EDITORIAL. 203 



The (question is a much larger one than the ultimate price of pota- 

 toes and the accrued profit. It lies at the basis of a fundamental in- 

 dustry-, and a reasonable return for brains and capital and labor 

 devoted to it. Upon it rests the opportunity of the largest bod}' of 

 real Avealth producers in the world — the development- of the condi- 

 tion of the farmer and of the people of the country, upon whom the 

 towns and cities have drawn so heavily. 



The subject of agricultural economics is a comparatively new one 

 in this country or in Europe, and its field and the utility of its 

 studies have not yet been widely recognized. Its studies have been 

 restricted and more or less fragmentary, and permanent agencies for 

 conducting them have been provided to only a quite limited extent. 

 Such studies as have been made have been largely confined to pro- 

 ducticm rather than to distribution, and have left many large ques- 

 tions bearing on the agricultural industry and its broad relations 

 still to be worked out. 



Not only do such economic studies need to be made for the intelli- 

 gent and wise development of our agriculture, but they are highly 

 desirable in the interest of the general public — the consumer. The 

 interests of the producer and the consumer are in reality very close, 

 but in practice the two are very far apart at present. They are sep- 

 arated by various intermediate agencies which they do not fully 

 realize or understand, and which have the practical effect of depress- 

 ing prices at one end and expanding them at the other. 



There is a nearly virgin field for economic inquiry into the dis- 

 posal of farm products from the producer to the consumer. Between 

 what the producer receives and Avhat the consumer pays for products 

 which are not manufactured, l)ut are merely handled, a wide nuirgin 

 is nearly always apparent. The question is as to whether the accrued 

 difference is a reasonable and necessary one. And this can not be 

 fully and fairly answered until the economics of the production, 

 transportation, and distribution of various classes of products have 

 been worked out — a thing which has not yet been done for the dis- 

 posal of any class of farm products in a thorough and scientific man- 

 ner. Until the margin of difference is satisfactoril}^ accounted for, 

 the public and the farmers alike will query whether they are not 

 being imposed upon. 



The question as to what determines prices at the farm and to the 

 ultimate consumer is still an open one. Do the supply and demand, 

 considered in a world sense, determine the price of a given crop, or 

 are there artificial agencies which intervene to diminish or eliminate 

 competition and to set up fictitious prices? ^\liat are the factors 

 operative to account for the differences uniformly observed between 

 the prices at the farm and to the consumer, and is this difference a 



