214 SELF-HELP NOT PKOTECTION 



a profit ; the unoccupied area is less in 1887 by 18,533 

 acres than it was in 1881 ; agricultural-implement makers 

 report an increased demand for their goods. The invention 

 of new dairy implements and processes, the study of foreign 

 systems, the importation of American experts, the esta- 

 blishment of milk factories and creameries, the formation of 

 associations and unions among milk-producers, testify to 

 the growing importance of dairy-farming. 



The country, then, appears prepared to enter upon a 

 great agricultural change. But without cordial co-opera- 

 tion between owners and occupiers no new departure can 

 succeed. Both profit by getting the utmost from the land ; 

 and the real question for both parties to consider is, How 

 can even-handed justice best be meted out to their respec- 

 tive interests ? Landlords dislike to surrender control over 

 their estates, and farmers dislike to risk capital on insecure 

 tenures. Something may be said for both positions. But 

 unless landlords find the whole capital, farmers have justice 

 on their side. 



Parties to contracts must, as a general rule, protect 

 their own interests ; but though farmers are now able to 

 drive a bargain, their position is in some respects peculiar. 

 The profession of a farmer is seldom lucrative, and he em- 

 barks in it everything that he has. He follows the most 

 hereditary of callings ; he cannot transfer himself and his 

 money to other trades ; he is as helpless as generations of 

 farming can make him. It is the consciousness of this 

 fact that drives him into ruinous competition for land. 

 He may lose money on his farm, but he cannot readily 

 throw up his holding, especiallj' if he has a family. It is 

 often better for him to suffer an annual loss than to risk 

 the auction sale which closes his occupation. He has little 

 incentive to improvement ; he cannot patent his agricultural 



