112 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 



tables requires a rare combination of abilities. Be- 

 sides exceptional skill as an agriculturist in the 

 production of the crops and the usual commercial 

 ability required in the transaction of any large busi- 

 ness, one requires to have a wide knowledge of 

 market conditions and requirements in different 

 parts of the country, and to be a close student of 

 transportation problems. He must also have the 

 ability to impress his views on the transportation 

 companies. None of the modern improvements in 

 transporting perishable goods have come on the ini- 

 tiative of the transportation companies. Fast fruit 

 trains, ventilated cars, and finally the vast system 

 of refrigerator transportation, all have come on the 

 insistent demand of clear-sighted farmers who real- 

 ized how much the growth and extension of their 

 business depended on obtaining improved transporta- 

 tion facilities. 



The shipping of agricultural products to foreign 

 countries is mostly in the hands of the large com- 

 mercial interests, and is but little done by the farm- 

 ers themselves. It therefore need not be discussed 

 here. No matter what market crops are intended 

 for, the fact should never be lost sight of that suc- 

 cess will depend quite as much on the care and skill 

 with which the marketing is done as on the ability 

 to produce large crops. 



Farm Policy and Management 



In this age of specialization it has come to pass 

 that there are many kinds of farms and many 

 methods of farming. One of the first and most im- 



