328 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



then, for a period during which demand ranges- no more widely than 

 this, copper would be a constant-cost good. 



We have seen that any industry may be hi any one of three con- 

 ditions: diminishing cost, constant cost, or increasing cost. But we 

 should naturally expect, and experience confirms the expectation, that 

 some industries would be preponderantly hi the first stage, others in 

 the second, still others in the third. Thus, it is the accepted opinion 

 among authorities on railway transportation that this industry is 

 preponderantly in the condition of diminishing cost or increasing 

 returns. Again, there can be no doubt that a large number of common 

 manufacturing industries are most of the time in a condition of con- 

 stant cost. Finally, the so-called extractive industries, looked at in 

 the long run, anyhow, are commonly viewed as in the condition of 

 increasing cost: if we insist on using considerably larger quantities of 

 copper, silver, cotton, wheat, etc., we shall have to consent to incur 

 a higher cost in acquiring them. 



B. Choice of Location and Enterprise 



102. SPECIALIZATION AND EFFICIENCY' 

 BY M. B. WAITE 



Fruit growing in early days in this country was largely incidental 

 to general farming. Orchards were planted by farmers whose main 

 business was the growing of grains and cereals, live stock, poultry, etc. 

 In recent years the business of fruit growing has gradually become a 

 specialty. The work has been taken up by fruit men who are special- 

 ists in this line and who devote their entire energy to the growing of 

 fruits. Among fruit growers there are specialists who grow only one 

 sort or one type of fruit, as, for instance, peaches, pears, apples, 

 grapes, small fruits, etc. The reason for this is largely the demands 

 of intensive methods. Intensive fruit growing requires that every- 

 thing shall be done for the tree or vine that it will pay to do. The 

 object of the intensive fruit grower is to grow the greatest amount of 

 salable commercial fruit per acre, of the best quality which can be 

 grown with profit. To accomplish this result pruning, spraying, and 

 cultivating must be carefully studied and practiced and the fruit after 

 it is grown must be properly picked and packed and marketed to the 

 best advantage. The successful fruit grower must be ready to utilize 

 at all times the results of scientific investigations in agriculture. 



1 Adapted from Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture, 1904, pp. 169-70. 



