ORGANIZATION OF THE FARM 



culture, where each farmer produces primarily for 

 the city, national, or world market, and buys upon 

 the market the majority of the goods he consumes, 

 his well-being depends less upon the variety of his 

 own productions, and more upon his power to 

 command the desired commodities upon the mar- 

 ket. This power does not depend upon the va- 

 riety, but upon the cost, quantity, and price of 

 the articles which he takes to the market. Cost, 

 or cheapness of production, is not the one deter- 

 mining factor ; neither is the quantity of the prod- 

 uct. The selling price would also be a poor guide 

 in itself. But when the cost of producing an 

 article, the quantity which one man can produce, 

 the capacity of the crop to fit itself into the field- 

 system, and the farm price of the product, are all 

 taken together, it will be found that, with prices 

 as they are at a given time, some crops will net 

 the farmer a handsome profit, while others can 

 be grown only at a loss. The economic well- 

 being of the modern farmer depends, then, upon 

 his capacity to select and produce that crop or 

 combination of crops which, one year with an- 

 other, will enable him to win the largest net 

 profit. 



The organization of the farm is essentially 

 different from that of the factory. In mechanical 

 pursuits it is the common thing for each man to 

 devote all of his time throughout the year to the 

 production of that one article or class of articles 



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