14 FOREWORD 



remains in its old place of honor, perhaps with the 

 crocheted mat still doing duty ; but it is not now almost 

 the only book in the house. There is likely to be a 

 sectional bookcase, filled with solid volumes on all 

 manner of practical and economic subjects these as 

 well as the best literature, the latest magazines and two 

 or three current newspapers. 



Yes, a whole flock of tin roosters have rusted away on 

 top of the barn since the Farmer first began to consider 

 himself the Rag Doll of Commerce and to seek adjust- 

 ments. It is the privilege of rag dolls to survive a lot 

 of abuse; long after wax has melted and sawdust run 

 the faithful things are still on hand. And along about 

 crop time the Farmer finds himself attracting a little 

 attention. 



That is because this business of backbone farming 

 is the backbone of Business In General. As long as 

 money is circulating freely Business In General, being 

 merely an exchange in values, wears a clean shirt and 

 the latest cravat. But let some foreign substance clog 

 the trade channels and at once everything tightens up 

 and squeezes everybody. 



Day by day the great mass of the toilers in the cities 

 go to work without attempting to understand the fluc- 

 tuations of supply and demand. They are but cogs on 

 the rim, dependent for their little revolutions upon the 

 power which drives the machinery. That power being 

 Money Value, any wastage must be replaced by the 

 creation of new wealth. So men turn to the soil for 

 salvation to the greatest manufacturing concern in 

 the world, Nature Unlimited. This is the plant of 

 which the Farmer is General Manager. 



On state occasions, therefore, it has been the custom 

 in the past to call him " the backbone of his country " 





