426 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



the various other enterprises which are complementary or sup- 

 plementary to the group of competing crops. Such maps would 

 show the spring wheat region to be a flax region and the oat 

 regions to be corn regions, etc. This method followed out com- 

 pletely with maps of livestock, as well as crops, would show the 

 type of farming in any agricultural region. 



The maps showing the type of farming should be accompanied 

 with maps showing the topography, the soil, the length of the 

 growing season, the temperature during the growing season, the 

 rainfall, the market, the agricultural population, the manufac- 

 turing population, the mining population, etc., all of which help to 

 explain the types of farming in terms of geographical differences. 



The statistical method. The statistical method stands for 

 quantitative study. Much of our knowledge of economic 

 forces corresponds to qualitative analysis in chemistry. The 

 force is noted but not measured. The statistical and ac- 

 counting methods look to the measurement of forces, thus 

 putting the work on a quantitative basis. In the treatment of 

 every subject and in the use of all other methods, all data which 

 lend themselves to counts or measurements should be treated 

 statistically. 



There are specialists who devote themselves to the collection 

 and the tabulation of statistics. Their finished product is raw 

 material for the agricultural economist. 



Sources of statistical data. There is no one greater source 

 of material for the student of agricultural economics than the 

 reports of the federal census. They contain the only comprehen- 

 sive source of material from which it is possible to ascertain 

 the type of farming in every section of the United States. This 

 gives the basis for the study of comparative agriculture, which is 

 one of the best methods of gaining knowledge of the economic 

 forces which determine the actions of farmers. 



Not only the type of farming, but also the economic status of 

 the farmer is shown by the census for every county in the United 

 States. Both the white and the colored farmers are divided into 

 seven classes, based upon the relation they sustain to the land 

 they cultivate. 



