PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. xi 



And, finally, out of a number of smaller mono- 

 graphs, I must mention a suggestive little book by 

 J. R. Dodge, the United States statistician (Farm and 

 Factory : Aids derived by Agriculture from Industries, 

 New York, 1886). The same question was discussed in 

 it from a practical American point of view. 



Half a century ago a harmonious union between 

 agricultural and industrial pursuits, as also between 

 brain work and manual work, could only be a remote 

 desideratum. The conditions under which the factory 

 system asserted itself, as well as the obsolete forms 

 of agriculture which prevailed at that time, prevented 

 such a union from being feasible. Synthetic pro- 

 duction was impossible. However, the wonderful sim- 

 plification of the technical processes in both industry 

 and agriculture, partly due to an ever-increasing division 

 of labour in analogy with what we see in biology 

 has rendered the synthesis possible ; and a distinct 

 tendency towards a synthesis of human activities be- 

 comes now apparent in modern economical evolution. 

 This tendency is analysed in the subsequent chapters 

 a special weight being laid upon the present possibilities 

 of agriculture, which are illustrated by a number of 

 examples borrowed from different countries, and upon 

 the small industries to which a new impetus is being 

 given by the new methods of transmission of motive 

 power. 



The substance of these essays was published in 

 1888-1890 in the Nineteenth Century, and of one of 

 them in the Forum. However, the tendencies indicated 

 therein have been confirmed during the last ten years 

 by such a mass of evidence that a very considerable 

 amount of new matter had to be introduced, while 

 the chapters on agriculture and the small trades had 

 to be written anew. 



