METHODS OF STUDYING AGRICULTURAL QUESTIONS 433 



have no practical value therefore except for the farm on which 

 they were made. Plot experiments are too expensive for the 

 practical farmer, hence some other method must be contrived. 

 It is highly desirable that a method of ascertaining the proper 

 degree of intensity of culture be discovered and taught, but any 

 attempt at teaching more than the principles involved and the 

 methods of their application is folly, for what is right for one 

 member of a class of one hundred students, or one out of an 

 audience of farmers, may be the wrong thing for many of the 

 others. 



Differences in the soil, in the value of the land, in the efficiency 

 of the farmers, and in facilities for marketing make differing 

 degrees of intensity of culture necessary. Any method of 

 ascertaining the most profitable degree of intensity on any farm, 

 to be of general use, must be so planned that its application will 

 not endanger the profits of the farm. Some process of gradual 

 adjustments suggests itself as most likely to succeed. 



The foregoing discussion is not intended as a complete survey 

 of methods applicable to the study of economic problems in 

 agriculture. The aim has been simply to describe the methods 

 in common use at the present time. No one method is fa- 

 vored above another. All are needed in securing an intensive 

 and a comprehensive view of the economic forces which affect 

 the farmer. 



