BUSINESS FAILURES 73 



of labor. If he has nothing but his hands and his brains, he aims 

 to accumulate a sufficient capital to become a tenant, and eventu- 

 ally to become an owner, of a farm home. A large number of our 

 immigrants share with the native-born citizen this laudable ambition. 

 Therefore, there is a common decrease of efficient farm labor by these 

 upward movements." 



45. Business Failures. Agriculture as a business does 

 not lend itself well to large units, that is, to the manage- 

 ment of enormous areas and the investment of a vast 

 capital under the direction of one man. A few men may 

 control the iron or oil trade, or even regulate the price of 

 meat or grain after they have been marketed, but the pro- 

 duction of these necessities is mainly in the hands of men 

 of small capital. A record of the failures of the " bonanza 

 farmers," therefore, may pass without discussion here. 

 Nor, even for the small farmer, can all the reasons for a 

 lack of business success be mentioned. The following 

 ones may be noticed: 



a. Too much book learning. Some graduates of agricul- 

 tural colleges fail, not because they know too much that 

 is useful, but because they experiment too much with 

 what is useless. Theories are valuable, but there must be 

 a combination of brains, brawn, and sense. 



b. Too little book learning. Some fairly successful 

 farmers continue in the " calf paths " that were made by 

 their ancestors. They mistrust improvements, and look 

 upon higher education with misgivings. They lack the 

 open mind ; they will not read ; they ignore the uplift 

 that comes through contact with men of wide experience ; 

 they become self-centered, selfish, self-sufficient, and con- 

 sequently can show only decreasing returns for their labor. 



c. Hostile environment. It costs about twice as much 

 to produce a bushel of corn on a steep hillside as it does 

 on a rich flood plain, a few hundred yards below. 



