ECONOMIC PROPERTIES 



ers in the United States. From general observa- 

 tions we know that some of these farmers can 

 scarcely make a living, others live comfortably and 

 gradually save enough to buy a small farm, while 

 still others are very prosperous, living well and 

 accumulating considerable sums of money from 

 year to year. The relative degree of prosperity to 

 which the American farmer can attain is deter- 

 mined largely by his own efficiency. 



The variation in the efficiency of the farmers 

 may be either qualitative or quantitative. Quali- 

 tative efficiency refers to the return which a man 

 can produce upon a given piece of land with a 

 given supply of capital-goods. Quantitative effi- 

 ciency refers to the quantity of land and capital- 

 goods which a man can operate. When two 

 farmers employ equal amounts of labor and capi- 

 tal-goods upon equal areas of equally productive 

 land, the one who possesses a relatively high de- 

 gree of qualitative efficiency can produce a larger 

 return than his competitor who is qualitatively 

 less efficient. The larger return is won by the 

 farmer who is qualitatively more efficient because 

 he shows greater skill in performing his work. 

 He uses better judgment in planning his farm 

 operations, in regulating his field system, in 

 selecting seeds, in choosing tools and machinery 

 with which to do the work, or in the breeding and 

 feeding of live stock. The farmer who is quanti- 



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