the dairy and truck garden, and with business skill in purchasing
feed from their neighbors when prices are low, such men succeed as
individuals; but do they furnish an object lesson which could be
followed by the general farmer?"

"I had not looked at the matter from that point of view," said Mr.
West, "but it is plain to see that on the whole there can be only a
small percentage of such farmers; and in reality they are a
detriment to their neighbors who permit their own hay and grain to
be hauled off from their farms; but certainly these are the methods
followed by our most successful farmers, and these are they who live
on the fat of the land."

"Are they farmers or are they manufacturers?" asked Percy. "It seems
to me that, in large measure, their business is to manufacture a
finished product from the raw materials produced upon other farms,
either in the immediate neighborhood or in the newer regions of the
West. As you know, much of our surplus produce from the farms of the
corn belt is shipped into the eastern and southern states, there to
be used as food for man and beast, not only in the cities, but also
to a considerable extent in the country. Instead of living on the
fat of the land, such manufacturers live in the country at the
expense of special city customers who may have fat jobs and are able
to pay fancy prices for country produce made by the impoverishment
of many farms. In most cases, if such a 'successful farmer' were
compelled to pay average prices for what he buys and allowed to
receive only average prices for what he sells, his fat would have
plenty of lean streaks."