THE STATE AS FARMER 21 



at that age the pig has done for the farmer 

 all that it can fairly do. To carry the appro- 

 priate food from the factory to the farm in 

 sacks and take it back again in the form of 

 bacon is essentially a waste — not to speak 

 of the risk to the proper feeding involved — 

 and this is the thing which should be avoided 

 in every field of activity. Waste of transport, 

 of labour, of material, and of crops is what 

 must be guarded against at every point. To 

 carry pigs, for instance, from an eastern to 

 a western, from a northern to a southern 

 county to be killed, is an outrage on good 

 sense, and our new system makes an end of 

 that misplaced activity at once. The only 

 calculation to make is the size of the factory 

 for each area, and that having been decided, 

 the one transport system carries through 

 all the operations of the work. As we go 

 along we shall find out new methods of 

 breeding and rearing which will simplify the 

 organised conduct of the undertaking. Our 

 object, in short, is to secure an article uniform 

 in quality and abundant from the simple fact 

 that each animal is used at its maturity — 

 that is, at a point when additional cost will 



