190 



PRINCIPLES OF RURAL ECONOMICS 



he could get from 20 acres, yet this is not a very economical 

 use of land, since in this case his last 10 acres give him only 

 300 bushels over and above what he could produce without 

 them. Again, while 20 acres give him a larger crop than 10 

 acres (1500 bushels as against 1000), yet even this is not the 

 most economical use of land, since his second 10 acres add only 

 500 bushels to the total crop, whereas the first 10 acres when 



Product from first 



10 acres, 1000 



bushels 



Additional 

 Product resulting 

 from use of second 



10 acres, 500 

 bushels 



A dditional 

 Product resulting 

 from use of third 



10 acres, 300 

 bushels 



Additional 

 Product resulting 

 from use of fourth 



10 acres, 200 

 bushels 



10 acres 



cultivated alone yielded 1000 bushels. So far as this illustration 

 carries us, it is obviously a more economical use of land to have 

 one man to every 10 acres. That this would be a somewhat waste- 

 ful use of labor will appear from the following consideration : 



If one man cultivating 20 acres gets a product, according 

 to the illustration, of 1 500 bushels, and two men cultivating the 

 same 20 acres, or 10 acres each, get a total product of 2000 



