istic.

There is an underlying economic principle which the man who goes out
to choose a farm should clearly understand. The principle has been
stated by Fairchild as follows: "The normal value of products capable
of indefinite multiplication tends always toward the value of least
costly. On the other hand, if any production cannot be largely
extended, so that the supply barely meets the requirements of the
purchasers, the tendency of normal values is toward the cost of the
most costly part of the product required to meet wants."

This principle explains why land especially adapted to raising maize
is higher priced than land primarily adapted to raising wheat. Maize
which enters into commerce is raised almost exclusively in ten states
of the United States. Wheat is harvested practically every month of
every year in different parts of the world. The young farmer should
consider, therefore, whether he is undertaking to raise crops in which
there is unlimited competition, or whether soil or other conditions
cause the output to be relatively limited.

CHAPTER VI

SIZE OF FARM

The size of the farm is another of those questions on which there is
endless debate and to which no general answer can be given. There are,
however, certain rather definite principles which may help in settling
an individual problem.

The size of the farm is related to the income per acre. If one's ideal
or purpose is a gross income of $1,000 or $3,000 or $5,000 a year, he
must consider how large a farm will be necessary to bring this return.

Assume, for the sake of discussion, it is desired to obtain a gross
income of $4,000. In the eastern United States 200 acres of tillable
land devoted to general farming may bring this amount. If the land is
especially adapted to potatoes, and this crop takes a prominent place
in the rotation, 100 acres might be sufficient to return the income
named. Likewise a 100-acre retail milk dairy farm may produce a
similar result. Forty acres devoted to truck farming or market
gardening may be sufficient.

There is another way that the size of the farm needed may be
estimated. There is a general relation between the gross income and
the amount invested. In 1900 the gross income of the farms of the
United States was 18 per cent of the total investment, which includes
land, buildings, tools, and live stock. The average gross income
varied for the d