1910.] Value of Crop Estimates to the Farmer. 573 



prices of the previous year. Judging by local conditions, he 

 will think himself lucky to get a moderate price, whereas, 

 perhaps, if he had been acquainted with the general status 

 of the supply, he could have asked and obtained a better one. 

 Or else, seeing that the harvest prospects are poor in the dis- 

 trict he is acquainted with, the farmer may count on obtaining 

 a high price, and refuse to sell at a price which a wider know- 

 ledge of conditions would have shown him to be profitable 

 and which he will regret not having accepted later on. 



2. The Farmer a Victim to Ignorance. — The ignorance of 

 the farmer as to the general condition of the crops of the 

 world — as to the world's supply of the staples — places him at 

 a great disadvantage in dealing with clever and unscrupulous 

 manipulators. 



Undoubtedly the function of the middleman, of the mer- 

 chant, is in itself a most valuable one to society, for, by pur- 

 chasing the staples when and where the supply is abundant, 

 and selling them when and where the demand is high, he dis- 

 tributes them in accordance with the world's needs ; thus 

 scarcity and even famine is avoided, and prices are reduced, 

 as far as possible, to a uniform level. 



But the farmer's ignorance of real world conditions affords 

 the golden opportunity for the unscrupulous speculator, who 

 can often spread or confirm at will false rumours, artificially 

 causing a rise or fall in prices, as may suit his own interests. 

 The isolated and ignorant farmer falls an easy victim, and 

 may thus lose in a few minutes a large portion of the fruits 

 of his toil. Nor will his loss be compensated by a benefit to 

 the consumer, for, when the time comes to sell, the mani- 

 pulator, availing himself of his monopoly of knowledge, 

 knows how to spread abroad rumours that the supply 

 is low and extort high prices from the public. 



3. Need for the Farmer to Enlarge his Area of Knowledge. 

 — All this could be avoided if the farmer could have a bird's- 

 eye view of the world's supply before selling his product, if 

 he could stand on a high tower, and with the help of a tele- 

 scope look around him, his first impressions would be cor- 

 rected. The higher he stood, the more powerful his telescope, 

 the wider the horizon brought within his sphere of vision, 

 and the nearer his judgment would approach the truth. After 



