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price and consequently income as much as many erroneously 

 reason. 



Since this general principle was not well known, the man 

 with the hoe throughout the world attended the meetings 

 during the depression of the thirties and approved of the na- 

 tional policies to raise incomes by restricting production. 

 During the meetings his enthusiasm for the restriction pro- 

 gram was unbounded; when he went home and planned his 

 farming operations to comply with the program, he uncon- 

 sciously tried to devise ways to live within the letter of the 

 law but produce more, because he knew it was good business 

 for him to do so. The records of production indicate that he 

 succeeded quite well. Farmer Jones knew that he, individu- 

 ally, could do nothing about price, and if price was controlled, 

 the only way he could get more income was to produce more. 

 His general philosophy might be summarized as follows: 



Crop Price Income 



80 100 80 



100 100 100 



120 100 120 



At any price level, high or low, the only way the individual 

 farmer could get more income was by producing more crops. 

 Obviously, there was a conflict between group interest and 

 individual interest. The farmer unconsciously sabotaged the 

 program by restricting the production on the poorer land 

 and stepping up production on his good land. 



Price Level More Important to Income than Variations in 



Production 



The most important factor affecting the incomes of farm- 

 ers is changes in the general level of prices, and not whether 

 farmers produce a large or a small crop. 



The value per acre of large crops of wheat was about the 



