In 1911 Harvard economics professor Thomas Nixon Carver published a textbook Principles of Rural Economics that undoubtedly encompassed the content of his course on agricutural economics first taught in 1903-04. Somewhat unusually his book is prefaced with an eight page bibliography.
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Carver’s Earlier Courses
on Agricultural Economics
Links to earlier course material for agricultural economics at Harvard, 1903-04 through 1908-09.
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Course Description
1911-12
[Economics] 23 2hf. Economics of Agriculture, with special reference to American conditions. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., at 2.30. Professor Carver.
A study of the relation of agriculture to the whole industrial system, the relative importance of rural and urban economics, the conditions of rural life in different parts of the United States, the forms of land tenure and methods of rent payment, the comparative merits of large and small holdings, the status and wages of farm labor, the influence of farm machinery, farmers’ organizations, the marketing and distribution of farm products, agricultural credit, the policy of the government toward agriculture, and the probable future of American agriculture.
This course is open to students who have passed in Economics 1, and, with the consent of the instructor, to Juniors and Seniors of good standing who are taking Economics 1 at the same time.
Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 65.
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Course Enrollment
1911-12
Economics 23 2hf. Professor Carver. — Economics of Agriculture. With special reference to American conditions.
Total 95: 4 Graduates, 36 Seniors, 44 Juniors, 9 Sophomores, 2 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 64.
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ECONOMICS 23
Year-end Final Exam
1911-12
- Why is agriculture growing less rapidly than other industries in the United States?
- What new agricultural products did the American continent contribute to the commerce of the world?
- For what is American agriculture indebted to the following countries: England, Holland, France?
- What determines the migrations of rural and of urban people?
- Why does an excessive economy of land sometimes result in a waste of labor?
- How, in general, do the problems of the producer of staple crops differ from those of the producer of agricultural specialities?
- What are the functions of the middleman, and what are the advantages of co-operation?
- What are some of the social results of absentee landlordism?
- Outline the chief stages in the development of the public land policy of the United States.
- What is meant by non-competing crops?
- Is tenancy increasing or decreasing in the United States? Why?
- Does the landowner as such perform any useful functions? Give your reasons.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], p. 65
Earlier material
ca. 1904 Problem set
1903-04 Final exam
1905-06 Final exam
1908-09 Description, enrollment, final exam
1910-11 Description, enrollment, final exam
Image Source: Ruddy Harvest Oil, the farmer’s friend (ca. 1870-1900). 19th Century American Trade Cards collection of the Boston Public Library.