duate of an agricultural school, but we
have a few who are descendants of the crew of the first Alexander, and
there's one old codger who was actually with him during the conquest.
Most of our stationmasters are family men. We feel that a wife and
children add to a man's stability--and incidentally keep him from
fooling around with the Lani."

A series of fenced pastures containing hundreds of huge grayish-white
quadrupeds slipped past.

"Cattle?" Kennon asked.

"Yes--Earth strain. That's why they're so big. We also have sheep and
swine, but you won't see them on this run."

"Any native animals?"

"A few--and some which are native to other worlds. But they're
luxury-trade items. The big sale items are beef, pork, and mutton."
Blalok chuckled. "Did you think that the Lani were our principal
export?"

Kennon nodded.

"They're only a drop in the bucket. Agriculture--Earth-style
agriculture--is our main source of income. The Lani are valuable
principally to keep down the cost of overhead. Virtually all of them
work right here on the island. We don't sell more than a hundred a year
less than five per cent of our total. And those are surplus--too light
or too delicate for farm work."

"Where do you find a market for all this produce?" Kennon asked.

"There's two hundred million people here, and quite a few billion more
in space-train range. We can produce more cheaply than any competitor,
and we can undersell any competition, even full automation." Blalok
chuckled. "There are some things that a computer can't do as well as
a human being, and one of them is farm the foods on which humanity is
accustomed to feed. A man'll pay two credits for a steak. He could get a
Chlorella substitute for half a credit, but he'll still buy the steak
if he can afford it. Same thing goes for fruit, vegetables, grain, and
garden truck. Man's eating habits have only changed from necessity.
Those who can pay will still pay well for natural foods." Blalok
chuckled. "We've put quite a dent in the algae and synthetics operations
in this sector."

"It's still a luxury trade," Kennon said.

"You've eaten synthetic," Blalok replied. "What do you prefer?"

Kennon had to agree that Blalok was right. He, too, liked the real thing
far better than its imitations.

"If it's this profitable, then why sell Lani?" Kennon asked.

"It's the Family's idea. Actually--since the export type is surplus it
does us no harm. We keep enough for servants