

L ld l ( l t m )
oc a ea er e e v a or mmi i h u an , di t t co ss o n o se , re c o

j bb f ml l d l
o er ro 5 ; f i
oc a
g h t 5 ; t i
e a e r,l 5 $ 0 re , re a e r, -
o 1 .

L l f ight
oc a rel t , m uf tu f 5 g ll e e v a o r, f l h lf m an ac re o a on s o a co o ro

bu h l
a s f l p f m bu h l
e , or S o ro 1 s e ,

R ai roa l d rate , co mmiss ion , 5 ; wh o l e sa e r, l re tai e r, l

F re ig ht, manufac ture r s ’

c os t, h is p ro t, fi g ro c e r s
’

p ro fit ,

E xp re ssag e , c om mission , re a ag e , adv e rtis in g , e tc , b k .

re tai e r, l
E xp re ssag e an d de iv e ry to wh o e s a e r, l 5 ; w h o e s a e r, l
e iv e ry to l l l dl
re taile r, 5 ; re tai e r, l
k
S tore e e p e r ( wh o ass e m e s ), bl
tran sp o rtation in I n dian a, I n iana d
c om mission man, rai ro a rate ro mI n ian a 5 ; c artin g, l d f d ‘

c om mission man in oston, $0 007 5 ; re tai e r, $0 068 5 B l

P re ssin g, l
h au in g , c artin g , f re ig ht, j bbo e r,
wh o e sa l l e r, re tai e r, l
 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS
33 2

P RO DUC T D I FFE RE N CE

MI LK
MI LK

MI LK
C A L O RA N G Es
el )
. .

l
A ta C re stae ( n av
C A L O RA. ES NG
Ru by Bl d
oo s

OR ANG ( l)
ES nav e

P EA CH ES

P EA N UT S

PO T AT O ES

C A L P O A O ES
. T T
O re g on stoc k
D RESSED PO U LT RY
( B o il e r rs )
D RESSED PO U LT YR

( R o as te rs )

PO U LT RY
C
( p s)
a o n
PO U LT RY
( F ow l s )
R ICE

S T RA W BE R R I ES , No . I

TO M A T O ES

TO M AT O ES

D RESSED TU RK EY S
MI LK (i n sp rin g )

PO TAT O ES
 C HA PTER V I

P RO BL EM S OF RURAL S O C I AL LI FE

Th e ation
rural popul other problem is even second in
. No
importance to that of maintaining the native quality Of the rural
population The rural districts are the seed bed from which even
.

the Cities are stocked with people U pon the character of this
.

stock more than upon anything else does the greatness of a

, ,

nation an d the quality of its Civilization ultimately depend If .

the native vigor physical and me n tal of the people should de

, ,

cline nothing could save its civilization from decay N ot even

,
.

education itself can permanently arrest such decay when the in

born capacity to be educated is disappearing Every horseman .

believes in careful training as a preparation for racing but no ,

horseman no matter how excellent his system of training might

,

be would expect to maintain or improve the speed of his stable

,

if he bred mainly from scrub stock N or should any country.

,

however excellent its educational system expect to maintain ,

the capacity an d productive effi ciency of its people if the most

capable and e fficient of them multiply least rapidly an d the ,

least capable and e flicie nt multiply most rapidly .

B ut what is really meant by capacity an d productive e ffi cien cy

in a people There is a story of an aged savage who having lived ,

most of his life among civilized men returned in his old age ,

to his n ative tribe saying that he had tried Civilization for forty
,

years an d that it was not worth the trouble A great dealOf the
, .

phil osophy of civilization is epitomized in this story To a savage .

mi n d civilization is never worth the trouble for the reason that ,

taking trouble is distasteful to the savage mind O nly those races .

33 4
 P RO B L EM S O F RURA L S O C I AL LI FE 33 5

which have the capacity for taking trouble or to whom taking ,

trouble is not painful are capable of becoming civilized Civili

, .

z ation consists largely in taking pains To some people it is too .

much trouble They prefer to remain barbarians even though

.
,

they live in Civilized surroundings O ther people have so much

.

mental energy that they do not mind taking pains in fact they
rather enjoy it T hey are the builders of our Civilization Indi
. .

vidual genius was once de fi ned as the capacity for taking in fi

nite pains The genius of a race or of a nation and its capacity
.
,

for civilization may be defi ned in precisely the same terms

, .

Effi cient agriculture requires forethought planning for next ,

year an d the year after and the year after that ; putting in a
, ,

great deal of careful painstaking work to day with no prospect

,
-

of seeing a tangible result for years to come ; looking after an

interminable number of details day by day week by week month , ,

by month and year by year in expectation of returns so distant

, ,

in the future as to lie beyond the vision of lesser minds O nly .

the men or the races which possess this kind of capacity are capa
ble of efficient agriculture or of e fficient industry of any kind .

Whatever other admirable qualities the savage may possess ,

an d he m ay possibly boast superiority over the civilized m an in

many respects lacking these qualities he will remain a beaten

—
, ,

race. S imilarly whatever admirable an d amiable qualities an ih

,

dividual of our own race may possess lacking these he will be ,

a beaten m an It is idle for either a race or an individual to

.

c omplain or to say that in some other kind of a world it would

,

n ot have been beaten This happens to be this kind of a world

.
,

and in this kind of a world it h appens th at success comes to those

races wh ich possess in the highest degree the economic virtues

of industry sobriety thrift forethought reliability knowledge
, , , , ,

of natural laws and mutual helpfulness These are the qualities

, .

which bring success to a race or a nation an d the possession of ,

these qualities constitutes therefore what we call capacity an d

, ,
 6 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
33

e flicie n cy We may pe rsuade ourse lves that we like other quali

.

ties or p eople who possess them but nature pays v ery l , ittle at

tention to our likes an d d islikes in such matters H owever much .

we may l ike other qualifi es the peoples who l ,

ack these quali

ties wil lfail ; an d however much we may persuade ourse lves that
we despis e the sober homely econ omic virtues the peoples who
, , ,

ss them will su c c ee d an d even tual

ly domina te the w orld
p osse .

The problem of maintainin g the eapacity of the ruralpopula

tion for Civilization will depen d upon two questions ( )
1 I s it th e

most or the least eapable in di viduals who man y earliest and hav e
the large st families ( 2 ) Is it the most or the least eapable in di
?

vidual s who l eav e the farms an d migrate to the Cities ?

Ideal y it would seem as though the most eapable young men

l
S hould arrive fi rst at a position of indepe n dence where it would ,

be poss ible to marry an d settle down to the work of building up

an estate a n d a family Where social ideals are sound this is
.

doubtless the ease ; but where they are unsound it is otherwise .

Where the socialideals are such that it is re garde d as an honor

able ambition as the most honorable ambi tion in fact to ,

found a family with a family estate to support it or to pe rp etu

, ,

ate a family already honorably establish ed an d to m aintain it s ,

standards an d traditions the eapable young men wil

, l be guide d
by this ideal and the most eapable of them will succeed best
,

in realizing it But where th e end and aim of econ omic life

.

centers in the grati fi cation of the senses or of individualvanity ,

in attracting public notice beeause of individualachievement in

fas hionable society in art literature or scholarship or in an y
, , , ,

other Of the so called polite pursuits the family ideal is lost from
-

sight Under such circumstances there is a tendency to look

.
,

upon achievement in some of these directions as an end in itself ,

rather than as a means of family building ; to assume that an

honorable ambition is re alized when success alon g th es e other
lines is attain ed regardless of the fate of the famil
,
y ideal S uch .
 8 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL ECO N O M I C S
33

sought af ter in marriage Women weaker physically mentally

.
, ,

an d morally m ay satisfy other des ires better than the type just

described ; co n sequently the stronger type of women will be

more likely to remain unmarried an d childless or to marry later ,

and therefore h ave a shorter child bearing period or to get less

-

eapabl e an d vigorous husbands and therefore bear less eapabl e

an d vigorous childre n I n addition to allthis where other than

.
,

the family ideal dominates marriage there wil l be more Child

,

less marriages .

The country which maintains the soundest ideals and am

bitions in the way of family building will be the country peopled
with the strongest an d most capable citizens The country with .

the strongest an d most capable citizenship will be the stron gest

and the most prosperous country S ince the citizenship of the
.

country is in the end recruited mainly from the rural districts

, , ,

it is especially importa nt that sound ideals Should predomi nate

there To fail in this respect is eventually to fail in eve rything
.
, , .

Therefore there need not be the slightest hesitation in saying

that the most important ambition which can be cherished in the
country is the ambition of every capable man and woman to found
or perpetuate an honorable capable and vigorous family The
, , .

aim of successful agricul ture should be to en able the succes sful

agricul turist to m aintain a family estate for the support an d pe r

p e tuation of such a family N othing could

. be more disas trous
than the idea that successful agriculture or a rich farm was an end , ,

in itself or that it was a means to any such end as sensual grati

,

fi cation personal vanity or ostentation or more luxurious eas e

, , .

Ruralmigration N ext in importa nce to the character of the

.

family ideal as a factor in race building is the character of rural

migration If it should happen that the most vigorous capable
.
, ,

and ente rprising youths S hould continual ly leave the country for
the City there to become sterilized as is usually the case through
, , ,

the pursuit of sensuality vanity or false ambition only one

, , ,
 P RO BLEM S OF RURAL S O C I AL LI FE 3 39

result would be possible The less vigorous capable an d enter

.
, ,

prising youths being left in the cou ntry there to marry and ,

brin g up families and the same process of selection going on

,

generation after generation the quality of the rural population

,

would inevitably deteriorate This would h appen as certa inly as

.

it would if a horse or cattle breeder should follow the practice of

selling his best animals and keeping the inferior ones for breed
ing purposes If such a breeder Should con tinue this practice he
.
,

would eventually have no fi rst rate animals to sell S imilarly if

-

.
,

the rural population should degenerate there would eventually ,

be no superior men and women to send to the cities an d the ,

cities themselves would then degene rate But if it should h appen

.

that the best the strongest the m ost intelligent and the most
, , ,

enterprising youths should stay in the country and the inferior ,

ones should be sent to the Cities to be sterilized by false ambitions ,

then it would follow that the quality of the rural population would
improve So long as the ru ral population is improving there is
.

no danger of national decay or weakness or of a decline of Civi ,

liz ation It is therefore of great imp ortance that the farms Sh all
.

retain at least their fair share of the talent Of the country .

I n order that young men and women of tale nt and capacity

may be induced to remain on the farms rural life must be made,

attractive to them Farm life can n ot be attractive to such men

.

an d women unless it o ffers opportunities for a liberal m aterial

income for agreeable social life an d for intellectual and ae sthetic

, ,

enjoyment .

An adeq uate income The problem of securin g an adequate

.

’
income to the farmer s family is partly a problem of securing
an adequate supply of l and an d capital for them There is very .

little in the peasant type of farming where the farmer is SO in

,

adequately supplied with l and as to m ake e ffi cient agriculture

impossible and where even m achinery and good teams are

,

unprofitable to attract men and women of high spirit and

,
 0 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S
34

e n te rprrse This is the type of farmin g however which would

. , ,

be forced upon us if the agricultural population should increas e

in such a way as to bring about a continuous moree l lem e n t or ,

subdivision of farms into smaller and smaller units S uch an .

increase in the number of the rural population would therefore

inevitably result in a decline in its quality because such petty ,

farming being unattractive to men an d women of capacity for

,

larger things would drive them cityward and leave in the

,

country only the typ e fitted for small affairs .

This presents a phase of the problem of rural depopulation

which is too frequently overlooked Where the decline in .

numbers comes about as a result Of a readj ustment of agricul

tural methods it may be in the end a good thing Where the
, , , .

farms h ave proved too small for the most efficient agriculture ,

an d where therefore the owners of sm all farms fi n d them so

unprofitable as to be induced either to buy out their neighbo rs

or to sell out to them the result is larger farms and a smaller
,

number Of farmers If the Change results in making farm ing

.

more attractive to men an d women of capacity and in keeping ,

such people on the farms the decline in numbers is compe n

,

sated for by a permanent improvement in quality They who .

believe that quality is more important than quantity must ap

prove the Change .

Fortunately the transfer of land is SO easy an d inexpensive in

this country as yet especially in the newer states that there are
, ,

no serious obstacles in the way of this process Where the farms .

are either too sm all or too l arge to secure their highest val ue ,

they tend to be combined in the former case or to be subdivided ,

in the l atter until they approximate the size which gives them
,

greatest value The reason why this process does not go on in

.

the same way in some of the older countries is because of the

di ffi culties in the way of transferring land T he long history of a .

gi ven title the

,
va st number of complic ated legal rights an d cl aims
 4 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S
3 2

the results of sc ientifi c study and experiment H e is the man .

who will profi t most therefore and who will in the end be able
, ,

to buy out his ignorant neighbor and send him off to town to
work under a boss Such an improvement in our ru ral pop
.

ul ation augurs well for the future of the republic .

An agreeabl ife Q uite as importa nt as the question of

e social l .

an adequate income is that of an agreeable sociallife as a means

of attra cting a superior type of men an d women to the farms .

Few people realize how much more dependent the farmer is than
any one else upon his social surroundings A business m an in the .

City can choose his neighbo rs without Changing his place of busi

n es s for the reason that his residence an d his pl ace of business

,

are entirely di sc onnected If he doe s not like one neighborhood

.

as a pl ace of residence an d a pl ace in which to bring up h is

family he can move to another without disturbin g his business

,

relatio n s The farmer must live on his farm and must brin g up
.

his Children there Whatever the social surroundings of the

.

neighborhood are he must accept them or else sell out and

,

move thus upsetting all his business relations and haz arding
,

his business prosperity on the chance of improving his social

relations A gain the man in the city is usually within easy reach
'

.
,

of a great variety of schools Churches and other social agencies

, , .

If one does not suit him he ean m ake use of another without
,

great inconvenience In the country where allsuch thi n gs are

.
,

farther apart it would ordinarily be a great inconvenience to

,

se nd his children to any other school than the one belon ging
to his own district or to take his family to another church than
,

one of those Of the neighborhood A gain even though the city .

,

man does not choose his place of residence wise ly he is not ,

dependent upon his neighbors for his social life Where the .

n eighborhood id ea doe s not prevail as it usually does not in the ,

City one m a ignore his own neighbors an d still have an agree

, y
able social life am ong the members of his class trade occupation , , ,
 P RO BL EM S OF RURAL SO C IAL LI FE 34 3
.

or club This is probably in the end a vicious tendency but it

.
, , ,

does at any rate help to make the city man relatively inde pe nd
, ,

e n t of the social conditions of his immedi ate neighborhood .

But the farmer cann ot pick an d choose in this way P erhaps it .

is well that he should not but this at leas t shows that he is de

,

pendent upon his neighborhood A s a result of this dependence

.

he is compelled more than any other cl ass of men to take an

, ,
'

interest in n e ighborhood affairs The safety an d well being of

.
-

his own family depend upon his having good neighbors and
good moral and social conditions within his neighborhood This .

is doubtless a good thing in the end because it forces him if he , ,

is interested in his family and the future careers of his children ,

to give time an d energy to the work of neighborhood improve

ment B ut temporarily it may be a hardship to the man of clean
.

h abits an d sound principles because before he can get the

, ,

neighborhood cleaned Up his family may have suffered from

,

the lack of a wholesome social life .

Wh atever may be said upon that point it can scarcely be ,

denied that the farmer more than any one else has reason
, ,

to take an active interest in the local church the school the , ,

grange the library local sports and eve ry other agency which
, , ,

may contribute to the soc ial life of the neighborhood If he .

all ows these things to degenerate it will profi t him little to

,

have come into possession of broad acres to have grown big ,

crops and to have built big barns to h old them

, .

Th e country ch urch A mo n g the agencies for the building

.

up of a wholesome social life in the country the rural church

deserves fi rst mention if for no other reason because it is the ,

oldest U nfortunately there has been a close parallelism between

.

the practices of the rural churches in A merica an d the typ e of

agriculture which has prevailed I n the pioneering stage agri
.

culture has consisted mainly in harvesting the soil and very ,

little attention has been paid to soil building S imilarly the .

,
 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
3 44
.

pioneering churches have too generally followed the plan of

harvesting a membership by revivalistic methods an d have
given too little attention to membership building A certa in .

pioneer preacher of picturesque fame was once reported to

, ,

have opposed the education of men for the ministry on the

ground that there were plenty of well educated men to be had -

an d if the Lord wanted an educated minister al lhe needed to

do was to seize upon one of these educated sinners an d shake
him over the pit until he came to his senses an d agreed to
preach the gospel Fortunately this argument did not prevail ;
.

but it has looked at times as though some of the more popular

, ,

churches have relied upon a similar policy for the recruiting of

their membership They seem to have relied more upon the
.

making of converts from among mature reprobates than upon

the training of s uccessive generations of boys an d girls into
good mutually helpful neighbors ; into productive e ffi cient pros
, , ,

peron s farmers ; in short into good substantial citizens such as

,

build up a community increase the productivity of its farms

, ,

an d make it a desirable pl ace in which to live .

H owever things are improving in one respect at least an d

, ,

the pioneering stage of church activity is giving way to a more

permanent an d constructive form of church activity The tran .

sitio u period however is a critical one and in many ca ses there

, , ,

appears to be an inability on the part of the country church to

live through it .

O n e serious danger against which the warning cannot be

,

made too strong is the snare of a sentimental type of spiritu

,

ality a kind of spirituality which wastes itself in mere a

, e sthetic

or emotional enjoyment a kind of Spiritual Sybaritism The .

church which yields to this temptation and cultivates a form of ,

religious emotional ism as an end in itself will fail ; and it will ,

deserve to fail because it will be of no use to its members or to

the world The church which realiz es that its spirituality must
.
 6 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
34

an d the town s have therefore to be continuously recruited from

the country the Christianizing of the rural districts would even
,

tual l
y me an the C hristian izing of the towns also But vice versa .
, ,

if non Christians should be come the better farmers by reason

-

of some false philosophy or supe rcilious attitude toward mate

rial wealth and economic achievement on the part of the church ,

then this would eventually become a non Christian cou n try for -

the same reason .

But if as a third possibility there sh ould be n o pe rce pti

, ,

ble di fference be tween Christians and n on Christians as to their -

knowledge and adaptability or as to their general fi tness to sur

,

vive an d possess the earth — fitne ss that is as determined by

, , ,

nature s standard rather th an by some artifi cial standard of our

’

own devising the result would be that Christians would re

,

main indefi nitely a mere sect in the midst of a non Christian or -

nondescript population T he only way of avoiding this rather

.

unsatisfactory situation would be to force the whole po pulation

into a nominal Christianity by military force But assuming .
,

that physical force is not to be used and that the ordinary ,

economic forces are to operate undisturbe d by such violent

means then the contention will hold This is what is likely to
, .

happen if certain religious leaders should succeed in identify

ing Christianity with millinery with emotionalism wi th abstract
, ,

formulae respecting the invisible world or with mere l oyalty to

,

an organization rather than with rational conduct

,
By rational .

conduct is meant that kind of conduct which conserves human

energy an d enables men to ful fill their mission of subduing the
earth an d ruling over it which en ables them to survive in the
,

struggle with n ature This is the essence of allgenuine morality

. .

If the signifi cance of this law is once clearly understood ,

there is little danger that the church will make the wrong
choice or hesitate long in m aking the right one It would at .

once decide to make better farmers of its rural membe rs than

 P RO BL EM S OF RURAL S O C I AL LI FE 34 7

n onmembers can possibly become since nonmembers would ,

lack the stimulating influences which go with membership The .

only danger is that the churches some of them at least will fail
, ,

to see the point or refuse to see it and co ntinue to hug the

, ,

delusion that they are under the guidance of a higher power

than political economy an d may therefore safely ignore its
,

laws That would be a delusion because a law is a law and

.
, ,

the words higher an d lower have no application To believe .

that there may be a conflict between divine law and physical

law or between divine l
,
aw an d economic l
aw is to believe th at ,

this is an irrational universe at war with itself M oreover we

, .
,

must form our conclusions as to the will of G od and the duty

of man on the basis of the observed facts an d uniformities of
the world of actual experience ; and the laws of p olitical econ
om are among these observed uniformities O ur only wa of
y y .

knowing that we are in tune with the Infi nite is by observing

that we are in tune with the fi nite ; and we cannot possibly be
in tune with the fi nite unless we act in harmony with known
physical an d economic laws .

There may be some excellent people who hold th at it should

not be the mission of the church to make good farmers but ,

to convert to Christianity those who are already good farmers .

Relian ce upon the process of conversion may appe al to some as

the right policy for the church to pursue but unless conversion
means increased e ffi ciency greater adaptability greater fi tness
, ,

for the struggle for existence better conservation of human

,

energy the church can scarcely hold the ground which it wins
,

by that process but will be continually losing ground through

,

economic competition with the more e ffi cient non Christians -

.

But if this is a rational universe must we not conclude that ,

any religion or any religious movement however attractive it ,

may seem is proved a false religion or a misdirected religious

,

movement which does not increase the capacity of its followers

,
 8 P R I NC IP L ES O F R UR AL EC O N O M I CS
34

to controlthe forces of nature to dominate the earth and to

,

rul e over it wh ich does n ot in crease their adaptab il

,
ity which ,

does not make the nation wh ich adopts it a prosp e rous nation ?
Converse ly must we not con clude assuming stil
,
l a ratio nal ,

un ive rse that that is a true re l

,
igio n wh ich if adopted by a ,

whole community or a whole nation woul d in crease the adapt ,

ability of that com munity or that nation an d enable it to sub

j ugate the earth and to outgrow both in power an d wealth in ,

com fort an d pros perity the nation which does not adopt it ?
,

The alternative to this conclusion would se em to be to fall

bac k upon the con cept of an irrational universe on the belief ,

that this world is Satan s world in conflict with Go d s l aw in

’ ’

, ,

stead of G od s world in harmon y with its el f

’
.

This doctrin e is not so revolutionary as it may see m Indee d .

,

it is so old fashione d as to be positively reactionary an d that is

-

why it may seem ne w and rev olutionary to thos e who have for
gotten certain old truths If it be correct to sa y that the rural
.

dis tricts will become Christianiz ed on ly in proportion as Chri s

tians become bette r farmers than n on Christians it must also -

be true that wh atev er pe rmanen t succes s the rural church has

had in the pas t has be en due to the same reason except where ,

force or some other n oneco n omic factor has intervene d S uch .

is as a matter of fact the ease I n spite of the emphas is of the

, , .

church upon spirituality or be eause of its emphasis upon a sane

,

an d wholesome kind of spiri tuality men have usually be come ,

better farmers under its influence For alon g with certain for .
,

malities of belief and conduct there has generally bee n for one
, ,

reason or another considerable emphas is upon the plain eco

,

nomic virtues of industry sobriety thrift forethought and mu

, , , ,

tual helpfulness Wherever there has been a pure an d elevated

.

type of Christianity there Christians have exhibited these vir

,

tues in somewhat greater degree than non Christians T his -

.

simply means that they have was te d less of their energy in vice ,
 0 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
35

In agriculture one must wrest a living from nature an d nature ,

ean not be tricked or deluded But a large element of our city .

populations an d generally they are the dominant element

get their living out of other people ; an d people are easily de

ce ive d .Instead of laboring to make two blades of grass grow
where one had grown before their business is to make two dol ,
’
l ars emerge from other people s pockets where one had emerged
before N either impudence nor a smooth tongue nor a distin
.
, ,

g uish e d m anner nor lurid rhetoric

,
ever yet m ade an acre of

land yield a larger crop of grain ; but they have freq uently
made an offi ce a sanctum a platform and even a pulpit yield
, , ,

a larger crop of doll ars They who get their living out of other
.

people must of necessity interest those other people ; an d men

, ,

are so constituted that queer an d abnormal things are more inter

esting to them than the usual and the normal They will pay .

money for the privilege of seeing a two headed calf when a -

normal calf would not interest them at all The dime museum .
-

freak makes money by S howing to our interes ted gaze his phys
icalabnormalities H e is an economic success in that he makes
.

a good living by it but it does not follow that he is the ty pe

,

which is fi tted to survive or which religion ought to try to pro

,

duce O ther men going under the names of artists novelists

.
, , ,

or dramatists of certain nameles s schools make ve ry good liv ,

ings by revealing to interested minds their mental an d moral

abnorm alities They like the dime museum freaks are eco
.
,
-

nomic successes in that they make good livings but it does not ,

follow that they are the type of man fi tted to survive or that ,

religion ought to try to produce This type of ec onomic success .

is an urban rather than a rural one an d it flourishes under urban ,

rather than rural conditions S o long as it flourishes there is .

no reason why religious men who conserve their energies for

productive service S hould succeed in crowding them out of
existence The o nly chance of attainin g that end will be for
.
 P RO BL EM S OF RURA L S O C I AL LI FE 35 :

religion to give people a saner appreciation of things teach ,

them to be more interested in normal calves than in two headed -

calves in norm al men than in dime museum freaks in sane

,
-

writers than in certain degenerate types now holding the atten

tion of the gaping crowd If this can be brought about then it
.
,

will result that the religious type of man even in cities will , ,

m ore and more prevail over the irreligious provided the reli ,

gion itself is worth preserving that is provided it becomes , ,

a positive factor in the conservation of human energy .

A s has already been suggested there is a great deal more in ,

volved in the making of a good farmer than in the teaching of

sc ienti fi c agriculture M r Benj amin Kidd in his S ocial Evo
. .
,

lution ,
has done well to emphasize the importance of moral
qualities as compared with intellectual achievements I n the .

fi rst place intellectual achievements or their results can only

, , ,

be utilized where there is a sane an d wholesome m orality as a

basis In the second pl ace the results of the intellectual achieve
.
,

ment of one race or of one man may be borrowed freely by the

rest of the world provided the rest of the world h ave the m oral
,

qualities which will enable them to profi t by so doing ; whereas

moral qualities cannot be borrowed from one race by another .

J apan for example could easily borrow from European nations

, ,

the art of modern warfare together with its instruments of de

,

struction ; but she did not borrow an d could not borrow that , ,

splendid courage an d discipline which enabled her to utilize so

effi ciently the inventions which She borrowed S o one nation .

can easily borrow farm m achinery an d m odern methods of agri

c ulture but it cannot borrow the moral qualities which will e n

,

able it to pro fi t by them S aying nothing of mental alertness

.

an d willingness to learn which might be classed as mental

,

rather than moral it could not borrow that patient spirit of toil
, ,

nor that sturdy self reliance nor that stem an d unrelenting sense
-

of duty nor that forethought which sacri fi ces present enjoyment

,
 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
35 2

to future profit nor that spirit of mutual helpfulness allof which

, ,

are essential to any e ffective rural work A gain a n ation can .

,

not easily borrow a sane and sober reason a willingness to trust ,

to its own care in preparing the soil rather than to the blessing
of the priest upon the fi elds nor can it borrow a general spirit
of enterprise which ventures out upon plans an d proj ects which
approve themselves to the reason A n d fi nally it cannot borrow .
, ,

that love for the soil and the great outdoors an d the growing
, ,

crops and the domestic animals which marks every successful

, ,

rural people These things h ave to be developed on the soil

.
,

to be bred into the bone and fi ber of the people an d they are ,

the fi rst requisites for good farming A fter them comes s e ien .

tifi c knowledge I n the development of such moral qualities as

.

these the church has been an d may become again the most , ,

effective agency .

Because of such moral qualities as these the Puritans were ,

able to subdue the N ew E ngland forest an d to build up a great

rural civilization on the basis of a sterile soil and an inhospitable

climate an d without any great amount of scientifi c knowledge
, ,

though as compared with other communities their knowledge

of agriculture was not inferior They took their work seriously .
,

as be fi tte d those who had such a task before them as the build

ing of a wilderness empire Their unbending sense of duty an d .

their thrift and foresight h ave become proverbial as have their ,

keenness their alertness an d their h umor But their mutual

, , .

helpfulness though less proverbial is attested by their logroll

, ,

ings their house raisings their husking bees and the like
, , , ,

making even their pleasures bring them useful results both ,

material an d social material in the sense of having some

,

thing more substantial than headaches to show for their fe stiv

ities social in the sense of having the strongest of allbonds of
,

social sympathy namely coope rative labor as the basis of their

, ,

social enj oyment .

 P RI N CI P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S
354

conduct that pays or the kind of life that succeeds the economic
, ,

law stated above is the strongest argument .

If the kingdom of God is a kingdom of service these e fforts ,

are quite consistent with the mission of th e church If it will .

seek to serve the community in this way seeking fi rs t to be ,

of service allthe other things that is su ffi cient wealth mem

,
—
, ,

be rship esteem etc

,
will be added unto it If however it
, . .
, ,

seeks fi rst merely to make proselytes to increase its member ,

ship or to get money it will have n o reason to expect or

, ,

deserve perm anent success .

O rganized efforts in the churches for the study of parish econ

om y ,
for gaining more an d more scientifi c knowledge of agri

culture for the practical kind of Christian brotherhood which

,

S hows itself in the form of mutual helpfulness an d co operation ,

in the form of decreasing j ealousy and suspicion in the form ,

of greater public spirit greater alertness for opportunities of

,

promoting the public good an d building up the parish an d the

community in helping young men an d young women to get
,

started in productive work an d in h ome building in helping the ,

children to get the kind of training which will enable them to

make a better living in tile f a n s/z efforts of this kind will
'

eventually result in better support for the churches themselves ,

because the community will then be able to support the church

more liberally an d what is more important it will then see
, , ,

th at the church is worth supporting .

This ideal of a church which makes itself a factor in building

up a community even in material things is not an impossible
, ,

ideal It has been realized in the past an d it can be realized

.

again A n illustrious example is that of Jean Frederic O be rlin

.
,

the pastor of the Steinthal N umberless other examples can be

.

found in the religious orders of the medieval church examples ,

of communities which were made rich and prosperous by the

teachit and the example of self sacrificin g leaders This ideal -
.
‘
 P RO BL EM S OF RURA L S O C I AL LI FE 35 5

will however never be realized by a church which affects to

, ,

despise this world an d the things of this world which regards the ,

world itself as lost an d conceives of its own mission as consisting

,

in saving as many individualsouls as possible from the wreck .

If the church will assume that the world is not going to per
dition that it is going to last for a long time and that it will
, ,

eve ntually be a Christian or a n on Christian world according as

-

Christians or non Christians prove themselves more fit to possess

-

it
,
according as they are better farmers better business men , ,

better mechanics better politicians

,
then the church will turn,

its attention more an d more to the making of better and more

progressive farmers business men mechanics an d politicians
, , , .

What is socialserv ice M uch is being said nowadays about

socialservice as the mission of the church That is in itself an .
, ,

excellent thin g but there is a tendency to take too n arrow a view

of social service j ust as there was formerly a tendency to take too
,

n arrow a view of spiritu ality The result is that as much cant is

.

being preached in the name of social service as ever was preached

in the name of Spirituality This is to be expected of those who
.

do n ot realize that al lproductive work such as growing corn , ,

wheat or cattle to feed the world or growing wool or cotton

, , ,

to clothe the world is social service an d that the best social

,

service which the average man can perform is to do his regular

work well ,
to grow good crops if he is a farmer and to bring ,

up his family in habits of industry sobriety thrift reliability and

, , , ,

mutual helpfulness that anything in short is social service , ,

which builds up the country an d makes it strong powerful pro , ,

i an d prosperous The church which pre aches an d teaches

g re ss v e ,
.

social service in this broad an d constructive sense will become a

powerful factor in the progress and prosperity of the country ,

an d is not likely to l ack for adequate support .

The dependence of the farmer upon his social surroundings ,

as previously pointed out gives the country church a unique

,
 6 P RI NC I P L ES O F RU R AL EC O N O M I C S
35

o pportunity for real service outside the fi eld of agriculturalpro

duction The organizations which ean supply the farmer an d
.

his family with an agreeable social life will supply one of the
reatest needs of ru ral pe ople an d will deserve their support
g .

If the church can do this there need be no rival organization

,

spring up to divide the loyalty and support of the people If the .

church does not do it some other organiz ation will The need
, .

is too great to be left unsatisfi ed an d will create the means

,

for its own satisfaction .

In order that the country church may contribute its share

toward supplying opportunities for a wholesome an d agreeable
social life it is not necessary that it undertake an elaborate pro
,

gram of entertainments concerts gymnastic classes etc though

, , , .
,

al lthese things are good in their places O ne thing an d only .

,

one thing is essential though it is sometimes diffi cult to attain

, ,

an d is always capable of in fi nite ariation It is essential that

v .

people with a common interest should occasionally be brought

together that is within speaking distance of one another If
, , .

that can be done social life will take care of itself But it is not
, .

always asy t o fi n d a common interest In some times an d places

e .

theological speculation in oth e rs political or scienti fi c specula

,
’
tion has so occupied men s minds as to give them an allabsorb
,
-

ing theme of common interest When they came together their

.

common interests made them agreeable company for one ano ther
and gave them ample opportunity for high converse on great
themes Where there is no common an d absorbing interest of
.

this kind something must be found or created otherwise con ,

versation will revolve inte rrn inabl y around such themes as th e

weather an d crops .

But it is not at allnecessary that conversation should center

in Speculative themes either theological political or scienti fi c
, , , .

P roblems of parish or neighborhood economy of rural beauti ,

fi cation are l
,
arge enough to oc cupy the time an d attentio n of
 8 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
35

best provinces In addition to this she was obliged to pay a

.

heavy war indemnity Finally an d worst of all her G erman

.
, ,

market was cut off by the G erman tariff wall But as one result .

of this accumulation of cal amities there was developed an intense

feeling of national patriotism an d solidarity O ut of this feeling.

grew a number of co operative measures for the rebuilding of the

country especially in the fi eld of agriculture Within fi fty years
,
.

D enmark became the most prosperous country on the continent

of Europe and stands to day as a monument to the e ffi ciency
,
-

of the Spirit of intelligent cooperation It is a cooperation not

.

forced upon the people by a gov ernment but a spontaneou s ,

cooperati on growing out of a general spirit of patriotism an d

mutualhelpfulness Every student who is intimately acquainted
.

with the history of this movement agrees that the popular re cre
ation s an d festivities h av e been powerful factors in creating this

spirit and th at the popular songs an d hymns an d the h abit of

, ,

singin g them together on alloccasions have given to these rec

,

re ation s an d festivities a p atriotic an d religious ch aracter which

is to be found nowhere else to day on so large a scale

-

Every college student is famili ar with the fact that when a

body of students unites upon a common interest like an athletic ,

contest there is not the slightest difliculty in getting them to

,

gether an d when they do get together there is not the slightest

,

diflicul ty in keeping things going Even S inging seems to be a

.

perfectly n atural an d fi tting form of expression P recisely the .

same principle has been seen in operation on a larger scale by

any on e who has lived through a great n ational crisis like a war , .

When the people are intensely interested in the same thing

their gatherings are never dull S inging together is a natural
.

way of expressing the common feeling an d no one questions ,

its propriety .

The Danish people have demonstrated that it is possible for a

whole people to become as thoroughly united an d as enthusiastic
 P RO B L EM S O F RURA L S O C I AL LI FE 35 9

upon the common interest of agricultural production and na

tion al upbuilding as it is for a body of college students to be
come upon the subj ect of an athletic contest or for a nation to ,

become on the subj ect of war The church which can give its .

people or its neighborhood a great and noble enthusiasm like

this will have no diffi culty in creating a vibrating social life .

Then it will not seem out of place or bad taste for the people , ,

1
to sing whenever they get together The absence of any com .

mon enthusiasm means a disunited egoistic disintegrating social , ,

life compared with which even war horrible as it is may be the

, , ,

les ser evil if it results in u n iting the people in a common in

te re st an d a common cause S ince Denm ark has S hown th at a
.

people may develop a comm on enthusiasm for the arts of peace ,

it ought to furnish a basis for a constructive faith in its possi

bil ity elsewhere If the church is not to be the conservator of
.

that constructive kind of faith where shall we l ook for it ? ,

Th e country sch ool The country school th ough a younger

.
,

institution th an the country church is regarded by many as the ,

more powerful an d influential of the two It has certain m ani .

fest advantages chief among which is the fact that it belongs

,

to the whole community instead of a part of it Therefore it can .

be m ade the center of the life of the whole neighborhood more

easily than the church can especially where denominational ,

differences tend to divide the community O n the other hand .

,

the fact that the school is a territorial institution that is that ,

it belongs to allthe people living within a certain territory

puts it at a disadvantage as compared with the church in a
neighborho od where the maj ority of the voters are un progre s
sive an d unenlightened In such a neighborhood the school is
.

likely to be of little use except in so far as it is compelled by

,

1 Inc i lly it m y b
d e n ta a e me n tion e d many of th e old e st re c ord e d hymn s
th at
of th I d Eu p
e n o b-
ro e an ran c h of th e human rac e those of th e Rig V e d a are
, ,

ag i ultu al hym
rc r ns .
 6 0 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I CS
3

higher sta te authorities to fulfi ll its function prope rly B ut if the .

church being a voluntary institution should happen to have in

, ,

its membership the more enlightened an d progressive part of the

community it may begin a work of social regeneration which
,

would be impossible for the school But of course if the church

.
, ,

should be in the control of the least intelligent an d least pro

g ress ive p art of the community as is somet
, imes the ca se it ,

possesses all the disadvantages and none of the advantages

of the school .

The country school is of course primarily an educational

, ,

institution an d as such must give its attention mainly to in

,

struction in certain conventional subj ects which the world has

come to regard as the nec essary bas is of an education or as the ,

essentials of a preparation for life Remembering always that.

every kind of productive work is social service we need have ,

no d iffi culty in seeing that the fi rst duty of the school is to fit

its students for individual success in some lin e of production ,

an d that the line for which the rural school is best fi tted to pre

pare its pupils is agricultural production But inasmuch as our .

pres ent purpose is not to discuss the general problem of rural

education but only to consider how the rural school may be
,

made a factor in developing a more wholesome an d agreeable

social life in the country we need not consider the rural school
,
-

c urriculum .

There is already an admira ble interest in the school as a

mean s of developing patriotism The flag raisings the celebra
.
,

tion of natio nal holidays the reading of patriotic literature the

, ,

memorizing of national classics allare excellent an d show how

, ,

thoroughly awake our people are to some of the broader aspects

of the problem M uch remains yet to be done however in
.
, ,

giving de fi n ite ness an d concreteness to the patriotic sentiments

which we are trying to develop It is one thing to develop
.

patriotism as an abstract virtue ; it is quite a different thin g to

 6 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
3 2

or to produce the fi nest cattle or horses or hogs in the world ,

any really useful purpose in fact if it will unite the people an d

, ,

call out a common an d universal enthus iasm — will do more to ,

dignify the social life of the village or to wnship than allthe pur
p os e le s s social entert ainments th at c o uld be invented A soci al .

life is not created by merely saying G o to now let uS be s ociable , , , .

It is created by having a common purpose worthy enough to ,

commend itself to all right minded people and large enough

-

to demand their attention their time an d their h ard work The

, , .

young men an d women in particular of our race have never , ,

yet failed to respond to a call to hard work an d self sacrifi ce -

when the work an d the sacrifi ce were for an obj ect of common
good which they really thought worth achieving .

N ext to a common interest an d enthusiasm the most important ,

factors in the creation of a wholesome and agreeable social life in

the country are opportunities for meeting an d ease of communi
cation A side from allthe purely religious services rendered by
.

the church the mere fact th at it brings people together in the

,

room once a week is of immeasurable value The most c iviliz .

ing influence in the world is contact of man with man M e n .

’
cannot h abitually meet together and look into one another s
eyes without developing some kind of a sense of unity nor can
they live entirely separate an d apart from one another without
becoming suspicious morose an d unsympathetic The school
, ,
.
,

likewise in addition to its purely educational functions renders

, ,

a service by the mere fact that it brings the j uvenile population

together day after day .

I n addition to these regular occasions for meeting there are ,

the extra ordinary occasions such as national holidays an d special

,

rural festivities U nfortunately we have in this country failed

.
, ,

to live up to our opportunities in the way of rural sports and

festivities In earlier days the corn huskings barn raisin gs
.
, ,

q uil tin gs an
,
d a m ultitud e of oth er oc ea sion s of th e same g e n e ral
 P RO BL EM S OF RURAL S O C I AL LI FE 6
3 3

description supplied the need for wholesome recreation Now .

we h ave outgrown the need for those precise forms of social

gathering an d have not as yet developed anything satisfactory
, , ,

to take their place We may say distinctly therefore that here

.
, ,

is one of the unsolved problems of A merican rural life though ,

a p artial s oluti on has already been found in some sections of

the country In the old fashioned S outhern barbecue which still

.
-

survives in certain favored communities ; in the O ld S ettlers ’

D ay which is celebrated in some communities of the central

,

West ; an d in the O ld H ome Week of N e w England we have ,

examples of rural festivities which illustra te what may be done

in any community where the whole countryside turns out for a
holiday Doubtless there are numerous other examples in other
.

parts of the country In some of the older countries th e number

.

an d ch aracter of these festivals constitute an attractive feature

o f rural life .

Th e tough neighborh ood O n e di ffi cul ty with us is that we are.

n ot yet far enough removed from the backwoods stage to h ave

entirely eliminated the rowdy element from our ruralpop ulation .

This element is frequently so much in evidence on these c c

casio n s espec i
,
ally in backwoods neighborhoods as to keep the ,

more decent and self respecting element away thus destroying

-

the value of the festival A few generations of severe compe

.

tition will doubtless give the advantage more an d more to the

sober steady going self respecting element especially where the
,
-

,
-

land is highly desirable The restless turbulent rowdy ele .

, ,

ment being crowded out one of the greatest drawbacks to a ,

wholesome social life in the country will have disappeared This .

p rocess is notic eably taking p lace in the best farming re g ions ,

where there is something to attract a more progressive class of

p eople It
. has not yet shown itself so clea rly in poorer regions ,

where there is little to attract a superior type of men an d women .

In fact it is an Open question whether the poorest land is not

,
 6 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I CS
3 4

destined to remain ultimately in the possession of a poorer type

of man A selective process seems to be going on which tends
.
,

to bring about such a res ult Where the land is fertile an d the
.

opportunities for agricultural enterprise are good the intelligent ,

an d pro gressive youths are induced to remain on th e farm .

They will be able to beat the less intelligent in competition an d

to buy the land away from them A t the same time such lands
.
,

attract the more intelligent an d progressive farmers who are

looking for a place in which to locate A n unintelligent an d .

unprogressive farmer stands a poor show in such a place The .

other class will offer so much for l and that he will not be able to
buy it If he owns it already they will o ffer him so much for
.
,

it th at he will generally yield to the pressure sooner or later ,

an d sell out O n the other h and where the land is poor an d

.
,

opportunities meager the more capable of the growing youths

,

tend to move away so long at least as there are better oppor

,

tun ities to be found elsewhere A gain the men who are crowded
.
,

off the richer l ands will s ometimes drift toward those cheaper

lands where they do not have to bid against competent but ,

only against incompetent farmers Eventually however it is

, .
, ,

possible that the competition even here may become so severe

as to drive out the undesi rable element .

Th e standard of l iving The suggestion that the best l ands

.

tend to get into the hands of the best farmers needs qualifi
cation It sometimes looks as th ough they tended to get into
.

the hands of the farmers with the cheapest standard of living .

It has often been noticed an d remarked upon that foreign born -

farmers are buying out our native A merican farmers not be ,

cause the foreigners are better farmers but because they can live ,

more cheaply an d thus accumulate capital for investment more

rapidly This it is claimed is merely a triumph of a lower over
.
, ,

a higher standard of living an d indicates a tenden cy toward

,

keeping farm life on a low level .

 6 6 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
3

standard of living which includes only such forms of expend

,

iture as maintain stren gth an d working capacity stimulate men ,

talenergy an d alertness an d minister to the higher intellectual

, ,

social and ae sthetic desires will never handicap any one in

, ,

competition with men of lower standards O ne result of a .

competition among standards of living will be in the long ,

run to rationalize the standards eliminating those forms of

, ,

expenditure which add nothing an d preserving those which

,

add something to e flicie n cy

,
This will come about through
.

the greater success of those families whose standards of living

approach most nearly to ration ality an d through the lesser ,

success of th ose families whose standards of living depart most

widely from rationality When farming becomes su ffi ciently
.

profitable to furnish opportunities approximately as good as

those furnished by the businesses and professions of the city ,

there is no reason why farmers with a high standard of living

should be displaced by those with a low standard provided the ,

high standard is rational and not one which ministers to ener

,

vatin g appetites or mere vanity an d ostentati on .

Rural sports and recreation s Every h ard working student

.
-

will eas ily understand how essential a reasonable amount of

recreation is to the maintenance of a high state of mental and
physical e flicie ncy H e will then appreciate the statement th at
‘
.

a ration al stand ard of living must include a reasonable expend

iture of time or money on recreations Just what is a reason .

able expenditure for this purp ose m ay n ot be easy to determine ,

though there need be n o disagreement as to the general prin

c iple th at too little recreation which produces dullness of body
,

an d mind is as bad as too much which is mere dissipation or

, ,

waste of time energy an d money N or need there be any dis

, , .

agreement as to the principle th at the recreations should be

such as to appeal to allmembers of the community While ec on .

om ists generally approve a division Of labor in industry there ,

 P RO BL EM S OF RURA L S O C I AL LI FE 6
3 7

are few who will approve a kind of division of labor which is

too frequently found in rural communities where most of the ,

men work all the time and never play while a fe w loafers ,

amuse themselves al lthe time an d never work .

Rural sports are the natural adj unct of ru ral festivals as a

means of maintaining a wh olesome and agreeable social life in
the country O wing to a natural excitability and tendency to
.

excess A mericans have found it di ffi cult to develop distinctive

,

rural sports as a permanent an d dign ifi ed institution of rural

life except in a few favored localities Fox hunting and horse
, .

racing tend in this country to be spoiled as rural sports by

, ,

their affectation by urban magnates in the one case and livery

stable toughs in the other N othing is fi ner and more dign i fi ed
.

than for a group of neighboring well to do farmers to unite for ,

- -

’
a day s hunting when the purpose is to rid the country of
,

vermin ; but when a group of townsmen who h ave learned to ,

ride under a roof in a professional riding school proceed to the ,

country and advertise their solv ency by ch asing a ti mid fox

across the fi elds the sight is not calculated to inspire admira
,

tion N or is there any sport more fi tting than for a group of

.

horse breeding farmers to meet for the purpose of testing the

-

speed of their colts in a fair and open competition It is only .

by such open competition that successful h orse breeding is

made possible But when horse racing degenerates into a mere
.

”
vaudeville stunt or as is m ore frequently the case into a
, , ,

mere oppo rtunity for a group of professional gamblers from the

purlieus of the livery stables who have been initiated into the,

mysteries of race track management to enrich themselves at

-

the expense of the uninitiated it is not too much to say th at it ,

has lost its virtue as the inspirer of a wholesome an d agreeable

sociallife in the country .

In view of the well known excitability of the A merican tem

-

p e ram e n t an d its
,
tendency to excess it is impo rtant th at rural ,
3 6 8 P RI NC I P L ES O F RURAL ECO NOM I C S

sport in this country should be of a character which d oes not

lend itself readily to extreme specialization ; otherwise it will
tend to drift into the hands of specialists who do the playing ,

while the public looks on This produces a spectacle rath e r

.

than a sport It is also important that there should be consid

.

c rable variety in the forms of sport in order that as m any as

,

possible should be able to participate O f particular importance

.
,

however is the require ment that these sports sh ould fit into the
,

seasonal character of rural work City work is so uniform that the

.

time for recreation can be evenly distributed th roughout the year .

S hort hours with regular weekly biweekly or monthly h alf h oli

, ,

days give the city worker ample time for wholesome recreation .

But since in every farming country there are rush seasons when ,

short hours and h alf holidays would mean a loss of crops it is ,

obvious that recreation time cannot be so evenly di ffused To .

m ake up for this it is desirable that during the seasons when

,

work is slack there should be regular periods of recreation and ,

games which need not be crowded into a single aftern oon .

This suggests the need also of regular annual festival occa

sions suited to each section of the country an d its type of agricul
,

ture when there can be a general relaxation from the strenuous

,

toil of the rush seasons In anticipation of such a period of

.

j ollity the grinding fatigue of the busy season is borne with

,

more patience particularly by the young people an d the work

, ,

is done more vigorously because more cheerfully A gain there .

,

is the possibility of uniting social pleasure with rural work to a

somewhat greater degree than is now done If the spirit which .

showed itself among our ancestors in the barn raisings logroll ,

ings an d similar occasions could be restored it is possible that

, ,

the present generation could get a great deal of social pleasure

out of the threshing season an d other occasions of a similar
character This would seem to be the natural time for the har
.

vest home celebration Which has been so important an event in

,
 0 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S
37

according to aristocratic principles in that the grouping is based

,

upon something besides the accident of birth but it falls short

of a thoroughly democratic ideal according to which social life
,

ought to run freely with out regard to the boundaries of class ,

creed or fratern al order This ideal however has not yet been
,
.
, ,

realized for those countries and communities where hereditary

,

aristocracy is least in ev idence are the places where secret s oci

etie s an d fratern al orders are m ost highly developed an d most

influential Doubtless they furnish a protection against the dis

.

agreeable obtrusiveness of the mob element in our aggressive

democracy ; but there is danger that their very exclusiveness

sh ould breed a spirit of snobbishness .

Sh al l rural pe0p1e set th eir ow n standards or sh al l th ey ,

imit ate city p e0p1e But all the organizations an d agencies

which contribute to the social life of rural communities will fall
short of their highest possibilities unless they make rural life
socially self supporting an d independent of the standards and
-

fashions of the city ; unless in short they giv e to the social life
, ,

of the country a character an d dignity of its own instead of being ,

a bad copy of city life S o long as country life lacks this dis
.

tin ctive character an d dign ity so long as coun try people look
,

to the cities for their stand ards of dress their social habits an d , ,

their ideals of propriety so long will rural social life remain um

,

satisfactory The domin ation of the city over the country is in

.
,

last analysis a mental or spiritual domination It will end when

, .

country people are able to set their own standards when they ,

stop trying to be city people or to be like city people When

, .

they develop a reasonable pride in the fact th at they are country

people and in their country dress country habits country cus
, , ,

toms ; and when this pride is justifi ed by the inherent sanity

and simple unostentati ous dignity of their lives
,
then we shall ,

have a rural civilization worthy of the n ame U nle ss this result .

'

is ach iev ed many of the so called rural improvements wil lmerely

,
-
 P RO BLEM S OF RURA L S O C I AL LI FE 37 1

v to link the country to the city and still further increase

se r e

the domination of the latter over the former If rural free de .

livery does no more than to bring to th e farmer the dail y paper

from the city with its garish advertisements and its neurotic
,

sensatio nalism and if this should develop among country people

,

a desire for those forms of excitement which city people seem

to like and to be willing to pay for the result will be not to ,

diminish but to increase the lure of the city When the quiet .

an d serenity of country life are referred to in such terms as

lonesomeness an d monotony and the rural free delivery is re

,

garded merely as a means of relieving that lonesomeness and

monotony the symptoms are not favorable for the development
,

of a wholesome rural life But if rural free delivery like the

.
,

rural telephone is a means of linking one country neighborhood

,

with another of exchanging ideas among country people as well

,

as between city an d country if it results in the development of

,

an esp rit ae cor mong country pe ople and en ables them to

’
p s a ,

develop a social life of their own allthese things will help in ,

the building of a worthy rural civiliz ation and in making coun ,

try life satisfying an d agreeable .

This is a factor of great fi nancial as well as social impor

tance When the city contains everything which country people
.

really want then the city will be the place where country people
,

will go to spend their money If a farmer be comes prosperous

.

enough to retire from work he will go to town to live he will

,

buy a lot and build a house in the town an d spend his time an d
his money there But if the country contains the things which
.

country pe0p1e want then the country is the place where they
,

will go to spend their money If the farmers who wish to retire

.

from active work would spend in the country on their own ,

farms for example the money which would be necessary to buy

, ,

and m aintain residences in the towns an d cities it would not ,

take very long to make the country a most attractive place of

37 2 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

residence S chools churches library facilities plumbin g an d

.
, , , ,

steam heat can allbe had in the country as wellas in the city .

But if people cultivate a liking for the noises the electric dis ,

plays the large billboards and other similar delectations of the

, ,

cities the country can furnish few attractions of th is kin d to

,

compete with the city Country pe0p1e will continue to move .

cityward seeking a chance to spe nd their money for the things

,

of their choice .

It may be supposed that if the country should furnish the

things which city people really want and are willing to pay for ,

it would contribute to the fi nancial prosperity of the country ;

but this conclusion must not be too hastily reached It must .

not be imagined that a mere willingness o n the part of certain

townspeople to spend a part of their time and money in the
country is in its elf a mark of genuine appreciation of country
life or that it tends to make real farmers who have to make
, ,

their living at farming more appreciative of rural enj oyments , .

It is on e thing to go to the country once in a while to disbur

den one s self of an accumulation of su rplus cash an d then
’

return to the city to talk about it ; it is quite another thin g to

appreciate the quiet an d h omely enj oyments which lie within

the reach of the plain farmer enj oyments which do not te ,

quire even an automobile as an accessory A gainst the idea .

that the rural life problem is to be solved by a few wealthy

-

capitalists building themselves palatialresidences in the country

an d spending a part of their surplus time there S ir H o race ,

P lunket uses the following weighty words

I a mn ot , so the y t ll m
date in my in formation ; the e is a marked
e e , up to r

re e
v ion of fee l ing up on th e town v e us the c oun try ques tion ; the tide of
rs rs

the rural e xod u h a e ally tu n e d as I might h a e ob se rve d without g oing far

s s r r , v

afi e l d At man y a Long I l an d home I might se e on S un day we athe r pe rmit

. s ,

tin g th e ho n y han de d son of we e k day toil in W all S tre e t rustical

,
r -
ly attired
-

, ,

in spectin g his J e rse y c ows and aristocratic f wl

o s . T hese supp ly a se l
e ct

circ el in N ew York with butt er an d eggs, at a

p rice which leaves nothing
 3 74 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S

municipal institution s that is the ir distin guishin g c haracte r T his was n ot

, .

the case with Rome only If we turn our atte n tion to Ital y at this period
.
,

we fi n d aroun d R ome n othing but town s That whic h was the n calle d a pe o .

p le w as simp ly a c on f e d e ratio n of tow n s T h e L atin e

p po l e w as a co n fe d .

c ration of town s T he E truscan s the S amnite s the S ab ine s the pe ople of

.
, , ,

G ra cia M ag na may al lbe de scribe d in the same te rms

, .

T he re was at this time n o coun try — that is to say the coun try w as , ,

w ho lly u lik n e th at which at pre se n t e xists ; it was cu tiv ate , as was nece s l d
sar y , but it was un in ha ite b d
The prop rie tors of an s we re the inh a itan ts
. l d b
of the town s . T he yw en tf orth to supe rin te n d the ir count y p r rope rtie s , an d

o ft en too k with the ma c e rtain n u mbe r of s av e s l ; b ut t h at w hic h w e at

p re se n t c a ll the c oun tr y , th at thin p opu ation l som e tim e s in iso ate ha i l d b

tation s, so me time s in ll
v i age s which e ve r ywh e re c ove rs the so il wa a , s

fa t al m
c ost un k nown in an cie n t Ita ly .

W he n R ome e xte n de d h e rse lf ,

what did she do ? Fo ll ow histor y ,
an d

y ou wi ll se e th at s h e c on que e d r or f oun de d tow n s ; it was again st town s

th at she f oug ht, with town s that she d alliances ; it was also into
c on trac te

town s th at s he se n t co on ie s l . T he hi tory of the con que st of the worl d

s

by Rome is the histor y of the con ques t an d foun d ation of a gre at n umber
of town s .

I n G au l
,
in S p ain , y ou mee t with n othin g b ut town s A t a ista n c e ro m . d f
the town s the te rritor is cove re with marshes an d ores ts
y Examine th e d f .

c harac te r of th e Roman monume n ts of the R oman roads Y ou have great ,

.

d
roa s, which re ach from one city to another ; the multiplicity of the minor
roads , which n ow cross the c oun t
ry in l
al di ections
r ,
w as the n un k nown ;
y ou h ave n othing rese mbl ing that c oun t e ss n u l mbe r ll
of vi age s, c oun t
ry

se ats , an d c hurc hes , which have b ee n sc atte re d ove r the c oun tr y sin ce the
M iddl e Age s Rome has . l ft u
e s n othing but imme nse mon ume n ts , stampe d
with the mun icipal c h aracte r, an d de stine d for a nu me rous p p
o u atio n l
col
l
e c te d up on on e sp ot . U n de r whate ve r p oint of vie w you c onsider the
Roman wor l d y u will l,
o l fi n d this a most e xc usive pre ponde rance of town s
a d th
n ial ne soc it f th u ty one x s e n ce o e co n r .
1

Th tabli h m t f th f udal
e es y t m p du d e of th m di
s en o e e s s e ro ce on e se o .

fi ti n
ca o f u mi tak bl imp rtan
s, o n
; it a lst d th a d i t ib ut
ei n f th e o ce e re e s r o o

p p
o u l a ti n th o fa of th l
ove r a d H ith teo th m acet f th il th e n . er e s e rs o e so , e

s overe ig p pul ati n h ad li d unit d i m

o on , l num ou masses of ve e n ore or ess er s

m wh th ed n ta ily in iti
en, e er s w n d ing in b an d th ugh th
e r un t y
c es, or a er s ro e co r .

In n eq u n
co s f th f udal y t m th
e ce o am m e li d i olat d a h
e s s e e se s e en ve s e , e c

in h i wn hab itati n and at g at di tan

s o f m
o , a th Y ou will re s ces ro on e no er
.

1
G ui z o t, F .
, Th e Hi t y s or of lz
C iv i i ation ( Lo nd o n, 1 8 V ol I , pp . . 27 -
29 .
 P RO BLEM S OF RURAL S O C I AL LI FE 3 75

imme iate d ly p e rce ive how much influe nce this c han g e was l l d
c a c u ate to
e xe rcise upon i ation
the c harac te r an d c ourse of civil z T he soc re on . ial p p
de ran ce , the gove r nme n t of socie ty p asse d sudde n ly from the town s to the
,

coun tr
y ; p riv ate p rope rty b ecam
more importance than public p rope rty ;
e of

p riv ate l ife th an

p ubl ic l ife S uc h w as the fi rs t
. an d p ure ly mate rial e ffe c t
of the tr iump h of feudal socie ty The furthe r w e e xamin e into it the more
.
,

ll
wi the con se que nce of this singl e fact be unfol de d to our e yes .
1

Elsewhere Guizot points out the well known fact that the -

rise of modern civilization is again reversing the order an d

tending to concentrate population wealth and power in the , ,

cities and to emphasize urban rather than rural ideals

, .

Farm ing vs tal king as a fi el d for amb ition

. O n e striking .

evidence of the general dominance Of urban over rural ideals in

A merica is the almost total indi fference of our people to agri
culture as a fi eld of distinguished achievement G reat e ffi ciency .

in the practiealapplication of science to agriculture or in the ,

organization of the factors of agricultural production are recog ,

n iz e d in the abstract by every thoughtful person as of the high

est p ossible value to the country as a whole ; but in the concrete

we pay very little attention to it The ancient remark about the .

value of the man who m akes two blades of grass to grow where
one had grown before as compared with the politician (or the
,

talker) we approve in a general way but specifically we think

, ,

a great deal more of the talker The m an who applies great ex .

e cutive ability an d scienti fi c knowledge to agriculture m ay get

good crops and make profi t for himself he may also win local
recognition particularly among farmers but unless he talks or
,

writes about it he does not gain general recogn ition am ong the
,

people at large In proof of this let any one look throu gh

.
,

Who s Who in A merica which is supposed to contain the

’

,
”

n ames of those who have achieved m arked success in every

large fi eld of human endeavor Judging by its pages eithe r .
,

1 G ui z ot, F .
, Th e Hi t y
s or of lz
C ivi i ation ( Lon don , 18 V ol I , p 68
. . .
 6 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURA L EC O N O M I C S
37

ic l r is not a large fi eld of human endeavor or else there

agr u tu e ,

are no m arkedly successful farmers Choosing th ose states in .

which agriculture is commonly supposed to be a large field of

endeavor we fi n d in the edition of 9 8 1 9 09 almost no farm
,
1 0 —

ers The number of distinguished persons connected with agri

.

culture and allied fi elds of work is as follows

M aine , fa m manufa tu
I r h ti ul tu i t ( at th S tat
er -
c re r, I or c rs e e U n ive rsity )
O hi I ag i ultural du at
o, I ag i ul tu i t
rc e c or, rc rs

In diana I a b o icul tu i t
,
r r rs

Illin is I fa me
o ,
r r

I wa I f
o ,
t I h rticul tu i t ( b th i
ores e r, th S tat Colle g
o rs o n e e e at Ames),
I b ee d I fa m
r e er, r r

Kan a I stockman I f uit g w

s s, , r ro er

N b a ka I ag icul tural du at
e r s ,
I f
r t I f m e c or, ore s e r, ar er

This lack of recogn ition of the farmer is not of course the , ,

’ ”
fault of the editors of Who s Who They include in their .

publication only the names which are widely known or talked

about The fact that an eminently successful farmer is not
.

widely known or talked about is due to the fact that our peo
ple hav e no interest in th at kind of achievement '

A nother proof of the same thing is the fact that almost no

farmer has secured in recent years any political recognition
, , .

Even M r Roosevelt with al . lhis enthusiasm for rural upl ift con
, ,

siste ntl
y preferred the m an who talked about farmin g to the

man who did the work of farming H is Rural Life Commis .

sion for example was a

,
n excellent commission but it was not
, ,

made up of farmers but of eminent men who had talked a great

,

deal an d v ery wisely about agriculture an d the problems con

n ecte d with it This helps to explain why farmers were gen
.

’
e rally so skep tical as to the results of the commission s w ork .

SO long as men are so constituted as to crave distinction an d

wide public esteem so long will they tend to avoid an occupation
,

which seems to furnish no opportunities in that direction U ntil .

 8 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
37

to the laws of the land and the laws of the land are then made ,

1 ”
more severe in order to control the tenant right .

Even where the class antagonism is not earrie d to this extreme ,

there is a wasteful expenditure of human energy in the e fforts

of one class to circumvent the other and the attractiveness an d ,

dign ity of rural l ife are destroyed by the j ealousy and rancor
thus created .

In this country we are accustomed to loo k with disfavor upon

an y system of tenancy ; but wh atever m ay be said of tenan cy

as such there is not the slightest d oubt that the worst possible
,

system is that under which the l andowner lives at a distance

and maintains no connection with the l and except as a receiver

of rent Where the landlord lives upon his own estate and takes
.

an interest in it th e worst features of tenancy di sappear

,
The .

’
landowner s interest in his own home creates in him an attitude

toward the rural neighborhood which is quite di fferent from that

of the absentee .

Th e resident landl ord as l

eader Besides there are some ad .
,

vantages in a system which gives the large landowner a chance

to devote his time to broad schemes of improvement while his

tenants are completely occupied with the imm ediate problem

of growing crops This is the o ne serious disadvan tage of the
.

A merican type of agriculture under which the l and is owned by

small or medium scale farmers who do their own work N o one
-
.

has the time or the su rplus capital to carry on elaborate e xpe ri

me nting extensive drainage operations or similar large scale
, ,
-

improvements U nder the English system the large landed

.

proprietors have led in most of these pro gressive movements ,

1 In so me p arts of F ran c e , un d d ré g i
e r th e ol me , th e te n an ts w ou ld co mb i ne

to fi x re n ts an d to p re ve n t n e w c o me rs from re n ting lan d Th e te n an t woul d .

e v e n se ll hi s rig h t,
”
or b qu
e e ath it to his so n v e ry muc h as th oug h h e ow n e d
,

th e l d A
an . n y o n e e se l wh o w o uld l th la d b q u
e as e e n so e e ath e d , or in te r f e re

with th e so n s
’
p o s se ss io n , w ulod b liabl t i j u y mu d
e e o n r or r er . Th e l aw s of th e

c ountr yw e re in e fi e c tiv e ag ain t th i d t rm

s in d tan d f th
s e e e s o e te n an ts .
 P RO BL EM S OF RURAL SO C I AL LI FE 3 79

without waiting for a general public awakening In the U nited .

S tates an d other countries of small proprietors these enterprises

, ,

h ave been carried on either by the state or by cooperative enter

prises These methods are excellent in themselves but they are
.
,

necessarily slower than the English method for the simple an d ,

s uflic ie nt re ason th at the general public is always slower than a

few of its most intelligent individuals A t the present time in the

.
,

U nited States the federal D epartment of A griculture the state

, ,

agricultural colleges an d the experiment stations are carrying

,

on this kind of work on a more elaborate scale than is possible

for a group of individual proprietors however large their estates
, ,

though much pioneer work was done on great English estates .

A nother advantage of the tenancy system as it exists in Eng ,

land is that it furnishes a kin d of organization of agricultural

,

interests or at least a very good substitute for organization

, .

A great landowner living on his estate and interested in its ,

prosperity is a n atural leader and organizer of the rural com

,

munity consisting of his tenants It is everywhere recognized

.

in the U nited States that the great diffi culty in the way of or
an z ation of rural communities is the lack of leaders
i If this
g .

diffi culty is still further accentuated by a feeling of j ealousy as ,

is too frequently the case among the farmers of a neighborhood

, ,

the problem of organization is well nigh insoluble U nless the

-

country church can remove this feeling of j ealousy an d suspicion

by the effective preaching of a gospel of brotherhood it is difli ,

cult to see what can be done for such a neighborhood With the .

well known e flicie n cy of our agricultural colleges and experiment

-

stations and of our national D epartment of A griculture we have

, ,

done a great deal to remove the one disadvantage of the system

of detached on e family farming
,
-
If we can in addition bring
.
, ,

about an e ffective organization of our rural interests we shall ,

h ave allthe advantages and none of the disadvantages of the

system of tenancy under large proprietors .
 8 6 P RI N C I P L ES O F RURAL EC O N O M I C S
3

Organiz ation for s a u

p p
r o e , or organiz ation for its own sak e .

It is extremely unlikely that any effective or permanent organ

iz ation of rural interests can ever be brought about without some
pretty defi nite obj ect to be accomplished O rganization for or .

A
’

g a n iz ation s sa ke is a poor progr am gain it is extremely un .

,

likely that any single obj ect or group of obj ects can be made
, ,

the basis of a national organization O ur agricultural interests .

are too diverse for that Al lattempts to form a general hom o

.

g e n eo us orga niz ation of the farmers of th e coun try will prob

ably fail as they h ave hitherto
,
This points unmistakably to
.

the organization of local interests for defi nite purposes When .

several farmers in a certain locality have a clear and defi nite

purpose to accomplish they have no diffi culty in organizing for
,

that purpose O ne of the best examples of this is the California

.

Fruit G rowers Exch ange A l arge number of fruit growers

.
,

seeing that they must organize their marketing arrangements

or become bankrupt had a su ffi cient motive The question of
, .

leadership solves itself under such Conditions The man who .

knows how to do what everybody wants done is a leader by the

only kind of divine right namely natural fitness An illus
, , .

tration of the same principle on a smaller scale is furnished by

the farmers of a certain N ew H ampshire township who needed ,

a m arket They organized and opened a store in Cambridge

.
,

M assachusetts to which they sent their produce In this case

, .

the leader was a country pastor A multitude of other examples .

,

large and small could be named allillustrating the same prin

, ,

cipl e n amely that the organiz ation must be localto begin with
, , ,

and th at it must have a clear an d de fi nite obj ect to accomplish .

The organization of rural interests need not however remain , ,

local and scattered They may be federated Those who are

. .

interested in rural organization may well take lessons from

the organiz ers of the labor movement The attempt to form .

a general homogeneous organization of al

,
ll aboring men had a
3 8 2 P RI N C I P L ES O F RU RA L EC O N O M I CS

should be philanthropic O n the contrary it is probably be tter

.
,

that they should be strictly self interested ; but it is essential

-

that self interest should be followed in economic rather than in

-

uneconomic ways as these terms were defi ned in Chapter I

, .

’
To attempt to promote one s self interest in a way which con
-

tributes to the productivity of the whole country is to dese rve

success ; to attempt to promote it in any other way is to de
serve failure That is why cooperative enterprises when actu
.
,

ated by mere j ealousy of some storekeeper or of an one else

y ,

who is doing useful an d honest work usually fail But cooper , .

ative enterprises which attempt something constructive like the ,

starting of a new industry the opening of a new market or

, ,

the prevention of real waste and are therefore actuated by a

,

higher motive than hate or j ealousy are usually successful an d

, ,

redound to the interest and profit of the participants .

This part of our discussion may be summed up by saying that

until our rural interests become organized our rural life will con
tinue to be dominated by urban interests urban standards urban , ,

ideals and that this will leave rural life in a weak and undign i
,

fi e d position Furthermore it will not be easy to organize rural

.
,

interests in any single homogeneous organization because our ,

agriculturalinterests are too diverse an d heterogeneous but the

organization must proceed through the form ation of local asso
c iation s h aving de fi nite tangible an d c onstructive aims an d the
, , ,

gradual federation of these local organizations into a general

organization combining unity and solidarity with diversity an d
local autonomy .
 I N D EX

Ab d d f m 88
an on e ar s, C hurch , th e c ountr y 3 43 ,

Ab t i m 37 7 C hurch e s, fi n an c i l upp or of,

se n e e s , a s
t
3 53
Ab ti s d p it l 08
n e n c e an ca a , 2 lz
Civi i ation , re ac tion of p as tora ie l lf
Ag i ultu l
rc di ti gui h d f
ra as s n s e ro m “P011, 33
a man ufac turing an d c o mme rc ial l
C ov e r an d turn ip s , 5 3
li y 9
po c , I 1 k
C o e of o ham, 5 6
H lk
Ag i ultu l di
rc g iz ti 9 6ra s or an a on , Co lling b th 60 ro e rs ,

Ag i ul tu l h i t y th m i p
rc ra s or , e a n e rio d s Co l iz ti
on lati
a on , re on of, to nationa l
Ame rican , 63
of g re atn e ss , 1 2 9
Ag ric u tura mac h in e r
l l y , 87 C ommons, 67
Ag i ultu l
rc ra s o c ie tie s , 82 C ommun al ar in g , 3 6 f m
Agric u ture , why l l osin g g roun d , 10 Commun itie s, v i ag e , 3 5 ll
d d
e p e n e n c e o f, up on l d an , 1 22 C omp e ting an d n on c o mp eting c rop s,

Al l d ial t
o e n ure , 77 23 7

Ap p l e s, p ric e of, 33 0 C on g e stion of c it y lif e , 27

As hl y
W J 4 3 note
e , . .
, C on sume rs g oo s, 204 ’
d
Atwate r W O 1 6 1 , . .
, C oiip e ration, 2 7 4 , 2 7 8
C orn , p ric e of, 3 3 0
B a on hom cu d p i f
c , e re , r ce o , 33 0 C orn g rowin g, 1 00
Bail y L H 63 n t 08 n
e , . .
, o e, 1 ote C otton in ustry , th e d rise of, 78 ; rc or

B k w ll 5 9
a e e , g an i
z atio n o f, 1 06

B f p i f 33 0
ee , r ce o , C re it, d agricu tura l l , 1 07 , 27 5

B ga t E L 88 n t 9 n t
o r , . .
, o e, 1 o e, 94 n ote C urtl
e r, W . H . R .
, 5 6 n ote

B dl y 5 8
ra e ,

B u P hil ip A 6 5
r ce, .
, Dairyin g 9 1 1 04 , ,

B utt p i f 3 30
e r, r ce o , Dav e np ort Euge n e 1 83— 1 84
, , , 2 01

D e ge n e racy 3 63 ,

Cap ita l m
, e an in g of, 204 ; l
re ation of D e nmark e xamp l e of 3 5 7
, ,

b
a stine n c e to, 208 ; in what se n s e D iflioth, P au , 5 8 l
p ro ducti v e , 2 09 ; h ow in c re ase d, 2 10 D imin ish in g re turn s, lof 1 1 8
aw ,

Car lylT h omas, 4 2

e, Di e sifi cation of c rop s 2 3 6
v r ,

C arn e gie I n s titution, 2 2 4 n ote D ome stic c haracte r of agric ulture , 18

l
C att e , 90 ; En g ish l b re e d s of, 57 D ome stic ation of animals origin , of,

l
C att e ran c h in g, 1 01 3 1

Ca ttl e l
trai , T e xas, 1 02 D ry f mi g
ar n , 1 47