PROGRAM OF RECONSTRUCTION 235 



tion with improved lands until the need is clear. The 

 farmers insist that these improvements, when under- 

 taken, should be performed by the government, in or- 

 der that exploitation for private profit shall be elim- 

 inated. Essential features of the development of new 

 land should include provision for the easy acquiring of 

 adequate capital for operation and the establishment of 

 effective machinery for satisfactory marketing of prod- 

 ucts and purchase of farm requirements. 



SECURING CAPITAL 



When the new land was all but free and little farm 

 machinery was used, the farmer's capital was almost lit- 

 erally his own strong hands and active brain. But 

 present and prospective prices for land, and the cost of 

 necessary improvements and machinery, require consid- 

 erable capital. Doubtless the majority of farmers are 

 farming with too little capital. Under modern condi- 

 tions the securing of capital means credit. Until re- 

 cently the financial methods of the country were not 

 geared to the peculiar needs of the farmer. The Farm 

 Land Bank system goes a long way in the direction of 

 proper terms of aid; it does not however fully meet the 

 situation, chiefly because it does not and cannot aid the 

 tenant or laborer until he has saved a substantial sum; 

 this is often hard to do. There is a gulf here that 

 needs bridging. The only relief seems to lie in a form 

 of direct government loan to men of approved charac- 

 ter, to enable them to take advantage of the Farm Land 

 Bank. 



Moreover it takes more capital than formerly to 

 " make " a crop, especially as various forms of inten- 

 sive farming increase. Better seed, more fertilizer, 

 better tillage, more labor, commercial feeds for live- 



