STANDAKD OF EFFOKT 151 



statement was sometimes exaggerated and given un- 

 due prominence in cases upon which it had little 

 bearing, and consequently the theory tended to be- 

 come discredited. It is a fact, however, that people 

 will not go on paying for labour more than it is worth 

 to them, and in the present day some land-owners 

 prefer to let their land to tenants rather than con- 

 tinue to work it and improve it by hired labour, and 

 give as their reason for so doing that they cannot now 

 get good labourers. 



If we turn to the standard of effort amongst tht 

 smaller landed proprietors, it must be confessed that 

 the present tendency of this class to relax their efforts 

 and give up all active part in the cultivation of their 

 land the moment that they can see their way to do 

 so is somewhat disquieting. A large land-owner may 

 well be fully occupied in directing and supervising 

 the labour engaged on his farm, but when we find 

 numbers of land-holders, who own 40 acres or less of 

 dry crop land, sitting idle and leaving the work to 

 hired servants, it is clear that they are simply an 

 incubus on the land. Contrast this attitude with 

 that of the small American farmer in the arid tract 

 of the Middle- West, who wrings a hard living from 

 the soil by wheat growing on a quarter section farm 

 (160 acres). A single man will work the whole farm 

 with four horses and temporary assistance at harvest 

 time. His work is very strenuous and continuous, but 

 year by year he is able to invest fresh money in his 

 holding, and large areas which were waste only a 



