RURAL ECOXOMICS. 593 



When conditions change, even slightly, if the change is permanent, local farm 

 practice begins to change and ultimately adapts itself to the new conditions. 



" Success in farming, measured in terms of the family income and standard 

 of living, is directly proportional to the magnitude of the farm business, 

 although the percentage of profits on the farm investment is, within wide limits, 

 independent of the magnitude of business. With the types of farming generally 

 adapted to this locality many of the farms found in this survey are too small 

 to permit a satisfactory standard of living. 



" In the matter of yield of crops per acre, the point of diminishing returns is 

 reached on a considerable proportion of farms. Profits increase as yields 

 increase until the yields are considerably above the avei*age for the locality, 

 but beyond this increased yields are obtained at the expense of farm profits. 



" In quantity of product per dairy cow, the point of diminishing returns is not 

 reached in ordinary farm practice. Hence, on dairy farms, quantity of product 

 per cow is, on the a^■erage, a more important factor of success in farming than 

 yield of crops per acre. 



" It is both easier and more profitable to increase low acre yields than high 

 ones, and a small product per cow than a large one. In other woi'ds, profits 

 can be increased most easily by attention to the weakest points in a system 

 of farming. The more vital the weakness the greater the increase in profits 

 that can easily be made. 



" With a given type of farming, under given conditions, there is a certain 

 way of dividing acreage among the several enterprises of the farm which is 

 more profitable than any other way ; that is, there is a most profitable acreage 

 for each crop. Similarly there is a most profitable proportion of income from 

 each source. If the acreage of any crop or the proportion of income from any 

 enterprise be greater or less than this optimum, the profits of the farm as a 

 whole are lowered thereby. 



" Certain enterprises may be distinctly profitable when occupying a minor 

 position in the farm business and distinctly unprofitable if made major enter- 

 prises. This appears to be true of fruit growing in Chester County, and, to a 

 less extent, of poultry keeping. 



" On small farms the expense of operation is much greater per unit of product 

 than on large farms of simialr type. Diversity of the farm business is, as a 

 rule, an important factor of success in farming. A medium degree of diversity, 

 sufficient to give good seasonal distribution of labor, complete utilization of 

 land, and a considerable variety of sale products, is better than either extreme 

 diversity or a low degree of diversity." 



The discussion of these points is amplified by a large number of statistical 

 tables. 



A study of the tenant systems of farming in the Yazoo-Mississippi 

 Delta, E. A. Boeger and E. A. Goldenweisee [U. .S'. Depf. Agr. Bui. 337 {1916), 

 pp. 18, figs. 5. — The principal facts brought out by this investigation, based on 

 878 records in this region in 1913, may be stated as follows : 



The share-cropping system is the safest for the tenant. The share renter 

 fails more frequently to make even a bare living, but has a better chance to 

 make a good income than has the share cropper. The cash renter runs still 

 greater risk of failure, but has the greatest opportunity of making a labor 

 income of not less than $1,000. 



Fom the point of view of the landlord the situation is reversed. He is 

 assured of a return of between 6 and 7 per cent on his investment where the 

 land is operated by cash renters. Where the land is worked by share croppers 

 or share renters the landlord's rate of interest often falls below 6 per cent, but 



