ECONOMIC PROPERTIES 



history of agriculture in the United States shows 

 that changes in the character of the capital-goods 

 and especially of the machinery has greatly influ- 

 enced the usefulness or productivity of this factor 

 of production. 



"The year 1850 practically marks the close of 

 the period when the only farm implements and 

 machinery, other than the wagon, cart and cotton- 

 gin, were those which, for want of a better desig- 

 nation, may be called implements of hand pro- 

 duction. The old cast iron plows were in general 

 use. Grass was mowed with the scythe, and the 

 grain was cut with the sickle or cradle and 

 threshed with the flail. . . . The last half century 

 has witnessed a revolution in agricultural methl- 

 ods, and the new implements and machines intro- 

 duced would require more than a page to cata- 

 logue." 1 "For the United States the value of 

 machinery per acre of farm land has increased 

 nearly eighty per cent, since 1850. . . . These in- 

 creases in money value, however, do not measure 

 the added usefulness of the new machinery. 

 This is measured principally by the degree to 

 which the machinery saves human labor by sub- 

 stituting the power of animals or of steam/' 2 



"The number of acres of the leading crops per 

 male worker increased from 23.3 in 1800 to 31 in 

 1900. The number of acres of these crops per 



twelfth Census, Vol. V, p. xxix. 

 2 Ibid., p. xxxi. 



31 



