AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



maize. In order to arrive at the total net profit 

 which he can win from the production of a given 

 crop, the net profit per acre must be multiplied by 

 the number of acres which the farmer can operate. 



Cotton and maize are competitors in the South. 

 For many years after the Civil War cotton 

 yielded a much greater net profit to the farmers 

 than did maize. As a result, maize was little 

 grown in the South, the supply being drawn from 

 the North where cotton does not thrive. To- 

 ward the close of the last century the profits of 

 cotton growing considerably declined and maize 

 production took a more important place in the 

 field-system of the South. 



When the above principle is followed in the 

 organization of the field-system, it will not be 

 true, necessarily, that each crop will be grown 

 where the facilities for its production are the 

 greatest; for it may happen, for example, that in 

 the region where the facilities for the production 

 of tobacco are the best, sugar beets will yield a 

 larger net profit than tobacco, in which case the 

 latter crop might well be excluded from the field- 

 system in the very region where, aside from the 

 element of rent, it can be produced most cheaply. 



It is evident that changes in the relative value 

 of farm products will necessitate changes in the 

 organization of the field-system. If the price of 

 one of two competing crops should rise more rap- 

 idly than that of the other, this might result in a 



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