manner. In this matter the isolated peasant is a mere dwarf when compared with his rival in socialist agriculture (and, indeed, as compared with his large-scale capitalist rival). The cheapest, quickest, and deepest ploughing is done with the aid of tractors. On the small strips of peasant culture, tractors have no place. Besides, it is less advantageous to work with a single tractor than with groups of eight or ten tractors in unison.
The same considerations apply to various other labour-saving machines. Steam threshers and steam harvesters can only be used in large-scale agriculture.
Finally, the full utilisation of all the farming implements is only possible in large-scale agriculture. For example for the full utilisation of
The use of steam ploughs and tractors will by itself suffice, though other conditions remain unaltered, to increase the productivity of the soil by fully one-third.
Even when we have to farm any area merely with the aid of horses, large-scale agriculture is more advantageous than petty agriculture, seeing that in the former each individual horse is utilised for a larger area. It has been calculated that in this respect large-scale agriculture requires only about one-third the number of horses.
Electricity can be used only in large-scale agriculture. And by the use of electricity on one large farm we can dispense with the need for a hundred small and badly constructed stables, for a hundred little kitchens, etc. We can conduct everything in one large and well-equipped building.
Dairy-farming can only be economically conducted on the large scale.
But the greatest saving of all is the economising of labour power, the possibility of reducing to one-half or one-third the countryman’s hours of labour, not only without reducing the productivity of the land, but actually while increasing it threefold or fourfold.