50 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



one will usually find the market garden district just beyond the 

 outlying plotted area held speculatively for city lots. Next 

 beyond this, and often more or less intermingled with the 

 gardens area at first, are found farms devoted to the produc- 

 tion of city milk, beyond this may be found the butter industry, 

 the cheese industry, beef or pork production or grain farming, 

 depending upon the location of the city. 



This division of territory among the various types of farming 

 or lines of production is the result of relative farm prices of 

 the different products. This difference in farm prices is due 

 to two factors, namely, the perishability and the quantity pro- 

 duced per acre of the products. Perishable products must be 

 produced near enough to the market or under such favorable 

 conditions of transportation that the commodity can be put 

 on the market in good condition. Other things being equal, 

 the greater the quantity produced on a given area, the lower 

 will be the price per pound, and the closer to the market it 

 should be produced. It is usually a combination of these two 

 factors that puts market gardens near the markets, and puts 

 sheep and wheat farms at a distance from the market. 



Can the farmer work out the most profitable system of crops for 

 his farm once for all, so that he need give this matter no further 

 attention? Unfortunately the economic problems of farm 

 management are never permanently solved. Changes in rela- 

 tive prices of competing crops often make it necessary to change 

 from the one to the other. This change in relative prices may 

 result from the growth of a near-by city, such as to increase the 

 demand for bulky and perishable products. The increased 

 demand results in increased prices, which enables these crops 

 to crowd out their competitors in a larger and larger territory 

 surrounding the city. The farmer should, however, be very 

 conservative in changing, once he has a profitable system 

 established. Changes are expensive. They involve learning 

 new things, buying new equipment, and meeting new prob- 

 lems of crop conflict, etc. One should not let temporary price 

 fluctuations move him to change his plans. But he should 

 not be too conservative; if changes in prices result from 



