CROP YIELDS AND PRICES 



121 



TABLE 8. RELATION OF SIZE OF FARM TO BOYS LEAVING 

 THE FARM, 674 FARMS, JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK 



Acres Farmed 



Number 



OF 



Families 



Percentage of Sons 



At home 



On other 

 farms 



Not 

 farmers 



30 or less 



31 to 50 

 51 to 100 

 loi to 150 

 151 to 200 

 Over 200 



25 

 29 

 171 

 187 

 136 

 126 



52 

 75 

 78 

 72 



33 

 22 

 8 

 10 

 10 



46 

 26 



17 

 12 

 18 



If our population ever becomes as congested as is that in parts 

 of Europe or Asia, we may want smaller farms and may do away 

 with machinery and horses and use men and women to till the 

 land. The reason why we use machinery and horses is because 

 labor is high. Some of the old countries have tried machinery 

 and discarded it, not because of ignorance of the workers but 

 because human labor is cheaper. In most parts of India it is 

 cheaper to cut grain with a sickle than with a binder. How 

 cheaply these people work is a measure of their poverty. 



None of these discussions should be construed to favor large 

 " bonanza farms," or large holdings by landlords. Near large 

 cities in the East, many large tracts of land have been purchased in 

 recent years for country homes and as places where wealthy men 

 play at farming. The influence on the agriculture of such regions 

 has been demoralizing. In soMe parts of the country, particularly 

 in the Middle West, there is a tendency for some persons to buy 

 farms to be run by tenants. The tendency for one individual to 

 acquire a large number of farms for such a purpose is a serious 

 menace. In the opinion of the writer it would be well to have laws 

 that would place some limitation on the size of such holdings. 



Restriction of immigration. Another popular suggestion for 

 decreasing the cost of food is to increase the number of farmers 

 by persuading persons to go from the city to the farms or by the 

 importation of cheap labor for the farms. These suggestions would 

 bring about exactly the opposite condition from the one that is 



