RURAL ECONOMICS. 491 



The 3 classes of labor ou the farms studied were divided up as follows: 

 Maintenance, 17 per ceut; crop production, 28 per cent; other pi'oductiou, 55 

 per cent. This uniformity was with man labor only, as the variation with 

 horse labor was more marked, maintenance varying from 6 to 21 per cent, crop 

 production from 51 to 69 per cent, and other production from 19 to 41 per cent. 

 From this it is noted that effort should be made to reduce the percentage of 

 labor given to maintenance by supplying employment otherwise than in crop 

 production. 



Theories of Karl Marx and land ownership, J. Barcia y Tbelles (Rev. 

 Inst. Agron. Montevideo, 1913, No. 11, pp. 69-S9). — This article presents a dis- 

 cussion of the theories of Karl Marx relative to the influence of concentrated 

 capital upon labor and socialistic movements generally, and the effect it has 

 upon the number of producers in various industries and the different sized 

 industries, including agriculture. Tables are given illustrating the theories as 

 applied to agriculture and land ownership in the United States and foreign 

 countries. 



The settlement of irrigated lands, C. S. Scofield ( U. 8. Dcpt. Agr. Yearbook 

 1912, pp. li83-.'t9J{). — The author aims in this article to consider and present 

 briefly some of the social and economic features to be considered in the occupa- 

 tion or colonization of newly irrigated regions, holding that the mere occupa- 

 lion of the land by people engaged in crop production is not within itself a 

 sufficient guaranty that it will be to the ultimate best interest of the settlers 

 or the community. It is considered highly important that irrigated land bo 

 settled promptly, since the investments made in the construction and operation 

 of irrigation works constitute a charge against the land whether it is used or 

 not. but to avoid undue speculation and increase the chances of ultimate suc- 

 cess, it is contended that the establishment of a permnnent community, under 

 the present methods of colonization, must take place slowly. 



Some of the difficulties to be met in the settlement of irrigated lands are 

 pointed out by the author, one of the most serious being the inflation of land 

 values, which causes in many instances the prospective settler to become over- 

 optimistic in the rapidly increasing land values and invest all of his available 

 capital in laud with the expectation of profiting by the unearned increment, for- 

 getting that in the final analysis agricultural land is worth no more than it can 

 be made to produce. To avoid this and other undesirable features of the 

 present method of colonization some system of leasing the laud with an ulti- 

 mate option for purchi'.se is suggested. It is observed that shortly after a 

 new community gets started there is usually an overproduction- of some one 

 crop or a few crops. To avoid such overproduction and the period of depres- 

 sion which always follows, and to secure a better balance of economic condi- 

 tions, the author suggests that more attention be directed to proper diversifica- 

 tion of industries on each farm. 



The article questions the advisability of promoting or developing agencies 

 rendering any assistance or aid to settlers further than giving them a fair 

 chance to make good through their own efforts and initiative. 



State versus national control of public forests from the viewpoint of a 

 western State {Portland, Oreg.: State Conservation Com.. 1913, pp. 8). — The 

 commission concludes that the movement aiming to transfer the National For- 

 ests to the State " is wrong in principle and would be disastrous in results." 



Agricultural credit, James Wilson (V. S. Dept. Agr. Rpts., 1912, pp. 25- 

 30). — The contents of this article have been noted from another source (E. S. R., 

 28, p. 593). 



The sources of rural credit and the extent of rural indebtedness, G. K. 

 Holmes {Internat. Inst. Agr. [Rome]. Mo. Bui. Econ. and Soc. Intel., 4 {1913), 



