III. LAND AND OTHER NATURAL AGENTS OF AGRI- 

 CULTURAL PRODUCTION 



QUESTIONS 



i. Might we state the process of agricultural production in the 

 form of an equation, as follows: 



L+W+C=P, 



in which L stands for land and other agents of nature, W for work or 

 labor, C for the capital-goods employed, and P for the product 

 secured ? 



2. To give such an equation any degree of mathematical accuracy, 

 each term should have an exponent, should it not, in order to show 

 how much of each factor is taken, as 6 units of work equipped with 

 3 units of capital goods and employed with io units of land produce 

 15 units of product? 



ioL+6W+3C=i5P. 



3. But, if the exponent gives expression to the quantitative value 

 of the given factor, do we not still require a coefficient to give expres- 

 sion to its qualitative value? Is the factor L " raised to a higher 

 power" by certain favoring conditions of climate, fertility, and 

 topography which should be expressed as coefficients of the factor 

 when we are making up our equation of production ? (For a fourth 

 factor of production, see chapter vi.) 



4. Show how extreme heat and extreme cold place limitations 

 upon the productive power of land and how men have so adapted 

 their agricultural operations to these conditions as to push their 

 economic efforts up as close as possible to the line of absolute physical 

 unproductiveness. 



5. Is a region which is too cold or too hot for raising a particular 

 product yet capable of yielding a product of some other kind ? Is 

 this substitute product likely to have as great economic value as those 

 of less extreme climates ? greater value ? Illustrate. 



6. May a region which does not yield certain products with 

 conventional methods of growing be made productive by a modifica- 

 tion of that method? Illustrate. 



7. Can man alter the climate of a region to permit the growing 

 of a crop not naturally suited to the temperature conditions ? Are 

 all the lands now producing citrus fruits, peaches, and other delicate 

 products naturally safe for such vegetation ? 



