CROP YIELDS AND PRICES 



121 



TAliLK 8. RELATION OF SIZE OF I ARM TO BOYS LEAVING 

 'I UK FARM, 674 FARMS, Jl 1 II K>"\ CO! NTY, MAY \<>KK 



If our population ever becomes as congested as is that in parts 

 of Kurope or Asia, we may want smaller farms and may do away 

 with machinery and horses and use men and women to till the 

 land. The reason why we use machinery and horses is because 

 labor is high. Some of the old countries have tried machinery 

 and discarded it, not because of ignorance of the workers but 

 because human labor is cheaper. In most parts of India it is 

 cheaper to cut grain with a sickle than with a binder. How 

 cheaply these people work is a measure of their poverty. 



\<>nc of these discussions should be construed to favor large 



" bonanza farms," or large holdings by landlords. Near large 



ast, many large tracts of land have been purchased in 



t years for country homes and as places where wealthy men 



play at farming. The influence on the agriculture of such regions 



has been demoralizing. In some parts of the country, particularly 



in the Middle West, there is a tendency for some persons to buy 



fauns to be run by tenants. The tendency for one individual to 



acquire a large number of farms for such a purpose is a serious 



C, In the opinion of the writer it would be well to have laws 



that would place some limitation on the size of such holdings. 



Restrict '.nmignitwu. .Another popular suggestion for 



tsin^ the cost of food is to im irase the number of farmers 



by persuading persons to p' ! '" m llu ' ( 1!v '" ;! " t;irms or by the 



ip labor for the farms. These suggestions would 



aU.ut exaetly the opposite condition from the one that is 



