EUEAL ECONOMICS. 191 



Number of persons engaged in all occupations and in agriciiHiire, lSSO-1910. 



A wide variation was noted in tlie percentage of males engaged in agriculture 

 in the various geographic divisions, ranging from 12.4 in the Middle Atlantic 

 to 64.5 in the East South Central. All the geographic divisions, except the 

 South Atlantic, East South Central, and West South Central, show less than 

 10 per cent of the females of all occupations engaged in agriculture, but in 

 these three divisions, however, between 45 and GO per cent of all females 

 employed are so engaged. A large proportion of female agricultural workers 

 are negro women of the South, who are engaged either on their home farms or 

 work out in counection with cotton farming. The hirge increase in the number 

 of females engaged in agriculture in 1910 is partially due to a difference in 

 the manner of taking that census. 



The eig'ht-hour law — the standpoint of the farmer, G. H. Hecke {Trans. 

 Commonwealth Club CaL, 9 {1914), No. 7, pp. 430--'f37).— The author claims 

 that if the eight-hour law as advocated in California should pass it would de- 

 plete the farms of white laborers and make a greater demand for oriental 

 laborers, and that since the farmer's work is seasonal he and his help must 

 work' long hours at certain times of the year to secure the crops. Since the law 

 prohibits overtime and establishes a severe penalty, California would have to 

 compete with other States and countries where there is no eight-hour law. He 

 also claims that since the law applies only to employees the bulk of extra work 

 would fall upon the farmer and his family. 



The relation between yields and prices, E. Davenport {Illinois Sta. Circ. 

 177 {191.'i), pp. S). — The author criticizes the views, which he states are gener- 

 ally assumed by many writers and speakers, that large yields ai'e always profit- 

 able and the best farmers those who raise the largest crops; that large yields 

 are a natural antidote for the high cost of living; that we should now copy 

 the intensive methods of older countries; and that more capital is needed for 

 the best results. He believes that it is relatively safe to invest capital freely 

 upon the farm for the sake of correcting abnormal conditions and raising the 

 yield to the normal, but that beyond that point, because of the law of diminishing 

 returns, it will pay only when prices rise. As we approach this point by reason 

 of increased demands, either the cost of food must rise or labor be greatly 

 degraded, else the farmer can not afford to produce the increase needed. As 

 population increases, therefore, but one alternative will present itself. Each 

 human unit must become more efficient in production or it must deny itself 

 much of what is now enjoyed. 



Fundamental principles of cooperation in agriculture, G. H. Powell {Cali- 

 fornia Sta. Circ. 123 {1914), pp. 16). — The author maintains that the basis of 



