510 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



actually declined. At the bottom this change of population was 

 simply an effort to adjust the number of producers to the num- 

 ber of consumers. Our land policy had developed too many 

 producers. The application of scientific principles to produc- 

 tion and the establishment of a nation-wide system of trans- 

 portation enabled relatively fewer men to grow the food of the 

 nation. But of course this may be carried too far. If we have 

 too many producers, we get cheap food and also cheap men on 

 the farm. If we have too few producers, the country is not 

 adequately supplied with food. 



Adjustment in the Factors of Production. The problem is 

 essentially this: How may the farmer compete with manufac- 

 turing and business interests for land, labor and capital? It 

 is a question of proper relationships. The farmer must have 

 his share of these or he cannot do his best work. He has to com- 

 pete constantly with these other industries. How can we make 

 sure that he has a fair field? 



Yield per Acre and Yield per Man. The strength of Euro- 

 pean agriculture lies in its large yield per acre of land. The 

 strength of American agriculture lies in its large yield per man 

 who works the soil. It is in the interests of consumers to have 

 the maximum yield of food per acre f it is in the interests of 

 producers to have the maximum return due each individual 

 worker. But clearly, both of these things cannot happen at 

 the same time. Somewhere we must find the fair balance. We 

 must adjust the interests of both. How can we do it ? 



The Conservation of Soil Resources. Less than formerly do 

 the farmers want to use their land even if they use it all up. 

 It is a truism that the American farmer has skimmed the cream 

 off the soil and then gone on AVest. Society, that is all of us 

 together, which really owns the land, is interested to have 

 it become more productive, whereas it has become less produc- 

 tive in many regions. Of course the good farmer has the same 

 interest in keeping up production, but many farmers do not 

 see it. They want immediate results. Clearly we need an 

 adjustment that results both in that use of the land which 

 gives a fair return to the farmer, and that use which pre- 

 serves its fertility undiminished for future generations. 



Sharing the Savings. Both farmers and consumers would 



