A SICK INDUSTRY 7 



matter is that agriculture is, and has long 

 been, a sick industry, and the problem is how- 

 to cure it, as an industry, not by treating 

 parts of it, and still less by setting one part 

 against another, but by infusing life into it as 

 a whole. Successful treatment must depend 

 on a right understanding of the nature and 

 extent of the malady. The doctors are 

 gathering round the bed ; if they would put 

 their heads together they might do something 

 for the patient. But they seem more likely 

 to offer different remedies, and to spend their 

 time each in proving the advantages of his 

 own and the worthlessness of the others. 

 Some appear to be thinking of something else 

 altogether. The object of this inquiry is to 

 help the public to judge for themselves by 

 presenting the principal facts relating to the 

 state of agriculture and indicating their 

 bearing on proposed remedies. The subject 

 is many-sided and of extreme intricacy owing 

 to the infinite variability of conditions, the 

 innumerable factors involved, and their 

 deep-rooted connection with past history and 

 traditional custom. Comprehensive treat- 

 ment is out of the question in a limited space, 

 and some subjects are omitted which would 

 be in place in a scheme of reform, but are not 

 essential to an examination of the existing 

 state of things. 



