CHAPTER III 



THE ECONOMIC PROPERTIES OF THE FACTORS 

 OF PRODUCTION 



Section I. The economic properties of land as 

 a factor in agricultural production. It is a famil- 

 iar fact that land is essential to all forms of eco- 

 nomic activity. Manufactures and commerce 

 cannot be carried on without the use of land. 

 These industries use land, however, primarily as 

 standing-room. The character of the soil is of 

 little or no significance to the man who wishes to 

 use land simply as standing-room for a cotton 

 factory. In the case of agriculture, conditions 

 are quite different. To the farmer, land is valu- 

 able not only because it provides space for build- 

 ings and roads, and for the performance of such 

 work as the threshing of grain, and the feeding 

 of cattle; it is valuable to him first of all because 

 of those physical and chemical characteristics of 

 the soil and the atmosphere which make the land 

 capable of supporting plant life. 



Under the physical conditions which are con- 

 ducive to plant growth are included : ( i ) the 

 moisture and (2) the temperature of the soil 



24 



