CHAPTER XIII 



THE COST OF FARMING OPERA- 

 TIONS 



SEVERAL millions of the inhabitants of 

 the United States, not to mention those 

 of other countries, are engaged each year in 

 the preparation of the soil for the cereal and 

 forage crops and on the work of seeding and 

 harvesting them. The welfare of one- 

 third the population is directly and that of 

 the other two-thirds, although less directly, 

 is quite as surely dependent upon the effec- 

 tiveness of this effort. If, for example, as 

 sometimes happens, one-third the popula- 

 tion receives on account of untoward sea- 

 sonal conditions but four-fifths of the usual 

 product, everyone must suffer on account of 

 this unrewarded labor. Many, perhaps 

 most, financial panics have their origin in 

 crop failures aided, doubtless, by an im- 

 proper financial system. 



Although widely and sometimes bitterly 

 discussed, little is really known concerning 

 the relation between the effort expended and 

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