INTENSIVE AND EXTENSIVE FARMING 813 



which gave a return of $101.75 per acre. Studies of this character enable 

 the farmer to know what crops may be developed most extensively to 

 his advantage. 



The law of supply and demand will, of course, prevent any very 

 extensive changes in the class of products grown by farmers. There will 

 be a limit to the amount of hay for which there is a market, and if the 

 supply becomes too great, market prices will fall and naturally hold in 

 check the amount produced. This will be true of any product. 



Intensive and Extensive Enterprises. — It frequently happens that 

 the crop that pays the largest profit per hour of labor also gives the largest 

 profit per acre. Such crops are doubly desirable. So long as such crops 

 prove to be staple products, the acreage may be considerably increased by 

 many farmers. It is well, however, to avoid a large dependence upon 

 speculative enterprises that are subject to violent fluctuations in price. 

 The majority of farmers should continue to produce the staple crops. 

 There is a more uniform market for hay than for strawberries, cotton is 

 needed as well as apples, and the more extensive crops generally pay as 

 good wages as the intensive ones. In fact, there is no crop or group of crops 

 that offers for a long-continued period of time over a wide territory any 

 striking advantages over other crops. Such a condition may prevail for 

 a short time, but the advantages offered in this way induce many to engage 

 in that particular enterprise and this naturally causes a decline in profits. 

 Where one crop pays much better than others, it is generally a question 

 of adaptation. It may be soil, climate, markets or a combination of these. 

 Intensive enterprises do not appear to require much less capital than 

 extensive ones. They may require much less land, but this is generally 

 offset in larger expenditures for fertilizers, labor, seed and equipment. 

 The advantage of one over the other will often depend largely on the 

 trend of land values. Where land values are increasing, the extensive 

 enterprises that demand more land combine profits from products and 

 profits due to increase in land values. 



Relation of Intensity to Land Values. — High land values necessitate 

 large gross returns and fair profits in order to pay normal rates of interest 

 on rent of land. This means intensive farming and usually the produc- 

 tion of crops of high value, such as vegetables, tobacco or fruits. In general, 

 the higher the value of land the greater the degree of intensity in farming. 



Relation of Intensity to Labor. — A low price for labor encourages 



