AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



most economic use of the productive energies of a 

 country, is a matter of determining the point 

 at which the advantages of the more efficient gen- 

 eral supervision as to crops, field-systems, inten- 

 sity of culture, etc., are balanced by losses in the 

 execution of the details of the work with less 

 skill and personal interest. 



The conclusion is, therefore, that every man 

 who can make more by hiring to a farmer should 

 do so, and every farmer who can increase his net 

 profits by hiring men and increasing the size of 

 his farm, without increasing the amount of effort 

 which he need put forth, should do so. Each 

 man would then get the largest net income, and 

 the value of the agricultural productions of the 

 country would reach the maximum. 



But the actions of men are not controlled en- 

 tirely by economic motives. There is a pleasure 

 to be derived from being one's own master, which 

 is often prized more highly than many of the 

 things which money can buy. As a result many 

 men remain independent farmers when they could 

 secure a larger income for themselves and add 

 more to the value of the agricultural productions 

 of the country by being hired men under the direc- 

 tion of more efficient managers. And yet it may 

 be that this economic loss is compensated for in 

 the social gain that comes from self-directed 

 activity. 



The proper size of farms is a subject which has 

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