THE HUMAN BASIS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION 1 15 



educated farmers are more efficient than the uneducated farmers 

 in competition with them. One who is optimistic by nature 

 will believe in the possibility of and actual progress in the in- 

 creased economic efficiency of people who do the farm work of 

 this country. But if a person is by nature pessimistic, he may 

 magnify the possibilities of decline in the qualities of men due 

 to the fact that the whole population gradually gives place to 

 the younger generation. The hope is in the educational effort 

 which teaches the younger generations what the older genera- 

 tions learned from experience and experiment, and thus makes 

 the wisdom of the race cumulative. 



When the three factors of production are compared, it will be 

 noted that they are alike in that the individual units vary in eco- 

 nomic productivity ; they are unlike with respect to the rate at which 

 they are increasing in quantity and with respect to the quality 

 of the new increments of supply. If one assumes no change in 

 men and equipments and a tendency to increased population 

 not limited by present or higher standards of living, it is logical 

 to take a pessimistic view of the future of mankind ; but if one 

 believes that the improvements in the qualities of men and 

 equipment will offset the declining productivity of the succeed- 

 ing new increments of land, and if one believes in the power of 

 education to advance the standard of living, it is easier to be 

 hopeful. 



