LAND AND OTHER AGENTS OF PRODUCTION 139 



tion and the relatively higher charges for transportation and distri- 

 bution are very important factors. And, further, the prosperity of 

 some of the irrigated sections of the West has been more largely due 

 to increases in land values than to the profits of crop production. 



The fixed charges of irrigation farming. Not infrequently the 

 overinflation of land values may become the most serious economic 

 problem of an irrigated region. Land that represents an investment 

 of $25 an acre, with a fixed interest charge of $2 an acre per annum, 

 might yield a fair return in some low-priced staple crop, while the 

 same land at $200 an acre, with a fixed interest charge of $16 an acre 

 per annum, must be devoted to a high-priced crop unless it is to be 

 farmed at a loss. Too often a new settler in a region overlooks this 

 significant point. 



The fixed charges for interest and depreciation on equipment, 

 though often overlooked by the farmer, are very real items of expense. 

 They are frequently less in an irrigated section than elsewhere, particu- 

 larly where the climate is mild and inexpensive buildings will, serve 

 for sheltering stock and machinery. The charge for irrigation water 

 is a factor peculiar to irrigated land, but is one not usually over- 

 looked by the prospective colonist nor long forgotten by the actual 

 settler. 



The labor cost of crop production. There is very little satisfac- 

 tory information as to the cost of crop production in different sections 

 of the country, and none that permits direct comparison between 

 farming with irrigation and without. Such items as planting and 

 tillage should be much the same in both cases, but the preparation 

 of the land, which includes leveling for irrigation, is often an important 

 item of expense. The cost of harvesting crops may be in some 

 instances less under irrigation, because of the lessened need for hurry 

 to avoid rain or storm injury. 



The cost of marketing crop products. Many of our irrigated sec- 

 tions are isolated and far from market centers. In all cases where 

 the production of a crop exceeds the demand for local consumption 

 the local price at once falls to correspond to the distant market price, 

 less the freight and commission charges. When an irrigated region 

 is first settled the local prices of staple crop products, such as grain 

 and hay, are often very high. The local demand for these products 

 is due to the needs of incoming settlers, who must buy feed for their 

 work stock until their own farms come into production, or to the needs 

 of those engaged in the construction of the irrigation system, or for 



