ORGANIZATION OF THE AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISE 361 



man en t help. A reasonable amount of such work is beneficial to 

 health, and it is rare indeed for a farm boy to be harmed by the work 

 he is called upon to do. This is in contrast to industrial employments, 

 where the conditions of work are unsuited to children, so that higher- 

 priced adult workers must be used. Children on a farm learn to take 

 life and work seriously. They have the best form of apprenticeship 

 by working with their parents. And the work they can do when 

 quite young, even though light and intermittent, fits into the whole 

 scheme of the enterprise in such ways as to add very considerably to 

 the product. This is one of the reasons why farming does not lend 

 itself to consolidation, such as readily takes place in manufacturing. 



The factory system is based on high-priced supervision. Most 

 of the workers have only a few things to learn, and they are under 

 close supervision. It is impossible to give close supervision to large 

 farming enterprises because the workers are so scattered. For general 

 farming, 40 to 80 acres of crops can be raised per worker. The num- 

 ber of men that might be gathered under one roof under the super- 

 vision of one superintendent would in farming be scattered over half 

 a county. 



For nearly all farm operations it is necessary that each worker 

 be intelligent and that he take an interest in the work. We cannot 

 have a boss watching the man on a mowing machine. If someone 

 has to watch the driver, he may as well replace the driver and do the 

 work himself. There are a few operations at which gangs of men can 

 be used, but there are very few cases in which a farmer can make a 

 continued use of a gang of men. It is very difficult to get men to take 

 the necessary interest in large farms. If wages are high enough to 

 attract men who will take an interest without close supervision, the 

 high wages take all the profit. 



A profit of 10 to 20 per cent on the wages of each worker is a good 

 profit in any industry. If the industry employs a very few men, the 

 profits will be small. 



The expense of hauling crops and manure usually makes about 

 600 acres the limit to run from one center. But for general farming 

 this area with half the land in pasture is a business that, measured 

 in workers, corresponds with a grocery store that employs two or 

 three clerks and one or two delivery-men. 



The prices of farm products are based on production by the farm 

 family working as a unit. The hired help is usually boarded in the 

 family at much less than it costs to hire it boarded. The women wash 



