THE CONQUEST OF ARID AMERICA 



When the loan is twice the amount the farm will be 

 double the size. In the former case the annual in- 

 terest charge is sixty dollars, and the contribution to 

 sinking fund one hundred dollars, or a total of one hun- 

 dred and sixty dollars per year. To meet these charges, 

 as has already been pointed out, profits and savings 

 from wages must be equal to eight dollars per acre. It 

 is the problem of the management to make the labor 

 produce the amount of its moderate wage and something 

 in excess. Careful estimates lead to the conclusion that 

 five dollars per month, or sixty dollars per year, is all 

 that need be deducted from the wages of the settler who 

 borrows one thousand dollars on twenty acres, and that 

 ten dollars per month would be deducted from the wages 

 of the settler who borrowed two thousand dollars on 

 forty acres. It seems to be perfectly safe to count upon 

 a net annual profit of five dollars per acre to make up 

 the balance of one hundred dollars on the twenty-acre 

 farm, and of two hundred dollars on the forty-acre farm. 

 Considering the immense advantages arising from the 

 purchase of supplies at wholesale, the sale of products in 

 large quantities, and from working under able and expert 

 management, this would appear to be a reasonable and 

 conservative calculation. 



This chapter is intended to treat only of the utilization 

 of surplus capital in making homes for surplus people 

 upon surplus lands. It touches upon the employment 

 and organization of labor only so far as necessary to 

 show how the capital may be used, conserved, compen- 

 sated, and finally repaid. 



The use of co-operative capital in making homes for 

 those who live and work in cities and towns is well 



872 



