126 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



Does it make any difference which grades of capacity are 

 chosen by the farm manager? Only in the same sense that 

 the mason finds use for stones of different sizes in building a 

 wall, each occupying space according to its size, where there 

 are spaces of varying dimensions to be filled. If land is of low 

 capacity more can be used. If horses and cows are of low 

 capacity but of the desired efficiency, more can be kept. The 

 workman of low capacity may prove the right choice if only a 

 small increase in help is needed. The city man who wants to 

 produce milk for his family may find a cow of small capacity 

 more profitable than one of high capacity because she supplies 

 his needs and he has no profitable means of disposing of the 

 surplus. The man who has small demand for horse labor may 

 find the small capacity horse most profitable, while the man 

 with much horse labor to perform might find such a horse un- 

 profitable ; thus variation in capacity helps to adjust the pro- 

 portions of the factors, especially where the scale of the business 

 is small. 



In the choice of workmen it often happens that a man has 

 high capacity for some purposes and low for others. For 

 example, a boy may cultivate corn, cut hay, or drive a tedder 

 or rake, showing the same capacity as a man who has much 

 greater capacity than the boy in pitching hay in the field or 

 handling the hay in the mow. By taking advantage of these 

 differences and using each man where he shows the greatest 

 capacity, profits may be increased. 



There are various conditions which retard the movement 

 toward the most economical combination of the factors. Ig- 

 norance of better opportunities and desire to stay where one's 

 folks live are common hindrances to adjustment. Inherited 

 wealth often enables an inefficient man to hold a highly efficient 

 piece of land for a lifetime without being crowded out, whereas 

 the same man would have found his level in a few years with- 

 out the aid of his inheritance. 



How does the right combination of efficiency grades affect 

 total productivity? Total productivity of society is greatly 

 increased by the combination of the factors which throws the 



