Harvard. Agricultural economics. Description, enrollment, final exam. Carver, 1912-1913

 

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 1911-12.

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ECONOMICS 32
Course Description
1912-13

[Economics] 32 ²hf (formerly 23 ²hf). Economics of Agriculture, with special reference to American conditions. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. 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.

Source: Harvard University. Division of History, Government, and Economics, Courses of Instruction, 1912–13, p. 67.

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ECONOMICS 32
Course Enrollment
1912-13

[Economics] 32 ²hf (formerly 23 ²hf). Professor Carver. — Economics of Agriculture, with special reference to American conditions.

Total 11: 8 Graduates; 2 Seniors; 1 Junior.

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1912-13, p. 58.

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ECONOMICS 32
Year-end Examination
1912-13

1. What are some of the larger characteristics which distinguish rural from urban life?
2. Where would you draw the line between large scale and medium scale, and between medium scale and small scale farming, and what are the principal advantages and disadvantages of each?
3. Exactly what is the distinction between intensive and extensive farming, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
4. To what system of culture does the horse as a draft animal belong, and what are some of the characteristics of that system?
5. Where do we find the larger percentage of tenancy in this country, where land is highly productive or where its productivity is low? How would you explain the situation?
6. Give your ideas as to the function of the middle-man, and to what extent and how that function may be performed by the farmers themselves.
7. What are the advantages of diversified farming as compared with specialized farming?
8. Give your ideas as to how country life may be made more attractive to men and women of education and culture.

Source: Harvard University Examinations. Papers set for final examinations in history, history of science, government, economics, philosophy, social ethics, education, fine arts, music in Harvard College (June 1913), p. 56.

Image Source: The American Farmer by Carl Wuermer (1930) at the Wichita Art Museum website.

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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
1911-12 Description, enrollment, final exam