RURAL, ECOlSrOMICS. 687 



RUHAL ECONOMICS. 



The future of agriculture, O. E. Baker (Ann. Rpt. Wis. Agr. Expt. Assoc, 

 8 {1910), pp. 20-25). — This article calls attention to the high prices of food 

 products that have prevailed during the past five years and assigns its cause to 

 the operation of the economic law of supply and demand. 



It is shown that there has been a steady decrease in rural population and 

 growth of city population, decreasing yields of crops as a result of bad farming 

 systems, and a marked decrease in exports of staple farm products. These 

 tendencies, it is believed, will continue to raise the price of food supplies in the 

 future and farming for young men is urged for the following reasons: (1) 

 Land values will steadily increase; (2) the high price of farm products is cer- 

 tainly to be maintained and probably increased; (3) land is a safe investment; 

 (4) farmers can by organization possess great political power; and (.5) farm- 

 ing is a healthful occupation. 



The needs of modern agriculture as conceived by the author are enumerated 

 as (1) instruction for farmers, not alone in improved methods of crop produc- 

 tion and soil management, but even more in guidance and aid in the formation 

 of cooperatiA^e organizations for buying and selling to put them on a level with 

 the organized" interests with which they do business; (2) schools which fit for 

 country rather than for city life; (3) better means of communication, such as 

 good roads, telephones, a parcel post, etc.; and (4) above all a more sanitary, 

 wholesome, and social life. 



The causes of the increased cost of agricultural staples and the influence 

 of this upon the recent evolution of other objects of expenditure, E. D. 

 Jones {Rpt. Mich. Acad. ScL, 12 {1910), pp'. i37-i-'/;2).— The causes of the in- 

 creased cost of food supplies and staple agricultural products which enter into 

 manufactured goods and have a bearing on the present high cost of living are 

 believed to be chiefly the social distributive forces which new personal and 

 household wants seem to require and the great economic wastes of natural 

 resources. 



" It may be an error to say that we have come into a period of years which 

 will prove a turning point in our national civilization, but it is difficult to 

 imagine any economic reaction more fundamental than that between a nation 

 and the land upon which it lives. If we are really through with the easy 

 expansion of our agriculture, as the population increases we shall need to 

 review our entire national economy and eliminate wastes rather than give up 

 precious utilities." 



The fight for conservation, G. Pinchot {~New York, 1910, pp. IX+152). — 

 This book contains a plea for the development and preservation of the natural 

 resources in the United States, such as the public lands, forests, water courses, 

 mineral deposits, and coal, for the common welfare now and in the future. 



Gigantic plan for meeting the high cost of living. — A project for numer- 

 ous model farms {Tradesman, 6/; {1910), No. 22, pp. 29, 30). — A discussion 

 of the purpose and possibilities of the National Farm Homes Association pre- 

 viously described (B. S. R., 23, p. 291). 



A demonstration of intensive culture, J. R. Dunstan {JOtir. Southeast. 

 Agr. Col. Wye, 1909, No. 18, pp. 16-19). — An account of the method of cultivat- 

 ing 6 acres of land in potatoes and cauliflower and of the returns therefrom. 



The cost of raising the potatoes and cauliflower was £16 Ss. and £10 18s. 9d., 



respectively, and the total net return £48 19s. 7cl. per acre. Both crops were 



grown the same year. The estimated labor represents one-fourth of a man's 



working time for 12 months, and the returns are presented with a view of show- 



93315°— No. 7—11 7 



