Note 150-5 — Chapter II

von Thünen, der isolirte Staat, II, I, 179, estimates that a bed of manure 1/3 of an inch thick on an acre of ground, increases the production by ½; that a second ½ inch of manure increases the yield only by a + of 5/8 corn; the third of ¼ corn, etc. Geyer is of opinion that, in Saxony, land of the average quality will yield a gross product of 60 thalers per acre, and 14 thalers net product per acre, in case it is managed with the greatest intelligence and the employment of a large amount of capital; when managed in a very ordinary way, it would yield 20 thalers gross, and 7½ thalers net product. Thünen gives the following formula determining when it is more advantageous to cultivate the old land with more intensiveness (higher farming) than to begin the cultivation of new: As long as p - aq is less than √ap, so long is an increase of the outlay of capital on the same land more profitable than the cultivation of new land, and vice versa. Here p = aggregate product obtained by a workman in a year from the amount of capital used by him; a = sum of his necessary yearly wants; a = the interest per annum of a capital = p; q = the amount of capital given to assist the individual workman.