land itself and selling it, or himself doing the farming. Thus many
thousand farmers are carried on the registers as proprietors, who, in
fact, are no longer such. Thus, again, many a large farmer--unskilled in
his trade, or visited by misfortune, or who came into possession under
unfavorable circumstances--also falls a prey to the executioner's axe of
the capitalist. The capitalist becomes lord of the land; with the view
of making double gains he goes into the business of "butchering
estates:" he parcels out the domain because he can thereby get a larger
price than if he sold it in lump: then also he has better prospects of
plying his usurious trade if the proprietors are many and small holders.
It is well known that city houses with many small apartments yield the
largest rent. A number of small holders join and buy a portion of the
parcelled-out estate: the capitalist benefactor is ready at hand to pass
larger tracts over to them on a small cash payment, securing the rest by
mortgage bearing good interest. This is the milk in the cocoanut. If the
small holder has luck and he succeeds, by utmost exertion, to extract a
tolerable sum from the land, or to obtain an exceptionally cheap loan,
then he can save himself; otherwise he fares as shown above.

If a few heads of cattle die on the hands of the farm-owner or tenant, a
serious misfortune has befallen him; if he has a daughter who marries,
her outfit augments his debts, besides his losing a cheap labor-power;
if a son marries, the youngster wants a piece of land or its equivalent
in money. Often this farmer must neglect necessary improvements: if his
cattle and household do not furnish him with sufficient manure--a not
unusual circumstance--then the yield of the farm declines, because its
owner cannot buy fertilizers: often he lacks the means to obtain better
seed. The profitable application of machinery is denied him: a rotation
of crops, in keeping with the chemical composition of his farm, is often
not to be thought of. As little can he turn to profit the advantages
that science and experience offer him in the conduct of his domestic
animals: the want of proper food, the want of proper stabling and
attention, the want of all other means and appliances prevent him.
Innumerable, accordingly, are the causes that bear down upon the small
and middle class farmer, drive him into debt, and his head into the
noose of the capitalist or the large holder.

The large landhol