AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



.... expresses in numbers. This, too, is agree- 

 able to an acknowledged maxim of the Carthagin- 

 ians, a very acute nation, That the land ought to 

 be weaker than the husbandman; for, when they 

 struggle together, should the farm prevail, the 

 master must be ruined. And, indeed, there is 

 no doubt, that a small field well cultivated pro- 

 duces more than a large field ill cultivated." 1 

 "Among the maxims of the ancients, recorded by 

 Palladius," says Dickson, "there is one to the 

 same purpose with that mentioned by Columella, 

 'A small farm cultivated is more fruitful than a 

 large farm neglected/ " 2 



Section II. The size of farms in various coun- 

 tries. A. The size of farms in the United States. 

 The total number of farms in the United States 

 in 1900 was 5,739,657. The total area of these 

 farms was 841,201,546 acres. The average area 

 per farm was 146.6 acres, and the average number 

 of improved acres per farm was 72.3. In the fol- 

 lowing table is given the number of farms of the 

 various sizes, the percentage of the area of farm 

 land in each class, and the percentage of all farms 

 in each class. 



1 Adam Dickson, Husbandry of the Ancients, Vol. I, pp. 195 

 and 196. 



2 Husbandry of the Ancients ', Vol. I, p. 198. 



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