The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1885-07-28
LAND, LABOR AND DOLLARS.
The Best Farming That which Is Most
Profitable.

As long as men farm for profit, that
system of farming which will produce
the largest crop of dollars per acre. In
their respective localities, is the best
farming they can do. That the same
manner of farming does not produce
the same crop of dollars in all places,
that, as a rule. there is an important
relation between the value of the land
in any locality and the system of farm
ing that can be most profitably used
there, and that this is governed by
laws over which individuals have but
limited control, seem evident to me
from the following reasons:
1t is a well-known fact that the more
labor. beyond a certain quantity. ex-
pended on a given area Of laid, the
less will be the amount produced on
that land, in proportion to the addl-
tional labor expended; although under
certain conditions this additional labor
is profitable, still the labor decreases
| in productiveness, as the cultivation
! increases beyond a certain point.
Prof Perry illustrates this as follows:
IF double the labor upon my tur-
nip field, may. possibly, for single
wear. double my crop of turnips; but If
I redouble the expense for the next
wear, shall not redOuble my crop: for
| if that were the law of returns in agri-
culture, if increased effort upon a given
area increased the product in the same
ratio, an acre were rs good for produc-
tive purposes as one hundred acres,
and one hundred acres were as good as
| a continent"
This fact is so universally true that
it is stated as a law by writers on pollt-
ical economy in this way: Relatively
diminishing returns accompany lncreas-
ing expenditures upon land" From
this it can be seen that while given
area of land is producing as many
bushels as possible, the labor employed
on this land is not producing as many
bushels as it might, if used on more
land.
The highest productiveness of agri-
cultural land, and the highest product
iveness of agricultural labor are rs dit
ferent as the extremes of heat and cold;
either may be profitably used. but vari-
Gus conditions determine which can be
most profitably employed in any given
locality.
Under certain conditions it paws best
TO make labor as productive as possible.
although by doing so the land is not
made as productive as it might be;
while under other conditions it pays best
to make land as productive as possible.
although by doing so the labor Is not
made as productive as it might be.
The same reason that makes land
cheap in any locality makes labor
scarce and high, and the price of the
products low-that is, limited popula-
ton. If land is cheap, the interest
charge on its value is small. although
the rate of interest may be somewhat
higher In new country.
Suppose we are farming in the West.
where land is worth fifteen dollars an
acre: the interest charge on the value
of the land, and the price of our pro-
ducts, will be low, but labor will be
scarce and high. 1t would pay Us best
TO make the expensive labor as prOduc-
tive as possible by taking advantage of
the low interest charge; consequently
we should use the labor in cultivating
comparatively large amount of land,
rather than in increasing the cultiva-
ton on a smaller area. These condi-
tons account TO great extent for the
large farms and inferior farming seen
in the West.
Suppose we are farming in the East,
where land is worth one hundred and
fifty dollars per acre; the interest
charge, and the price of our products.
will be high, but labor will be compar-
atively plentiful and cheap. 1t would
paw us best to increase the productive
ness of the expensive land by taking
advantage of the cheap labor; conse-
uuentlv we should use the labor in in
creasing the cultivation of a more linn
tied area, and thus save as much OF
the high interest charge as possible.
These conditions account to great
extent for the smaller farms and SUI
! perior cultivation seen in the East. We
see the size of the farms gradually de-
crease and the cultivation increase as
we travel from the West TO the East. IL
we 90 as far as parts of England and
France, we see the large farm of the
West grow smaller all the way until il
is but highly cultivated garden of a
few acres; but all the time the value OF
the land has been increasing; the small
French garden is worth as much as the
large American farm, and the differ
ence in the manner of cultivation is as
marked as the difference in the value
per acre.
The practical application of these
facts for farmers and persons interest
ed in farming land. is for them to con-
slider the value of land in their neigh
borhood before they decide how they
Will cultivate it. and not think any par
ticular system will pay them. because
it pays some one else in another place;
it will not. unless the conditions (such
as the fertility and adaptability of the
soil, shipping facilities, distance from