ii6 Agriculture and the Community). 



the community makes itself directly responsible for seeing" 

 that the land is financed and managed so that the best use 

 can be made of its productive powers. I believe that the 

 log'ical solution to which the community will ultimately be 

 driven is the nationalisation of land, but until that is 

 achieved we ought to make the agricultural departments 

 of the state working through county or local committees, 

 representative of the industry and the community, 

 responsible for the maintenance and management of the 

 permanent equipment of the soil. 



Our farming is less productive than it ought to be 

 because of the failure of the private owners of the soil to 

 perform the only function which could justify their 

 existence. If the community accepts responsibility for 

 the management of the land and provides the necessary 

 capital, many of our farmers, given reasonable security 

 of tenure and fair rents, would develop their holdings with 

 real benefit to the community. There is a class of farmers, 

 however, who take to the industry as a way of living and 

 who have neither the skill nor the enterprise to make the 

 most of the land they hold. We cannot afford to allow 

 land which is capable of cultivation to be let down because 

 the holders are content to seek ease and safety where 

 enterprise and energy would bring a fuller return to the 

 community. The agricultural departments working 

 through the county or local representative committees 

 should be charged with the duty of maintaining a standard 

 of cultivation- and should have power to remove farmers 

 who in their opinion are not making the best use of their 

 opportunities. The committees must be prepared to take 



