AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS DEFINED AND DESCRIBED 1 1 



can give his business a sound scientific basis. The mere col- 

 lection of the details of methods of conducting different farms 

 will not suffice. There must be the reference of these matters 

 to some underlying principles. When this is done it is clear that 

 farm management comes within the domain of economics be- 

 cause the purpose of farming is to secure a profit from the use 

 of the land and its equipment. If profit is lost sight of, the 

 farm manager, though trained in all branches of farm practice, 

 is doomed to failure." 



For practical purposes farm economics may be divided into 

 the economics of production, the economics of marketing, and 

 the problem of maintaining and improving the economic and 

 social position of the farmer. 



The economics of production centers upon the choice of 

 crops and live stock enterprises, the choice and organization of 

 the instruments of production, and the principles which under- 

 lie economy in the operation of the farm with a view to optimum 

 results. The economics of marketing treats of the actual 

 movement of produce from producers to consumers, the pro- 

 cesses involved, the middleman services rendered, the fairness 

 of the charge made for the middleman service, and methods of 

 establishing economy and justice in these distributive processes 

 through education, cooperation, and government activity or 

 regulation. The problem of maintaining and improving the 

 economic condition of the farmer centers upon those dynamic 

 forces which are gradually bringing about changes in the farmers' 

 economic well-being as shown in the ownership of property, 

 the standard of living, etc. 



All three of these phases of farm economics should be viewed 

 from the standpoint of the individual farmer who desires maxi- 

 mum returns for what he puts into farming operations and also 

 from the standpoint of the statesman who desires maximum 

 well-being for the nation as a whole. The individual interest 

 may conform in the main to the common interest, but where 

 this is not true government activity may be essential in order 

 to establish harmony of interests. The individual point of view 

 should be studied by the farmer that he may know his own 



