198 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



cordance with their efficiency, the A-grade farmer on the first- 

 grade land, the B-grade farmer on the second-grade land, and 

 so on. The fact that each grade of farmers can win a larger 

 profit on the grade of land that corresponds to his degree of 

 efficiency is the force that tends to bring about this condition of 

 affairs. But it is not the individual farmers alone who are 

 benefited as the result of the working out of this tendency. 

 The combination of the productive forces that puts the most 

 useful agents of production into the hands of the most efficient 

 farmers results in the largest total production of economic 

 goods for the country as a whole. 



These points may be illustrated by use of Table XIII. Let 

 the student calculate the profits that each farmer could make 

 on the various grades of land and it will become more clear that 

 competition makes the rents of the various grades of land such 

 that the farmer's profit is the greatest on the land to which his 

 grade of efficiency adapts him. Again, let the student cal- 

 culate the total value of the product of all grades of land when 

 the A-grade farmer is on the first-grade land, the B-grade 

 farmer on the second-grade land, and on down the list. 

 ($2ooo+$i62o+$i28o+$98o+$72o+$5oo = $7ioo) ; then let 

 him try any other combination, and it will be found that no 

 other combination of the grades of farmers and land will result 

 in so large a total product. 



In actual practice it is evident that custom, sentiment, and 

 lack of knowledge retard the operations of the economic forces 

 to the detriment of individual and national well-being. Yet 

 the fact has long been recognized that the farmers who are the 

 most efficient do actually tend to get the best grades of land 

 and equipment. 



This analysis of the forces of distribution forms the basis for 

 drawing some significant conclusions. First: It makes a dif- 

 ference which grade of land the farmer chooses. The farmer who 

 is the most efficient can secure the highest profits from the land 

 that is most useful for his lines of production. This is likewise 

 true of the labor and equipment employed by him. Second: 

 All farmers of superior ability may save from their profits and 



