74 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



in the corn belt of the United States. Outside of the corn belt, 

 especially in California, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho, the question 

 is less a matter of competing crops than it is a matter of high 

 cost of labor, yet in these regions beets compete with potatoes 

 and alfalfa. Raw silk and tea are good examples of crops which 

 are practically excluded from being produced in the United 

 States because of the wide difference in the cost of labor in the 

 United States and in eastern Asia. The first of these reasons 

 for finding it more profitable to buy than to produce is a perma- 

 nent one. It is based upon natural forces. The second is 

 based partly upon differences in the density of the population 

 in different parts of the earth, and, hence, being a social condi- 

 tion is subject to change. 



4. Some articles can be produced profitably in limited quan- 

 tities but not in sufficient abundance to satisfy the demand of 

 the nation because of the limited areas on which they prove to 

 be the strongest competitors for land, labor, and equipment. 

 Wool is an example. Wool is the most profitable product 

 which can be produced in some of the high, dry areas of the 

 Rocky Mountain region, and in some other regions where rough 

 grazing lands are abundant and where the dairy cow is not a 

 strong competitor. Sheep may also find a profitable place in 

 small numbers on the general farm, but so long as cheap wool 

 may be secured from South America and Australia, it may be 

 that the greater part of the supply can be imported more cheaply 

 than produced at home. This has proved true even when a 

 protective tariff favored the home grower of wool. 



5. Some articles can be produced profitably in certain qualities, 

 but not in all qualities desired by the people of the United States. 

 Cotton, for example, is imported, not because we do not produce 

 as much cotton as we consume, but because it is possible to get 

 a very special variety of cotton from Egypt. Tobacco is another 

 example. We export much tobacco, but, in order to meet the 

 demand for certain qualities, tobacco is imported from Cuba and 

 Sumatra. 



When all these conditions which give rise to commerce are 

 considered, it becomes obvious that with a given outlay of 



