1917] RURAL ECONOMICS. 389 



bank silo is the most convenient and most expensive, while the pit silo is the 

 cheapest and least convenient. 



Poultry house construction, K. J. T. Ekblaw (Nat. Lumber Manfrs. Assoc, 

 Trade Ext. Dept. Farm Bui. 5 {1916), pp. ^1, figs. 8).— This bulletin deals with 

 the general requirements, construction, and equipment of poultry houses, and 

 includes several diagrammatic illustrations. 



RURAL ECONOMICS. 



[Report of the sixth annual meeting' of the American Farm Management 

 Association] {Amer. Farm Management Assoc. Rpt., 6 {1915), pp. 91, pi. 1, 

 figs. 4)- — Among the papers presented at this meeting were the following: 

 What the Future Holds in Farm Management, by A. Boss ; Land Ci'edits and 

 Land Settlements, by T. F. Hunt ; Utilization of Waste on the Farms, by W. S. 

 A. Smith ; Results of Farm Management Demonstration Work, by L. H. God- 

 dard ; Gaining a Foothold on the Land, by E. H. Thomson ; Farm Management 

 Summer Practice Courses, by R. L. Adams ; The Practical Application of Farm 

 Management Principles, by H. W. Jeffers ; The Farmer's Response to Economic 

 Forces, by W. J. Spillman ; and Farm Management Investigations in Minnesota, 

 by F. W. Peck. 



Validity of the survey method of research, W. J. Spillman {U. S. Dcpt. 

 Agr. Bui. 529 {1911), pp. 15). — The author cites numerous comparisons of 

 farmers' estimates with actual records, and states that " our studies lead to 

 the conclusion that errors in the farmer's knowledge of the details of his busi- 

 ness and of the work he does are in every way comparable to the departures 

 from the true means in field plat experimental work, and that they distribute 

 themselves about the true values in approximately the same manner. The fact 

 that the survey method of investigation gives data sufficient to permit the law 

 of averages to eliminate plus errors by the occurrence of similar minus errors, 

 while plat experiments ordinarily do not do this, appears to justify the state- 

 ment that the survey method is a more reliable means of arriving at those facts 

 to which it is applicable than the field plat experimental method. It appears, 

 in fact, to occupy a place intermediate between plat experiments on the one 

 hand, where variations in other factors than that under observation occur and 

 are not adequately eliminated, and laboratory studies on the other hand, in 

 which variations in other factors are largely prevented. These variations due 

 to factors other than that studied do occur in using the survey method, but the 

 amount of data obtained by this method is sufficient to permit the elimination 

 of such variations by the operation of the law of averages." 



Agriculture and preparedness, H. Myrick {New York: Orange Judd Co., 

 1911. pp. 61). — Among the various means that may be used to put agriculture 

 on a better basis are suggested easier means of distributing agricultural prod- 

 ucts, increased use of the Federal Farm Loan Act, a provision for short-time 

 credit, the stimulating of saving and thrift among the American people, and the 

 securing of an abundant labor supply through the revision of our immigration 

 laws. 



he relation of production to consumption, P.J. duToit (So. African Jour. 

 S(i., 13 {1916), No. 4, pp. 132-139).— The author points out that the condition 

 of both the consumer and producer can be improved by an enlargement of the 

 consuming power as well as the producing power. This can proceed in South 

 Africa along three lines, namely, (1) natural increase of population, (2) increase 

 of, or new, demand beyond their boundaries, and (3) stimulation of the wants 

 of the native population. 



