68 



THE BUSINESS OF FARMING 



about one half that of the countries named. Consequently 

 it is often thought that the American farmer is only one 

 half as efficient as his brother in Europe, and that, if he 

 would double his output to the acre, prices would fall 

 considerably. 



This is true in a small degree. But conditions here 

 and abroad differ widely. Around Paris, for example, 

 where one finds intensive types of European agriculture, 



INTENSIVE FARMING. 

 Raising ginseng. 



the land is owned mostly by city people, who parcel it 

 out to tenants of the peasant class. Out of a few acres 

 the peasants must support themselves and their families 

 and pay their rent. " Intensive farming," on the order of 

 our gardening, is the only farming possible on these high- 

 priced lands. But it is just as fair to compare the yields 

 per worker as the yields per acre ; and the farmers of our 

 country, with their large acreage and modern machinery, 

 far exceed, per wan, the output abroad. 1 



1 In Germany 7(5.4 per cent of all farm holdings are under 124 acres in size. 

 In Eastern Flanders, Belgium, mor> than 40 per cent of the farms are less 

 than 12} acres in size. The size of the average American farm is 138 acres. 



