AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 749 



labor has passed, or ought to pass.' ' The economic future of 

 all who act on this principle is without hope. 



It is not enough, however, for the farmer to work hard : he 

 must also exercise good business judgment. The farmer, at the 

 present time much more than formerly, sells what he produces 

 and buys what he consumes. His business relationships have 

 greatly enlarged, and it follows that a knowledge of business 

 methods counts more in his favor. A man may be highly indus- 

 trious and yet, owing to a deficiency in business tact, may fail 

 in the struggle of life. 



Success in farming depends, finally, upon supplementing hard 

 work and sound judgment with frugal living. The farmer who 

 would woo prosperity with any hope of winning her must live 

 within his means. It is impossible to state in general terms a 

 rule of justifiable expenditure : this is a matter each must de- 

 termine for himself. Some who are struggling to pay for a farm 

 find it necessary to limit their expenses to the simplest neces- 

 saries of life. As Booker T. Washington has said: "Art and 

 music for people who live in rented houses and have no bank 

 account are not the most important subjects to which attention 

 can be given. Such education creates wants without a corre- 

 sponding ability to supply these increased wants." Social philos- 

 ophers will probably criticize the standard of living involved in 

 this view. It is not necessary, however, for all farmers to be 

 equally saving. Some have ample means for books, magazines, 

 music, travel, the higher education of their children, modern and 

 well-furnished houses, and commodious barns. Some who could 

 well afford these things are lacking in taste for them, while 

 others have found the struggle of life so severe that they have 

 never cultivated the habit of spending money sufficiently to find 

 it a pleasure. In general, however, even those farmers who 

 are fairly well-to-do find it necessary to refrain from anything 

 approaching luxury or ostentation. 



The suggestion that the solution for the farmer's economic 

 difficulties depends upon limiting expenditure to income meets 

 with various objections. It is argued, for example, that were the 

 doctrine of saving herein enjoined to be generally carried out, 



