46 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



It finds expression, too, in discussions of the number of tenant 

 farmers and in its meaning and significance. 



That there is still room in the Nation for many more people on 

 farms is clear. The United States proper contains about 1,900,000,- 

 000 acres of land, of which an area of 1,140,000,000 acres, or 60 

 per cent, is tillable. Approximately 367,000,000 acres, or 32 per 

 cent, of this was planted in crops in 1918. In other words, for 

 every 100 acres now tilled 300 acres may be utilized when the country 

 is fully settled. Of course, much of the best land, especially that 

 most easily brought under cultivation and in reasonably easy reach 

 of large consuming centers, is in use, though much of it, possibly 

 85 per cent, is not yielding full returns. Extension of the farmed 

 area will consequently be made with greater expense for clearing, prep- 

 aration, drainage, and irrigation, and for profitable operation will 

 involve marketing arrangements of a high degree of perfection and 

 the discriminating selection of crops having a relatively high unit 

 value. 



Increased production can therefore be secured in two ways, namely, 

 through the use of more land and through the adoption of improved 

 processes of cultivation of all land and of marketing. The latter in- 

 volves the general application of the best methods used by the most 

 skillful farmers and urged by experienced, practical, and scientific 

 experts. It will necessitate seed selection and improvement, plant 

 and animal breeding, soil development through rotation, the dis- 

 criminating use of fertilizers, the control and eradication of plant 

 and animal diseases, good business practice and thrift, and many 

 other things. It means that farming must be profitable and that 

 society must be willing to pay the price. Under no other condition 

 can farming expand. It means, too, that only as many will or need 

 stay on farms as may be necessary to supply what the consumers 

 will take at prices which will justify production. Many people speak 

 as if they thought there should be no limit to the number en- 

 gaged in agriculture or to production of crops. The farmer must 

 consider his balance just as much as any other business man. The 

 number of individuals remaining in the farming industry will, in 

 the long run, continue to adjust itself roughly to the economic de- 

 mand and will increase as it expands or as relative economies are 

 effected. 



