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. Carver’s book is prefaced with an eight page bibliography.
The eight question final exam for this semester course from 1908-09 is found below.
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Earlier material
ca. 1904 Problem set
1903-04 Final exam
1905-06 Final exam
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Course Enrollment
1908-09
Economics 23 2hf. Professor Carver. — Economics of Agriculture, with special reference to American conditions.
Total 25: 2 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 2 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1908-1909, p. 68.
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Course Description
1908-09
[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.
Source: Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. V, No. 19
(1 June 1908). History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1908-09, p. 56.
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ECONOMICS 23
Year-end Examination, 1908-09
- Into what periods would you divide the agricultural history of the United States, and what are the leading characteristics of each period?
- What are the chief reasons for the fact that the urban population of the United States is growing more rapidly than the rural population?
- Does the law of diminishing returns as applied to agriculture give rise to national problems different from those to which it gives rise in manufacturing? Explain.
- Discuss the question: Is further immigration desirable in the interests of American agriculture? State clearly the point of view from which you approach the question.
- What agricultural improvements do you associate with the following names: Townsend, Bakewell, Robert Colling, Benjamin Tompkins, Jethro Wood.
- What are the chief difficulties in the way of the organization of farmers and farming interests?
- What, in your opinion, are the most important things now being done for agriculture by the Federal Government of the United States?
- State briefly the chief advantages of large-scale farming; also of small-scale farming.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1909), p. 51.
Image Source: “Picking cranberries.” Card. [ca. 1850–2001]. Digital Commonwealth, https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/fx71c322q (accessed June 02, 2025).