THE STATE AS FARMER 47 



Prospero's summons from the air. The 

 warnings of bacteria to us are manifold. We 

 trace tuberculosis in cows and other animals : 

 we can stamp out all sorts of diseases by- 

 pursuing them to their bacilli : we are able 

 to watch by their bacteria the deleterious 

 influence of dirt and carelessness. But we 

 can also, by means of this mysterious class 

 of organism, perform the various miracles 

 of the dairy industry without any of the 

 old guessing and failure to which ignorance 

 was liable in the old days. In fact, under 

 the guidance of skilled observers, we may now 

 harness the old agents of light, heat, water, 

 and air to the more exact service of man in 

 his farming operations ; but, if any such 

 physical science has a social, economical, 

 and even moral bearing, this one in especial 

 would insist upon the risk of individual licence 

 and the all-important value of united effort. 

 It seems a pity that much of our legislation 

 should be based upon the dread dangers 

 of bacteria and but little State effort founded 

 upon those beneficent influences of the same 

 organisms which are equally potent. 



