344 



READINGS IN RURAL ECONOMICS 



viewed in the light of the subsequent discussion on the most 

 economical size for wheat farms. 



We have already noticed that Olmsted County raised more 

 wheat to the square mile of its area in 1870 than was done in 

 our leading wheat-raising counties in 1900. This was at a time 

 when the methods were very different from those of today. The 

 binder could not be used for practical service before the early 

 seventies. The farmers in Olmsted County and of Minnesota 

 in general had to resort to the reaper and hire men to bind the 

 grain by hand according to the' plan of "binding stations." Four 

 men would each have their quarter of the distance around the 

 field in which all the bundles had to be bound for every round 

 made by the reaper. The large amount of labor needed during 

 harvest is, therefore, evident. When the binder first came into 

 use, it was very expensive. Four hundred dollars was the least 

 it could be bought for at that time. Ten years later the price 

 still stood at a high figure. In the latter year (1880) the father 

 of the present writer paid three hundred and fifty dollars for a 

 wooden-framed Piano binder. It will be interesting to compare 

 farming under such conditions with that of later times. 



The census reports afford us figures by counties for the number 

 of farms, acres of improved land, total value of farm implements 

 and machinery, total expenditure to farm labor, and also total 

 value of products. The last-named item is not given as such, 

 but can be made up from figures for live stock and those for the 

 value of products not fed to stock. The following table is made 

 up from the above-mentioned items : 



