CHAPTER XIII 

 AGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATION 



*-- 



THE second of the three phases of that transition in 

 agriculture with which I am here dealing is the 

 awakening that is taking place in regard to the value 

 of combined effort. The details already given show 

 clearly enough that there is a good deal of life still left 

 in British agriculture, in spite of all the bad times 

 suffered in the past, and of all the depressed conditions 

 that may still remain ; but prices generally speaking 

 have fallen so low, competition has become so keen, 

 and the margin of profit is often so narrow, that it 

 becomes a matter of serious importance for the pro- 

 ducer how he can get better returns (as the result either 

 of higher prices or of improved marketing conditions), 

 or, alternatively, how he can save on cost of production 

 or cost of transport, and thus still improve his balance- 

 sheet, even though the receipts remain the same as 

 before. What are really the chances of his being able 

 to secure these three results, or any one of them, by 

 means of the combination about which so much is 

 being talked ? Will that combination, in fact, improve 

 his chances of success in the directions, new or old, 

 still open to him ? 



' The future of agriculture in this country,' it has 

 well been said, ' depends on its economies as well as 



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