REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 19 



the scarcity of undeveloped lands. It is true that, in general, the best 

 land is already in cultivation, but without question much of the re- 

 mainder can be tilled when the country reaches the economic stage 

 which would justify its utilization. 



There are numerous fallacious opinions with respect to the need 

 of extending the farm area. Many people, noting the prevailing 

 prices of agricultural products, demand increased production and 

 insist that the remedy lies in immediate and rapid expansion of 

 the acreage in farms. Others, observing large tracts of unused land, 

 deplore the great waste of our resources. Still others explain the 

 movement of population from rural districts to cities by the non- 

 availability of land, which they attribute to land monopoly, specula- 

 tion, and other evils. The demand for farm products, unlike the 

 demand for manufactured articles, does not expand rapidly to meet 

 a large increase in supply. There is a tendency toward an equilibrium 

 between urban and agricultural industry. If too much labor and 

 capital are diverted from farming, the relative prices, and conse- 

 quently the relative profits, of agricultural activity will increase, 

 and there will be a tendency toward expansion. If this is excessive, 

 however, relative prices and profits will tend to decrease and the 

 industry may suffer depression. The inelasticity of demand for 

 farm products sets a very decided limit at a given time to the in- 

 crease of population and capital profitably employed in agriculture. 



It is not in the interest of producers or consumers to have large 

 fluctuations in agricultural production. There is always danger of 

 glutting the market and of serious loss. The aim rather should be to 

 secure a steady flow of commodities of sufficient volume to supply an 

 increasing demand at prices which will yield the farmer a decent 

 wage and a fair profit on his investment. It seems difficult to get it 

 into the minds of some people that farming is a business and must 

 pay; that under modern conditions there can not be an unlimited 

 number of farmers. There could be a larger proportion of farmers 

 to total population if each farm were self-sufficient and produced no 

 surplus of consequence, but to-day the average farmer produces 

 many times what he consumes of some things and is dependent for 

 his prosperity upon their profitable exchange for other articles which 

 he uses. There should be, and in the long run there will tend to be, 

 no more farmers in the Nation than are needed to produce the quantity 



