LEADING FEATURES OF THE WHEAT INDUSTRY 209 
6. Organisation. 
(a) Managing Capabilities Necessary in Farming. — 
So much, then, for the three agents of production, land, 
labour and capital. Let us now look into the way in 
which these three are gathered together in production 
by the average farmer. In other words, we are about 
to study the efficiency of the farmer as an organiser, 
who, because of his varying range of duties, should 
possess a relatively high degree of managing capabilities. 
In discussing the difficulties of large scale production 
in agriculture in Chapter VI., we have already seen 
that the problems of farm management require special 
skill and tact on the part of him who would undertake 
them. 
The position of a farmer as a manager is a difficult 
one. Not only has he to study the technique of pro- 
duction and the grouping of capital and labour, but the 
commercial functions connected with his industry must 
also receive his attention. To perform these functions 
efficiently special qualities, other than those necessary for 
the management of production on the farm, are required. 
Much attention is being paid to the promotion of scien- 
tifie farming by the Agricultural Department and the 
Experimental Farms, but steps should also be taken 
towards the wider dissemination of knowledge upon 
farm economics. That there is a lack of this knowledge 
has been demonstrated recently in popular discussions 
on the rural industries, consequent upon the action of 
the Government in fixing the prices of certain products. 
It is evident from these discussions that the possession of 
knowledge of even the elements of agricultural economics 
is a rare quality. While it is necessary to encourage 
further the development of scientific farming, the Gov- 
ernment should establish some really reliable source of 
