I. THE EMERGENCE OF THE PROBLEM OF AGRICUL- 

 TURAL ECONOMICS 



QUESTIONS 



i. Was the purpose of primitive man in domesticating plants or 

 animals the securing of an economic gain ? 



2. Did he make his choice of species or individuals in accordance 

 with considerations of maximum return from the minimum outlay? 

 Was the savage greatly concerned about saving time ? Why ? Ma- 

 terials ? Why ? 



3. Does it appear that in his choices the primitive man made 

 serious blunders ? Are we still undertaking the domestication of wild 

 plants and animals ? Why ? 



4. Were there economic reasons for the appearance of pastoral 

 peoples? Did the pursuit of stock-raising necessitate that the per- 

 sons so engaged be nomads ? 



5. Did pastoral life permit a raising of the standard of living above 

 that of hunting peoples? Did it lead men naturally into a more 

 advanced type of economic effort ? Explain. 



6. Did commerce grow up among pastoral peoples? If so, was 

 it concerned with trade in agricultural or non-agricultural products ? 



7. Did the growth of commerce tend to change the character or 

 direction of agricultural efforts ? 



8. Can you assign any reason why the patriarchal system should 

 be found in conjunction with pastoral farming ? 



9. Did the pastoral farmer get a cash return from his industry ? 

 In what form did his return come ? 



10. Did he have " expenses of production " in the modern sense? 

 What determined his acreage, labor force, and amount of accumulated 

 property ? 



11. Did the classic nations conduct agriculture alone or as one of 

 a group of related industries ? What others had they developed ? 



12. Did the Roman farmer grasp the economic facts of his busi- 

 ness? Illustrate, pointing out both where he did and where he 

 did not. 



13. Was the organization of agriculture in feudal times more or 

 less along business lines than was that of Rome ? than that of early 

 pastoral peoples? What do you mean by the expression "organized 

 along business lines" ? 



14. Who owned the land which was used for agricultural purposes 

 under the feudal regime ? Was control of land based upon absolute 

 private ownership ? 



