16 THE STATE AS FARMER 



the farmstead ; they destroy some of the 

 crops if they can reach them ; they transmit 

 diseases to each other and to the larger stock 

 unless great care is taken ; and are, as I 

 have said, very difficult to handle to the 

 best advantage. But a general or united 

 attempt to solve the problem of these useful 

 creatures would no doubt meet with tenfold 

 the success that isolated efforts, however 

 ingenious, can expect. The labour bill is an 

 obstacle to very great effort towards clean- 

 liness and the eradication of disease where 

 wholesale operations are attempted, and the 

 danger of masses treading for long on the 

 same soil adds greatly to the expense of 

 housing. Some of the dangers due to the 

 indiscriminate run of poultry among the 

 more important animals are almost mysterious, 

 and it is desirable that each large area in 

 the future should endeavour to study this 

 important industry almost de novo in all its 

 bearings. The usual breeding problems are 

 of course to be found here as elsewhere. The 

 hen which does not yield enough eggs to 

 pay for her keep can be eradicated just as 

 the worthless cow can, and by similar methods. 



