CHAPTER 65 



Intensive and Extensive Farming 



Intensive farming is frequently applied to the production of truck and 

 fruit crops on small farms. This, however, is not a true definition of 

 intensive farming, since any crop may be produced by intensive methods, 

 and on either a small or large scale. It is true that hay and cereals are 

 generally produced on a rather large scale and with extensive methods. 

 This type of farming is looked upon as extensive farming. 



Intensive farming may mean any or all of the following methods: 

 (1) the application of more labor to a unit of area in preparation of the soil 

 and the cultivation and handling of the crop; (2) the use of more capital in 

 the form of machinery and fertilizers on a given area of land, thus enabling 

 the same labor to produce larger yields; (3) the application of better 

 methods for the improvement and maintenance of soil fertility. 



Extensive farming calls for the smaller amount of labor and capital 

 per unit of area, although considerable capital is frequently invested in 

 machinery for extensive farming. 



Intensity Depends on Available Land. — Farming, to a greater extent 

 than any other occupation, necessitates ample surface area. There must 

 be room for the development of plants. They require sunshine and rain. 

 The roots must have room to develop and sufficient soil in which to forage 

 for plant food. 



A manufacturing or mercantile establishment needs very little area. 

 If land values become high, the business may be enlarged by increasing the 

 height of the building. This is exemplified in the big factories near cities, 

 and in the big mercantile and office buildings, frequently as much as twenty 

 stories in height. 



By intensive methods it is possible to make one acre produce 100 

 bushels of wheat, but under existing conditions it is much more profitable 

 to use two acres or possibly four acres in the production of 100 bushels of 

 wheat. In every locality there will be for every crop and for every agri- 

 cultural product an optimum of intensity that will bring best returns. 

 This will be determined by many factors. 



So long as there is waste land that may be brought under cultivation 

 by reclamation or irrigation, there will be little occasion to severely magnify 

 intensity in the process of production. When lands are no longer available, 

 then intensity must gradually and continually increase in order to meet 

 the demands of a growing population for food. 



Economizing Land. — In the development of any country the more 

 easily tilled and most productive lands are the first to come under cultiva- 



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