SECONDARY RESULTS 105 



the market value of the materials expresses their real value 

 to the whole body of consumers. 



2. THE SIZE OF AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS IN 

 RELATION TO EFFICIENCY 



Much controversy has centred round the question of what 

 is the most economical unit of land for farm production, 

 and it must be obvious that there can be no absolute answer 

 to it. The quality of the land in certain cases, and market, 

 transport, and climatic conditions in many more, make it 

 impossible to determine even within wide limits the size of 

 the holding on which the principal factors of production 

 can be employed with maximum effect. Within similar 

 areas, however, and in limited districts much work can and 

 should be done to collect evidence on this point for the 

 information of those concerned with the administration of 

 land. Comparisons of the results of farming large areas and 

 smaller ones have not infrequently been made, but most if 

 not all of them are unsatisfactory in that they are based 

 as a rule on a comparison of the yield per acre enly, instead 

 of on a comparison of the results of the application of all 

 the factors of production, and the fallacy of this system of 

 measurement has already been shown (see Tables XXVII 

 and XXVIII). Moreover, no regard is had to the fact that in 

 many areas there has been a tendency to select the best 

 land for the smaller farms and to organize the management 

 of less productive soils in larger areas. Thus, comparisons 

 of productivity based on unit areas are faulty in two 

 ways. 



To determine the most productive farming unit in any 

 area the method to be pursued must be, first, to select 

 farms under similar economic and soil conditions ; second, 

 to group them according to their extent ; third, to collect 

 the statistical data necessary for a comparison of their 

 economic results to be made. An inquiry of this nature 

 was undertaken in a Welsh county recently, and although 

 the statistical data is not sufficiently complete to allow of 



