1 66 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



The purely economic conclusion is, therefore, that every man 

 who can make more by hiring to a farmer should do so, and every 

 farmer who can increase his net profits by hiring men and in- 

 creasing the size of his farm, without increasing the amount of 

 effort which he need put forth, should do so. Each man would 

 then get the largest net income, and the value of the farm 

 products of the country would reach the maximum. 



But the actions of men are not controlled entirely by economic 

 motives. There is a pleasure to be derived from being one's 

 own master, which is often prized more highly than many of 

 the things which money can buy. As a result many men re- 

 main independent farmers when they could secure a larger 

 income: for themselves and add more to the value of the farm 

 products of the country by being hired men under the direc- 

 tion of more efficient managers. And yet it may be that this 

 economic loss is compensated for in the social gain that comes 

 from self-directed activity. 



The proper size of farms is a subject which has commanded 

 the attention of agricultural writers since ancient times. " The 

 ancients," says Pliny, " were of opinion, that, above all things, 

 the extent of farms ought to be kept within proper bounds. 

 Wherefore it was a maxim amongst them, to sow less and plow 

 better. Such, too, I find, was the opinion entertained by 

 Virgil, and indeed, if we must confess the truth, it is the wide- 

 spread domains that have been the ruin of Italy, and soon will 

 be that of the provinces as well. . . . With that greatness of 

 mind which was so peculiarly his own, and of which he ought 

 not to lose the credit, Cneius Pompeius would never purchase 

 the lands that belonged to a neighbor." 



Columella, another Roman agricultural writer, also taught 

 moderation in the size of farms. " To the other precepts," 

 says he, " we add this, which one of the seven wise men has 

 pronounced as a maxim, that holds true in all ages, that there 

 ought to be limits and measures of things ; and this ought to be 

 understood, as applied not only to those that do any other 

 business, but also those that buy land, that they may not buy 

 more than they are fully able for. To this is applicable the 



