work well is kept
up to the best. A most important saving is in diminution of waste. The
shortened apprenticeship and the superior dexterity make waste from
blunders almost nothing. Still more noticeable is the saving from any
waste of superior abilities, either strength or judgment, upon actions
requiring little ability.

Under minute division of labor a strong man is kept where he is needed and
the child may serve where his powers are sufficient. The efficiency of
women is recognized wherever applicable, and all the workers have their
full abilities made constantly useful. Moreover, the circulating capital
represented in the raw materials is kept in use much less time than under
the less effective system. Since any article of manufacture passes through
all the operations upon it in very much less time, the interest upon
capital employed in holding the material and in supporting the labor
during its changes is indefinitely less. The quicker returns from this
more rapid manufacture are everywhere recognized.

_Limits of division._--With all its advantages, division of labor is
limited by circumstances. It can never be applied where, because of poor
roads or peculiarities of temper or habit of life, the workers are
naturally separated. The necessary isolation of the farmers for the sake
of space makes any combination for the sake of economy in dividing their
tasks almost impracticable. Even where farms are small, few advantages
from division of labor by different kinds of work can be adopted. The
farmers are too far apart to work directly into each other's hands. It is
limited, too, by the natural demand for the products of labor. If the
labor of one man can supply all need of iron work in his community, there
is no possibility of employing ten, even with a hundred times the
effectiveness. This is well illustrated in the country store, which sells
everything over the same counter. Not even the grocery department can be
separated until the demand is sufficient to support two store-keepers in
two stores.

But even in places where division of labor is stimulated by demand, it can
go no further than the number of distinct motions required in carrying
through the manufacture of the article made. Indeed, economy requires that
each motion should make a complete round, so that the work begins and ends
for each worker with everything in the same position. The exception is
when a motion with great exertion requires an interval