24 THE STATE AS FARMER 



admirable looking sheep, when we see part of 

 it in the form of a saddle of mutton, with 

 two inches of fat over a trifle of lean, can pay 

 no country in the world. The mere fact that 

 naked individualism and greedy commerce 

 decree that we have to take such mutton, 

 is a poor answer to a self-respecting State 

 that already spends its money freely upon the 

 land. We have men who can direct us in 

 our search for good meat without the waste 

 and disappointment that is inseparable from 

 our present system. But we cannot by any 

 possibility carry their directions into effect 

 if we have not the power as a State to guide 

 the breeding, the feeding, and the killing of 

 our stock on the best lines. Without resort 

 to artificial feeding we may so plan out the 

 life histories of our bullocks and our sheep 

 that the mere passage from one pasture to 

 another will do much towards a steady up- 

 ward growth and condition. But at present 

 that method can only be pursued in the teeth 

 of antagonistic interests, so that, as I have 

 said, six months' keep may leave the farmer 

 with stock no more valuable in the market 

 than when he bought it. The various soils 



