Not only is the problem of quick decisions and frequent changes of plans important, but it is often necessary to do two days' work in one. If land is fitted for seeding and a rain comes it must be fitted again. If by working as long as one can see the field can be planted, it will save perhaps twice the time later and will avoid the danger of not getting the crop in on time. The rushes of work can be taken care of by a family in a way that is impossible on a very large farm. The farmer, being interested, does not complain about working a long day. He can do less work or easier work on a less important day and so rest up. His wife and children also help, particularly on the days of great pressure, so that there is a reserve supply of energy to meet the critical periods. When there are only one or two hired men working with the farmer he can often arouse in his men the same spirit for extra work at the essential time.
Size of The constant vigilance that is required makes it impossible to supervise agricultural operations by the factory method. The one who makes the decision must be gon the all the time.
On the other hand, one man is at a very great disadvantage on a farm. Many operations
require two men. On a one-man farm, if the farmer goes to town, or does chores or other hand labor, the horses are all idle. Some farm operations require four horses, others call for only two horses. Or if he keeps only two men he cannot take advantage of the work that can be done with four. With two men it is pos sible to so arrange the work as to make much more efficient use of horses. The most efficient farms usually provide work for two or three persons,— a farm that can be run by a farmer and his sons, or by a farmer and one or two hired men. Farms of this size produce food at the lowest cost. The strictly one-man farm or the very large farm find difficulty in competing with the two-man farms. Another reason for the failure of large scale farming is that the distances from the barn to the fields are too great with large farms. Those who attempt to operate large tracts of land are nearly always forced to some sort of a tenant system. By giving the operator a share of the product he becomes personally interested in the success of his operations and his family labor that might not be hired is all available for helping in the work.