ORGANIZATION OF THE FARM 



therefore, while a given share tenant could in- 

 crease his net profit by this extensive culture, such 

 culture would reduce the total value of the agri 1 - 

 cultural productions of the country as a whole. 



The interest of the share tenant is also out of 

 harmony with that of the landlord in this regard. 

 Since it is to the interest of the landlord that the 

 share which accrues to him as rent shall be as 

 large as possible, he may desire that the intensity 

 of culture be carried to the farthest extreme. So 

 long as an increment of expenditure will add any- 

 thing to the product it might seem to his interest 

 to have the increment applied, for it would add 

 to his income. Thus, stated in its extreme form, 

 it would seem that while the share tenant would 

 desire to farm so extensively that the average 

 gross return per unit of labor and capital would 

 reach the maximum, the landlord might desire 

 that the gross return per acre should reach its 

 absolute maximum, without regard to cost per 

 unit of the product. 



It is evident that the interest of the landlord 

 as well as that of the share tenant is here in con- 

 flict with the interest of society as a whole; for 

 to follow what seems to be the landlord's high- 

 est economic interest in this particular, would 

 result in the reduction of the total agricultural 

 product which could be produced with a given 

 amount of social energy. 



But it becomes apparent that the landlord will 

 8 113 



