268 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



in the given time and circumstance. The "lightning rod agent" may 

 be taken as the archetype of a numerous brotherhood whose aid in 

 directing the farmer's capital outlays has kept those expenditures from 

 effecting the greatest increase in the productivity of his farm. "Agents 

 sell to all who will buy and the result is that thousands of dollars are 

 invested in worthless goods that soon find a resting place in the scrap- 

 heap, and the poor farmer and his family struggle harder than before, 

 for often the money to buy this needed help has been borrowed, v hich 

 makes another weight to an already heavy burden." Undoubtedly 

 rural communities have often been exploited in such ways. A 

 mechanical engineer of my acquaintance asserts that most of the farm 

 machinery offered in the market is, in point of design and materials, 

 far below the standard common in machinery offered to industrial 

 users. So many of these latter make their purchases only upon the 

 advice of a competent engineer that manufacturers find it necessary 

 to keep their goods always up to a standard which will pass expert 

 examination. Farmers have seldom been competent to judge accu- 

 rately the machines which they were buying, and the individual 

 farmer buys in too small quantities to make it feasible for him to hire 

 an expert adviser or secure laboratory tests of materials. Several of 

 our agricultural colleges have set up testing plants and offer courses 

 in "agricultural engineering" or similar subjects. 1 



But to no small extent this becomes a question of the organization 

 of our agricultural industry. Not only is the individual farm too small 

 for efficient buying of machinery and materials, but its size as an 

 operating unit is generally not such as to secure the greatest technical 

 efficiency of machine equipment. The steam or gasoline thrashing 

 outfit, milking machines, water and light systems, silo-fillers, and hay 

 presses are fair examples in point, and even the corn binder, spraying 

 outfit, manure spreader, and almost countless others might be cited 

 in particular cases. Either the farm must have a ruinously large 

 stock of tools and machinery, be subject to the* vicissitudes of 

 custom work, or employ cruder methods in the face of competition 

 by more efficient appliances. Specialization, co-operation, and con- 



1 "Professor J. Lee Hewitt was called to Bentonville last week to test a new 

 device for mixing lime sulphur, which is used in spraying fruit trees. In speaking 

 of the incident Professor Hewitt said in substance: 'A few years ago the people 

 of the county would have tried out the machine with good or bad results without 

 a thought of calling upon the Experiment Station for advice or an estimation of 

 the mixer's value.'" University of Arkansas Weekly, January 13, 1916. 



