30 THE ERRORS OF THE PAST 



them, he calls into existence a class of speculators 

 who demand and receive a liberal price for taking 

 the chance and performing these services. If he is 

 miable personally to distrbute his crops and deal 

 direct with the consumer, he must employ agents 

 or commission men to do the work for him. All 

 of these agents must be paid, and most of them are 

 in a position to collect their charge, whether or 

 not the consignor realises anything at all. 



Successful farming operations are largely con- 

 cerned with the elimination of waste — the waste 

 caused by diseases and pests, the waste caused by 

 the neglect of natural resources, and the waste 

 of misapphed labour. If it appears that these 

 present-day methods of distributing and marketing 

 farm crops are wasteful, then it is the business of 

 the farmer to evolve a plan whereby he can do some 

 of that work which he now pays others to perform. 



But the individual grower frequently discovers 

 that he is unable to do certain things which are 

 economically essential. The average grower is not 

 competent to grade and inspect his own products, 

 and even if he were, he does not produce enough 

 to create a reputation beyond the limits of his own 

 private trade. Not being able to ship full loads, 

 his products are transported to market under more 

 expensive truck rates. The extent of his business 

 does not warrant any great expense in securing 

 reliable information as to market conditions and 

 prices. This lack of information puts him at a 

 disadvantage when dealing with well - informed 

 buyers. It might seem wise to attempt to increase 

 consumption of a certain product by a campaign of 

 educational advertising, but the individual producer 

 cannot afford to finance such an undertaking, 



