Farm Organization and Equipment

FARM ORGANIZATION AND EQUIPMENT. The study of the organization of the farm is a comparatively recent development of modern agricultural research. In its earlier stages the investigation of the farmer's problems was confined to mat ters arising out of the application of the physical sciences to the production of crops and the feeding and breeding of live stock. More recently it has come to be recognized that important as this aspect of agricultural development undoubtedly is, farming is also a business, the successful conduct of which can be determined only by a study of its economic structure. The production of crops and stock is in many respects an art, but it is an art by which the farmer has to live, and maximum productivity secured by the uncontrolled application of scientific knowledge concern ing the properties of feeding stuffs and manures is not always synonymous with maximum profit.

Law of Diminishing Returns.

So long ago as 1879 Sir John Lawes (q.v.) drew the attention of farmers to this question. He showed that there was no necessary connection between maxi mum production and economic production. The point at which increased production becomes unprofitable depends upon the price of the commodity, other things being equal ; in a rising market this point will rise and the farmer will be justified in farming for a higher output.

An illustration of the importance of the study of organization is to be found in the comparisons which are often instituted be tween the intensity of farming in England and in certain Conti nental countries, notably Denmark. Only by the study of farm organization, both at home and abroad, can a proper interpreta tion be placed upon crude statistics of agricultural production, which are apt to prove dangerous weapons without it. The case of Denmark is cited as an example of what can be done to de velop production from the land without the artificial stimulus applied in certain other European countries. It is pointed out that, notwithstanding a fiscal policy which admits of free imports of agricultural produce, Danish agriculture has flourished during a period in which the industry in England has been stationary; the extent of arable land, and, with this, the agricultural popula tion, has been maintained whilst the land of England has been going back to grass to the accompaniment of an exodus of the rural population; that the yield of the soil of Denmark has stead ily increased until it has reached a point considerably in excess of that of this country (see DENMARK : Agriculture).

In their crude form these statements appear to be justified, but a study of the organization of farming in the two countries gives a satisfactory explanation which involves no reflection on the business acumen and technical capacity of the English farmer. The economic circumstances which give rise to the differences in agricultural progress in England and on the Continent may be classed under two heads : (a) the proportion of small farmers, and (b) the competition of urban industries. (See LAND TENURE;