THE STATE AS FARMER n 



huckster : he has been promoted to manage 

 the depot, and he draws a salary larger than 

 his 40 per cent, profit came to in the olden 

 times. If he liked his gig and the open air, 

 he may, as far as I am concerned, drive the 

 motor now and leave indoor work to others 

 with other tastes. But the volume of the 

 new business surprises him, and he waxes 

 enthusiastic over the special foods and fer- 

 tilisers which he arranges to send to his clients 

 under the new regime. 



For something else has arisen of which 

 he took no note when collecting a few eggs 

 in the old days. It has reached the intelli- 

 gence of the farmer at last that even he 

 can afford to keep good cows, not the in- 

 different animals he used to breed from in 

 the sordid past. These that he has secured 

 by the help of headquarters give him from 

 900 to 1200 gallons a year instead of the 

 ' sup ' that was scarcely worth milking in 

 the past time. In fact, milking was a trouble ; 

 and what the wife cared to procure for the 

 children came perhaps by the weary hands 

 of the said children from some farm too 

 distant for their youthful limbs. Now the 



