Thedecreaseinlandsizepertenantfarmerisnottheonlymeasurebywhichtodetectmoreintensivelaborinput.Giventhenumberoftenantfarmersworkingonafixedareaofland,laborinputmaybeincreasedbyworkingmoredaysinayearandlongerhoursperday.Beforethesharerestrictionitwasreportedthatthe"inefromfarmingwasofteninsufficienttocoverlivingexpensesandthetenantfarmersdependedonadditionalinefromoff-farmemployment."[8]Off-farmemploymentwasalsofrequentaftertheLand-to-the-Tillerprogramin1953,butbythenthetonehadchangedto"numerouschangeshaveoccurredinfarmers'socialstatus,toshiftlaborofffarmorusemorelaborinsidelineworks."[9]Duringtheperiod1949-51,however,itwasreportedthat"therentreduction…greatlyencouragedthetenants,totheextentthatnotasingleonedidnotworkhisbesttoincreaseproduction."[10]Andinavillagewith140tenanthouseholds,"sevenofthembuiltnewhouses,twentyofthemtooktimetorepairthefields.…"[11]
[1].Fortheerraticcropyieldsfrom1942to1946,seeSino-AmericanJointCommissiononRuralReconstruction,TaiwanAgriculturalStatistics,1901-1955(Taipei:1961),notablythericeyieldsonpp.20-21.Itwasnotuntil1948thattheprewarlevelofproductionwasgenerallyrestored.Asisindicatedinthelastchapter,fortheyear1952wearenotcertainoftheactualmethodofcropsharing.Since1953,notonlyhasthemassiveLand-to-the-Tillerprogrambeenenforced,butfertilizersandirrigationhavebeenheavilysubsidizedbythegovernment.SeeTsung-hanShen,AgriculturalDevelopmentonTaiwansinceWorldWarII(NewYork:ComstockPublishingAssociates,1964);OfficeofEconomicPolicy,"TheTaiwanFertilizerIndustry,"mimeographed(U.S.AIDMissiontoChina,1962);andE.L.RadaandT.H.Lee,IrrigationInvestmentinTaiwan(Taipei:JCRR,1963).
[2].SeeShen,AgriculturalDevelopmentonTaiwan,chap.19.
[3].Seechapter8,table3,column6.
[4].Seechapter8,table4,column1.Seealsosourcesfortable2.
[5].Seechapter5,sectionC.
[6].SeeJCRR,"JCRRAnnualReportsonLandReformintheRepublicofChina,"mimeographed(1965),p.47.During1948-50,about6percentofthetotalcultivatedlandwasleasedtotenantsunderstateownership,andtherentalchargewasreportedtobeone-fourthoftheannualyield.Butthedeterminationoflandsizeandthenumberoftenantsinvolvedarenotonrecord.Partofthispubliclandwassoldtotenantsin1951,contributingpartiallytothenotablejumpinownerfarmers(table2,column2)andthefurtherdecreaseintenantlandholdingfrom1950to1951(column8).Ofthelandsunderprivateownership,sporadicevidenceinvariouslocationsindicatesthattenantfarmshadbeenslightlymorelabor-intensivethanownerfarmsowingtothehighernumberofpaddyfieldsundertenancy.SeeDepartmentofAgricultureandForestry,TaiwanAgriculturalYearbook,1951Edition(Taiwan:ProvincialGovernment,1951),sees.1and2.
[7].Informationavailableincludesonlythenumberoftenanthouseholdsaffected,notthenumberoftenantfarmersinthesehouseholds.
[8].T.H.Lee,"ImpactofLandReformonAgriculturalDevelopmentandRuralEmploymentinTaiwan,"(JCRRmimeograph63-RED-M-176),p.2.
[9].Ibid.,p.6.After1953,variousreportsindicatethatafarmerrarelyusedmorethantwohundreddaysinayearforfarmwork,dependingonthesizeofthefarmassignedbythegovernment.SeeArthurW.Peterson,"AnEconomicStudyofLandUseinTaichungHsienandCity,1960,"mimeographed(Tai-chung:ResearchInstituteofAgriculturalEconomics,ChungHsingUniversity,1961);CommitteeonCensusofAgriculture,GeneralReportonthe1961CensusofAgriculture(Taipei:1963);andNien-tsingLu,AnAnalysisofFarmFamilyEconomyofOwner-OperatorsundertheLand-to-the-TillerPrograminTaiwan(Taipei:TheResearchDepartmentoftheLandBankofTaiwan,1965).
[10].ChengChen,RecordsofTaiwanLandReform(Taipei:ChungHwaBookCompany,1961),pp.37-38.
[11].Ibid.,pp.39-40.Forothersimilarexamplesseesourcescitedinchapter1,sectionB.
B.QualitativeandQuantitativeChangesinFertilizersandOtherInputs
Observationsregardingfertilizerinputsunderthesharerestrictionnotedtheconversionfromfarm-producedfertilizerstomercialfertilizers.Thelatter,admittedly,costmorebutaremoreeffective.[1]Underafreemarket,thequantityandqualityofferti-lizersapplied—whethermittedbythelandownerorbythetenant—mustbeconsistentwiththemaximizationofrentalannuity.Underthesharerestriction,however,itistothelandowner'sinterest,andpetitionwillrequire,thatthetenantusehigher-costfertilizersifahigherannualyieldistherebyobtained.
Measuredintotalquantitiesconsumed,with1948asthebaseyear,mercialfertilizersincreasedby18.6percentin1949and120.5percentin1950,withthequantityconsumedin1951approximatingthatof1950.[2]Ontheotherhand,farm-producedfertilizersdecreasedby8.4percentin1949and13.5percentin1950,withthequantityconsumedin1951approximatingthatin1950.[3]Amongmercialfertilizers,mineralfertilizersincreasedbymorethantwoandone-halftimesforthesameperiod;vegetablefertilizersincreasedbyaboutone-thirdin1950anddecreasedthereafter;andanimalfertilizers,whichhadbeenusedonlyinsmallquantities,declined.[4]Forthesamequantity,mineral(chemical)fertilizersaregenerallythemostcostlyofall,andareregardedasthemosteffective.[5]
Intheperiod1948-50,themostsignificantdecreaseinfarm-producedfertilizersoccurredinburnedsoil,whichdroppedby50.1percent.Thiswasparalleledbyacorrespondinglylargeincreaseinmercialmineralfertilizers.Anothernotabledecreaseoccurredingreenmanure,whichdeclinedby45.1percent,andwasreplacedbymercialvegetablefertilizers.
Besidesburneisoilandgreenmanure,otherfarm-producedfertilizerssuchasanimalmanure,ricehull,ash,straw,andhumanmanuredecreasedslightly.[6]