ORGANIZATION OF AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISE 27 



35. Analyze the theory of co-operative organization carefully, in 

 such a way as to show specifically how it is capable of securing more 

 efficient use of (a) natural resources, (b) labor powers, (c) capital. 

 How about skill of business enterprise under co-operation ? How is 

 control exercised ? Is it sufficiently centralized ? 



PROBLEMS 



1. "On the average American farm there are areas of waste land. 

 Some of these can never be profitably reclaimed, but others found on 

 about all farms may be termed wasted areas. They are so misused 

 that they produce nothing." Does such a situation present a problem 

 to the farm organizer, e.g., to find an enterprise suited to those 

 neglected and perhaps ill-favored areas, to marshal the labor and 

 capital necessary to reclaim them, etc. ? Explain fully in terms of the 

 business organizer's function. Might the same general proposition be 

 applied to wasted labor and wasted capital-goods ? 



2. "It was found that specialized farms, those of tobacco, stock, 

 or dairy type moderately diversified, are the most efficient in this 

 region and that the general mixed farms, more highly diversified, are 

 the least efficient." Does such a situation seem to you peculiar to 

 the region referred to (the bluegrass section of Kentucky) or is this 

 form of organization likely to bring maximum profits under all cir- 

 cumstances ? (See questions 6-8.) 



3. " Certain enterprises may be distinctly profitable when occupy- 

 ing a minor position in the farm business and distinctly unprofitable 

 if made major enterprises." Examine the farming of some particular 

 locality to ascertain whether this proposition is true and whether exist- 

 ing practices are well- or ill-advised if measured by this test. 



4. "The head of a large factory can devise means for supervising 

 his men and for securing the execution of his orders. But the owner 

 of a farm can use hired labor to advantage only when his own example 

 and his own oversight supply the needed stimulus. The tasks of 

 twenty men engaged in farming would be spread over several hundred 

 acres and must present troublesome questions in assigning and super- 

 vising the work." Does this mean that farms must be limited to a 

 few hundred acres employing not more than five persons the year 

 around ? 



Farmer X has his office at the top of his house, which is located 

 on a hill overlooking his farm. He has equipped it with a telescope 

 with which he watches his field hands, and he also has a Ford with 

 which to get quickly to any part of the farm. Do these devices 

 enable him to supervise his men adequately ? For how large a labor 

 force and for how large an area do you think such methods would be 



