Ki RAL ECONOMIC 8. 



the 20 years from 1880 to L900 increased the effectiveness of human labor on the 

 latin aboul one-third. The increase in the use of machinery has reduced the num- 

 ber of laborers per farm, increased the wages of Labor, and shortened the length of 

 the working May on the farm. 



The decline of landowning- farmers in England, II. ( . Taylob Bui. Vn'n\ 

 Wis., 1904, No. 96, />/>. 1-66). — This monograph shows thai more than half of the 

 farmers of England of 200 years ago owned tin- land which the) cultivated, butal 

 thr | »n •>« mi i time tin- representatives of this class are very few, so few indeed thai the 

 word "fanner" means "tenant farmer" in England. 



I'lic mosl importanl causes of decline were: I I I The introduction of new agricul- 

 tural methods which made large farms more profitable than small ones; (2) the 

 agricultural depressions which forced those who were heavily in debt to sell their 

 [and; i •"> the very high price of land due to the presence of a wealth) class of mer- 

 chants and manufacturers who, because of the social position which is usually 

 attached to the ownership of landed estate- in England, were often willing to pay 

 twice as much for the land as the farmers could afford to .pay; and (4) the law and 

 custom of progeniture and entail. 



The firsl three conditions and forces made it necessary for the farmers to part with 



their land, and the fourth condition kept the land Locked up in large estates after 



the farmers had parted with it, so that even if the farmers desired to buy land at 



the high prices they would find few farms for sale. I'.nt as a matter of fact the 

 farmer- of England rarely think of buying land, because they find the tenant system 

 more profitable. "The relation between landlord and tenant is very satisfactorily 

 arranged. The farmer.- are as a rule contented with the present system, and the 

 fields of England prove that landownership on the part of farmer- i- not essential 

 to good agriculture." 



The history of agriculture in Dane County, Wisconsin, B. II. Hibbakd | Bui. 

 Univ. Wis., 1904, No. 101, pp. 68-214, figs. ■>)■ — This is an economic stud) of the agri- 

 culture of Dane County, tracing the changes which have taken place in the system 

 of farming. 



The movement of settlers to Wisconsin and the character of immigrants, the selec- 

 tion of land, and the precaution against land grabbing arc interesting subjects taken 

 up in the introduction. A discussion of the agriculture of the earlier period j- cen- 

 tered aboul the wheat production, whereas that of the later period is centered aboul 

 the introduction of the dairy industry, of the tobacco industry, and of the rise and 

 fall of the hop industry. 



The main object of this monograph is to outline the economic influence- which 

 made necessary the transition from the one-crop system, with wheat as. the staple, 

 which system prevailed during the early period when a virgin soil and a distant 

 market were the principal factors in molding the farmer's economic life, to the 



complex farm organization of the present time, with cheese production, butter pro- 

 duction, and tobacco culture as locally specialized industries superimposed upon a 

 hasis of mixed farming. 



The hook emphasizes the fact that the welfare of the farmer is closely dependent 

 upon industrial and commercial conditions in the larger world of which he is a part; 



that in this larger world changes are constantly taking place which affect the prices 



Of the products which the farmer has to sell, and upon which hi- profit- depend : 



that as a result of these changes, the lines of production which are at one time most 



profitable, may at another time and under changed condition- a- to market relation-. 

 prove relatively unprofitable; and that the farmer must ever be alert if he would so 



adjust the organization of his farm to the demands of the market a- to -cure the 

 largest profits. 



It i- sh. wn that the conservatism which lead- the farmer to adhere to obsolete 

 customs when it is clearly to his interest t<> reorganize his farm operations, i- one of 



