THE STATE AS FARMER 61 



system which leaves little to the individual 

 concerned. We cannot afford any longer to 

 allow our farmers to be either the dupes 

 or the exponents of ignorance. The men 

 in command must apply the best science 

 to the various units, and the farmer must 

 take his orders from the appointed managers 

 of the State. ' State-managed undertakings 

 never prosper,' say some. And yet our 

 armies and navies, our post offices and many 

 other services, have not made an altogether 

 disastrous record, and these records have 

 improved with increased democratic control. 

 We allow the State to deal with shells, though 

 it cannot be trusted with eggs ! 



As a matter of fact, however, the State 

 does concern itself with this sordid question 

 of manure. It passes laws, the object of 

 which is to secure to the buyer of feeding 

 stuffs and fertilisers the quality that he 

 purports to have bought. An Act seldom 

 finds its way on to the Statute book until 

 a deadly beaten track of robbery and injustice 

 has made it necessary. And when you have 

 got your Act, to what extent is it used by 

 the farmer ? I am suggesting that the State 



