AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



It will be shown, in the chapter on distribution, 

 that the net profit which any farmer can make will 

 vary with the grade of the land ; that the farmer 

 who has the highest degree of qualitative efficiency 

 can make much more than a living on land of any 

 grade, but that he can make the largest net profit 

 on the most productive land after outbidding all 

 competitors for its use. It will be shown that 

 the farmer whose degree of qualitative efficiency 

 is half \vay between the highest and the lowest, 

 can make a living on many of the different grades 

 of land, but that owing to the higher rents which 

 the more efficient are willing to pay for the better 

 grades of land, he can secure the largest net profit 

 by employing that grade of land which corre- 

 sponds to his degree of qualitative efficiency. 

 And finally it will be shown that the farmer 

 with the lowest degree of qualitative efficiency 

 can hope to make a living only on the least pro- 

 ductive land. The same principle holds with 

 regard to the selection of capital-goods, and also 

 of laborers where laborers are employed. 



Attention has been called to the variation in 

 the efficiency of the farmers, but it should be 

 noted also that the efficiency of a given farmer 

 may be different in the various branches of the 

 agricultural industry. A man can usually do best 

 that for which he has a natural liking or taste. 

 Each farmer should decide, therefore, which 

 branch of agriculture he can follow to best advan- 



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