212 



THE THIRD POWER 



(Vol. V, p. LXXVII) 



Of S»739,6S7 farms in the United States June 1, 1900, there 

 have been of those under three acres in size, 41,882, or 7 per 

 cent. ; of three acres and under ten, 226,564, or 4 per cent. ; of 

 ten acres and under twenty, 407,012, or 7.1 per cent.; of twenty 

 acres and under fifty, 1,257,785, or 21.9 per cent. ; of fifty acres 

 and under 100, 1,366,167, or 23.8 per cent.; of 100 acres and 

 under 175, 1,422,328, or 24.8 per cent.; of 175 acres and under 

 260, 490,104, or 8.5 per cent.; of 260 acres and under 500, 377,- 

 992, or 6.6 per cent.; of 500 acres and under 1,000, 102,547, or 

 1.8 per cent.; and of 1,000 acres and over, 47,276, or 0.8 per 

 cent (Reports of Twelfth Census, Vol. V, pp. XLIII-LIII). 

 Thus the farms of fifty acres and under 100, and of 100 and 

 under 175, are predominating in this country very conspicu- 

 ously and, put together, constitute 48.6 per cent, of the total, 

 while farms exceeding 1,000 acres comprise just 0.8 per cent, 

 of the total (as reported by the division of agriculture). 

 "Bonanza farms" are gradually disappearing (Reports of 

 Twelfth Census, Vol. V, pp. XLIII-LIII), leaving the owners, 

 part owners, cash tenants and share tenants of medium sized 

 and small farms in full possession of the farming industry of 

 this country. So it is evident that by both the size, as well as 

 the source of his income, the farmer of the L T nited States in 

 the economic constitution of the country can not be classified 

 otherwise than a skilled laborer specialized in the agricultural 

 production. The only difference between the American 

 farmer and his "hired man" in this respect is this : the farmer 

 has a permanent job, while the latter enjoys a chance employ- 

 ment. This relation of the American farmer to his hired 

 laborer bears all essential features of relations of the skilled 

 laborer to the unskilled laborer in all other trades. It must 

 be remembered in this connection that a very large proportion 



