THE GRADES OF THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION 129 



which will leave the largest amount as net profit after deduct- 

 ing interest on the price of the farm, taxes, repairs, and deprecia- 

 tion. 



The proportion of the time the land is in condition to be 

 worked is of importance in choosing a farm. This is especially 

 important on a grain farm where the field labor is the only form 

 of directly productive labor. It is less important on a dairy 

 farm, yet is not to be ignored. The variations in the amount 

 of time the land is in condition to be worked may be due to 

 differences in the amounts of rainfall or to differences in the 

 character of the soil. Where there is considerable rainfall, 

 sandy soil can be worked many more days per month than 

 the silt loams, and either of these soils will be dry enough to 

 work more days per month than the heavy clay soils. While 

 this is important in determining the acres of corn or oats one 

 man can care for, having the land dry very quickly has its 

 drawbacks. The heavy lands may be far superior for grazing 

 and may yield crops enough larger to compensate for the loss 

 of time due to wet land. An ideal arrangement would be to 

 have more than one kind of land in the same farm. In the 

 absence of this it is very important for the farmer on heavy 

 land to have productive labor to do when he cannot work in 

 the field. 



Location with respect to the market is important, but is in- 

 volved in the question of the efficiency of the land. The farmer 

 who can produce the most product on a given piece of land 

 gains the most by being located near the market, whereas the 

 farmer with low efficiency would gam least by being near the 

 market, for two reasons : he would have less to haul to the 

 market, and his time is worth less for other work than hauling 

 his products. 



Sanitary conditions should be given careful consideration. 

 A farm may be worth less than nothing if its occupier is in 

 danger of losing his health or that of the members of his family 

 by living on the farm. The seriousness of conditions of this 

 kind depends upon the ease with which the sanitary conditions 

 can be improved. 



