4o8 WHEAT AND WOMAN 



from the land and the man and the woman. For 

 instance, it is easy, but it is also inspiring, to demon- 

 strate on paper that, against the average power of 

 increase of ^^loo to ;£200 in the space of twenty- 

 years, the power of increase of ^^loo invested in 

 cattle on the present scale of commercial value 

 will reach ;£5645 in twenty years, after allowing for 

 natural death and then striking off 25 per cent, 

 from the full sum of result to allow for unnatural 

 death or disaster ; but it would also be possible 

 and convincing to demonstrate the experiment in 

 action at any period of its development — so many 

 cows, so many calves, yearlings, heifers and steers, 

 and so many butcher's receipts standing for that 

 original ;^ioo. In the same way, through adequate 

 capital and careful experiment one should be able 

 to foretell approximately what ;£ioo invested in 

 poultry, pigs, cattle, sheep, horses, may be expected 

 to yield to the owner of so many acres of land in 

 five, ten, or twenty years. What is needed is an 

 experimental farm which is a commercial success, 

 where women may learn by doing and know by 

 seeing that through agriculture the farmer may 

 arrive at independence and wealth. In such a 

 proposition there should be no room for philan- 

 thropy except in the foundation, and even that 

 should always be reclaimable. Any business propo- 

 sition that is not a commercial success is practically 

 a failure. The experimental training farm must 

 produce a net profit : of this a portion should be 

 set aside for depreciation and development, a 

 portion should go towards a fund to assist women- 

 farmers of true vocation but insufficient capital to 

 make a fair start, and a portion should be placed 



