CHAPTER 3 

 DIVERSIFIED AND SPECIALIZED FARMING 



MUCH of the discussion of this subject is confused be- 

 cause of lack of clearness in definition. It is usually as- 

 sumed that diversified farming means a little of everything 

 and not much of anything. It follows at once that such 

 farming cannot pay very well, because there is not enough 

 of it. It is likewise frequently assumed that specialized 

 farming means a very large amount of one or two things. 

 As a matter of fact, the size of the business may be large 

 or small in either case. In making comparisons, we should 

 compare the large diversified enterprises with large special- 

 ized enterprises and small businesses with small businesses. 



Another point that confuses the subject is that such a 

 word as dairying may mean many things. It may mean 

 producing no important product except milk or butter 

 for sale at wholesale prices. Or it may mean combining 

 one of these with pure-bred cattle, in which case there 

 are two important products for sale. Or retailing milk 

 may be combined with pure-bred cattle. In this case, 

 the farmer really has three enterprises ; producing milk, 

 producing pure-bred cattle, and retailing milk. Such a 

 business should probably be called specialized, but it has 

 the characteristics of a diversified business, while the pro- 

 duction of wholesale milk from grade cows has the char- 

 acteristics of a highly specialized business. 



The subject is further confused by the use of such words 

 as fruit, grain, truck, and live-stock as if they represented 



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