MANAGEMENT 245 



of the manager consists merely in keeping it in effective opera- 

 tion. One intelligent manager is therefore capable of directing 

 a considerable aggregation of men and machines. But what 

 could any human intellect do with an aggregation of several 

 thousand or even several hundred men who had to be reorgan- 

 ized several times during the farming season, as the nature of 

 the work changed with the advancement of the season ? It is a 

 very different matter to direct a large body of men who are to 

 do the same kind of work the year round, from what it would 

 be to direct a body of men whose work must change frequently, 

 as it must of necessity change on a farm from month to month, 

 from day to day, and even from hour to hour. Such a change 

 necessitates not only supervision but an entire organization of 

 the working force of the farm, assigning to each and every man 

 a new task. Even the work of supervision becomes much more 

 complicated and difficult by reason of the fact that no mere 

 automatic checking device can be utilized to keep a record of 

 the workman's time or the amount and character of his work. 

 Not only are there normal, seasonal changes of work, but farm 

 management has to contend with abnormal or unforeseeable 

 changes like storms, floods, fires, insect pests, etc. As a result 

 of a sudden shower in harvest time the plans of the day may 

 be upset at an hour's notice, and the whole working force of 

 the farm may have to be reorganized and set at a new task 

 for which there are no precedents or experiences to guide. To 

 direct a score of men under these conditions requires a degree 

 of intelligence, resourcefulness, and executive ability of a very 

 high order. To direct a hundred would require the ability of a 

 military commander, a merchant prince, or a railway magnate, 

 while to direct a thousand effectively enough to be economical, 

 may safely be said to be a human impossibility. When these 

 seasonal difficulties are added to the geometrical difficulties, it is 

 easy to see that farming must always be an industry of small 



