94 THE THIRD POWER 



does not deserve a better fate than has been his por- 

 tion in the past. Yet the whole object of so-called 

 scientific instruction in farming is to induce the 

 farmer to do just that thing. 



But the farmer will not forget the question of 

 price. The American Society of Equity is not going 

 to let him forget it. This is the first and great ob- 

 ject of the society. It is the stepping-stone to the 

 accomplishment of the Third Power. The society 

 is willing to cooperate with the schools by show- 

 ing the farmer how to market and by helping him 

 to market profitably the larger crops which he is be- 

 ing taught to raise. The two things — up-to-date 

 farming and up-to-date business — must go together. 

 No sane manufacturer makes more goods than he 

 thinks he can sell profitably, or increases his facili- 

 ties beyond what he believes to be the power of his 

 customers or possible customers to consume. He 

 does not put in new and elaborate machinery sim- 

 ply that he may increase his output — whether he does 

 that depends on the condition of the market, and his 

 ability to control prices — but that he may produce 

 more cheaply and thus, if need be, to sell more 

 cheaply, yet make more money. It should be so 

 with the farmer. He must never forget the ques- 

 tion of price, and must ever remember that the 

 product which he is after is not corn or wheat or 

 cotton, or pork or beef, but gold. He who gets the 

 most gold out of his grounds is the most successful, 

 up-to-date and scientific farmer. 



