66 THE STATE AS FARMER 



kinds to succeed must show their credentials ; 

 lawyers must digest much learning as well 

 as their dinners ; our very cab-drivers must 

 have their licences, but any booby among 

 us all can get on to the land, and, what 

 is worse, can keep his betters off. 



The time has passed for such futile and 

 dangerous methods. The land for its due 

 working and management requires all the 

 learning and ability that we can compass for 

 her. We need commanding officers and all 

 the various ranks down to the private in this 

 war for a production which is equal to our 

 country's needs. I have already hinted that 

 from the by-products of farming many in- 

 dustries may yet spring up, but at present 

 we have no central management — chemical, 

 biological, and botanical — whose constant 

 study is the production, working up, and 

 making popular new and valuable foods at 

 a low cost. 



