100 SECONDARY RESULTS 



equipment of his holding to meet them with a maximum 

 of efficiency. Most farmers know the technical side of their 

 business ; many of them have some knowledge of the 

 sciences upon which success in raising crops and stock 

 depend. But nowhere nor at any time have they been 

 taught to regard the market, considered with reference to 

 the capabilities of their own particular holdings, as the only 

 guide to the proper style of management to be pursued, 

 and then to organize their farms so that maximum output 

 is secured with the minimum utilization of the factors of 

 production. 



From the records of five farms in 1919-20 it is possible 

 to illustrate a method of comparing standards of production 

 in agriculture. The Census of Production of 1907 has made 

 people familiar with the standard of production per man 

 in the industry as an index of efficiency, but agriculturists 

 have long used, and often still favour, the standard of 

 production per unit of land usually per acre. These two 

 results, used separately, afford a very partial indication of 

 the results of farm organization, and if they be combined 

 they are still inadequate for the provision of any satisfactory 

 measure of the efficiency of any farm, or farming system, 

 as represented by its net output in relation to the factors 

 required to produce this. There are three original factors in 

 all farm organization for production labour, capital, and 

 land. The two former terms need no explanation, but it 

 is necessary to point out that the use of the mere term 

 ' land ' is apt to lead to somewhat serious error. This factor 

 is really the contribution of the landowner to production 

 (in the English system of tenant-farming), and consists of 

 land and all its permanent equipment (see p. 55, ante). 

 This factor, when measured merely by surface area, varies 

 enormously in quality from district to district and even 

 from farm to farm. There are differences of quality in any 

 units of quantity of the three factors, but differences of 

 quality in parcels of 100 acres of land are greater than will 

 be found in various groups of three farm workers or even 

 in various units of 1,000 of farmers' capital. For this 



