Country Life
THE FACTORY FARM.
A very suggestive letter reaches me from Mr. Carrington on the subject that has been set on foot by Mr. Orwin in his latest book on the economics of farming. Commenting on my suggestion of " Selective Nationalization " he makes the following alternative proposal :—
" Surely there must still be enough men left of wealth and possessed of the necessary patriotism who would be willing to form a joint stock Company with the object of acquiring a sufficient acreage of land and farming it on the lines put forward by Mr. Orwin. If such a lead were given and if it was proved that farming on specialized factory lines could definitely pay, would it be too much to hope that the example might attract the necessary capital to bring much of our land under better and more profitable culti- vation, and thereby save what is the most individual of our industries from the taint of socialism "
Mr. Carrington adds :—
" As the owner, both of a small farm and a small factory, I am daily being brought up against the wide difference which exists between the business organization and management of the two concerns. In the majority of eases where the comparison is to the disadvantage of the farm the reason is its small size which makes it impossible to use machinery to full capacity or compels the employment of manual labour where machinery, if the quantity of work justified it, could do the work at a fraction of the cost. No ordinary business could for long survive the burden which such faulty organization implies : it is hard to ace why farming should be made an exception."
This is very valuable criticism. More and more people begin to favour the highly ineehtudzed farm of a considerable size, and the only causes for dispute are who shall do it, and does the development imply a change in the system of land
tenure ?
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