CHAPTER II 



THE FARMER 



ii 



NOTWITHSTANDING all this pro- 

 gress as measured by historical 

 standards, agriculture is not com- 

 mercially as profitable as it is entitled to be for 

 the labour and energy that the farmer expends, 

 and the risks that he assumes, and that the 

 social conditions in the open country are far 

 short of their possibilities. We must measure 

 our agricultural efficiency by its possibilities 

 rather than by comparison with previous con- 

 ditions. The farmer is almost necessarily 

 handicapped in the development of his busi- 

 ness, because his capital is small and the 

 volume of his transactions limited ; and he 

 usually stands practically alone against or- 

 ganised interests. In the general readjust- 

 ment of modern life due to the great changes 

 in manufactures and commerce inequalities and 

 discriminations have arisen, and naturally the 

 separate man suffers most. The unattached 

 man has problems that government should 

 understand. 



52 



