92 OUTLINES OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



congratulation of ourselves as a nation ? Why ? A cause of anxiety ? 

 Why? 



17. Does it appear that profits appear more often or in larger 

 volume in industrial or mercantile enterprises than in agriculture? 

 Is this because of the nature of the business or because of the kind of 

 persons who are engaged in it? Does the character of the people 

 reflect the character of the business ? 



18. Do you see any reason to suppose that changes are coming in 

 the organization of the farm business which are likely to alter its 

 profit-rendering possibilities ? 



19. Are the possibilities of securing profits from a business limited 

 in accordance with the opportunities of introducing new efficiencies 

 of organization ? 



20. Are these in turn limited by the existence of a machine tech- 

 nique ? Is machine equipment taking a more important place in ag- 

 ricultural industry today ? 



PROBLEMS 



i. "On the average, the farmers who hired the most help made 

 the largest labor incomes. Those who directed less than $150 worth 

 made no more than hired men's wages. The average labor income of 

 those who directed over $800 worth of labor was $1,1 94." What does 

 "labor income" mean in the vocabulary of the farm-management 

 survey ? Do you find an element of profits added to the wages of the 

 farmer in the cases cited here ? 



2. "The gleaning of profits consists simply in utilizing natural 

 resources, the labor of other men, or units of capital with a higher net 

 productivity than others can. Such superior directive ability is 

 possessed in differing degrees by different men, and, also, the ability 

 to get hold of these other productive agents depends upon various 

 factors many of which are institutional in their nature, such as heredi- 

 tary distribution of wealth." Does the farmer's profit depend upon 

 his ability to utilize much capital, many men, and extensive acreage 

 (or highly productive land) up to the maximum productivity or at 

 least a better than average performance ? Does it depend upon his 

 financial ability to get control of these things ? If he has the ability, 

 can he get the use of other persons' property ? 



3. "In this war crisis the farmers have shown themselves just as 

 unscrupulous in taking advantage of the extremity of others as a 

 means of securing fat profits for themselves as any coal baron or 

 trust magnate ever was." Are some profits legitimate and others 

 not ? If so, where is the line to be drawn ? 



