THE HUMAN BASIS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION 105 



cultivating it, — just as a shop in one street may be more suit- 

 able for business than an equally good shop in another street, — 

 just as one mine may yield more coal or iron than another mine, 

 while the cost of working both is the same, and so on with a 

 variety of other such naturally useful objects, — so one man 

 may, with no greater cost of preparation than his neighbor, 

 earn a great deal more than that neighbor. There is a superior 

 fertility of certain fields, a greater profit to be got in certain 

 places, richer veins in certain mines, and similarly there is a 

 greater natural power in certain minds. Two lawyers may have 

 the same education and be equally diligent, but one may earn 

 hundreds where another only earns tens. Two physicians 

 may have had the same advantages of study, and have equally 

 striven to profit by their opportunities, and one may make a 

 fortune while the other can barely earn a living. 



" Now in the case of the field, the shop, and the mine, it is 

 easy to measure the natural advantage which the more favored 

 possess over the less. ... It is not so easy, however, to meas- 

 ure the advantage which superior abilities give some persons 

 over others who work in the same calling ; but they are none the 

 less real and solid." 



There are, likewise, differences in men's bodies. These differ- 

 ences are easily recognized, but before giving further attention 

 to the significance of these differences, an attempt will be made 

 to outline the qualities of men which are essential to success. 



Health and strength are essential qualities of the farmer. 

 There are tasks on the farm which require skill rather than 

 muscle, yet when the workman on the farm is followed from 

 task to task and from day to day there is a great deal of work 

 found which requires plain muscular strength, tasks in the 

 performance of which the strong man may move with ease, 

 whereas the weakling will wrestle without results. Two 

 weak-muscled men are often required to do the work of one 

 strong man, and it often happens that a fine team of horses 

 stands entirely too long, awaiting the loading of the wagon, 

 simply because adequate human brawn is lacking. The man 

 with ill health, who is often unable to work, has little hope for 



