1 64 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



line BY until some point far to the right of M r . This illus- 

 trates one of the causes of differences in the capacity of men 

 which is a permanent cause of differences in the size of farms. 



From this point of view it becomes obvious that there can be 

 no one size of farm which will pay best for all farmers, and hence 

 the attempt to draw conclusions from statistical studies regard- 

 ing the proper size of farms sheds little or no light upon the 

 problem of the individual farmer, however valuable these 

 figures may be for the study of geographical and historical dif- 

 ferences in the organization of farms. 



Which is the most desirable from the social point of vieiv, the 

 large, the medium-sized, or the small farm? Having in mind that 

 farmers vary greatly in their degrees of efficiency, it would seem 

 socially desirable to have the managing done by the most effi- 

 cient farmers ; for in this way the labor would be under more 

 efficient direction than where every man directs his own ac- 

 tivities. Another advantage of large farms lies in the fact that 

 they facilitate a more extended division of labor. There can 

 be a shepherd who devotes all of his time to the sheep, and for 

 this reason he can better understand his business. So it is in 

 every line of work on the large farm. Machinery can be used 

 to better advantage on the large farm. The efficient manager 

 of the large farm can better determine what will pay and what 

 will not pay, so that he is in a much better position to direct 

 the labor power of society to the best advantage. The man 

 who is toiling in the field as well as managing the farm is less 

 likely to be far-sighted at a time when he is tired, and at such 

 times he may sacrifice much of the profits for a relatively small 

 saving of labor. 



On the other hand, what improves the efficiency of the manage- 

 ment in this way may lower the quality of the workmanship. 

 There are some men, it is true, who seem to work better for 

 others than for themselves, but with many others the opposite 

 is true. There are vast numbers of small farmers who do not 

 use good methods, who, because of their interest in that which 

 is their own, will put forth greater effort than they would if 

 they were working for some one else. 



