ECONOMIC PROPERTIES 



greater than the cost of improving such land. 

 This higher price is due, however, to the fact 

 that productive land is relatively scarce. Land 

 of a given grade may have a value placed upon it 

 far above what it costs to bring such land under 

 cultivation ; but this is due to the limited quantity 

 of productive land and as this scarcity is not due 

 to the control of man but to the nature of the 

 physical universe, land should not be called a 

 monopoly good. 



Section II. The economic properties of capi- 

 tal-goods as a factor in agricultural production. 

 The capital-goods, such as horses, cattle, machin- 

 ery, and buildings which are used in agricultural 

 production, differ from land in that they can be 

 increased in quantity indefinitely. It is true that 

 effort and sacrifice are essential to the production 

 of capital-goods, but with the growth of wealth 

 and the progress of industrial society, less and 

 less sacrifice is required in order that the supply 

 of capital-goods may be increased or improved. 



So far as location is concerned many forms of 

 capital-goods are movable, so that they can be 

 taken to the place where they best serve the pur- 

 pose for which they were intended. While some 

 forms of capital-goods cannot easily be moved 

 after they are once constructed, they can be made 

 where they best serve the purpose of the farmer. 

 Hence, while the productivity of land is greatly in- 

 fluenced by location, the location of capital-goods 



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