With increased confidence in mutual interests, it seems possible that specialists in various directions might grow up among a united circle of farmers. The use of machinery and blooded stock can certainly be greatly increased by careful adjustment of interests. Great improvements in seed and in methods of culture may be discovered by agreement among a body of farmers that certain individuals shall make a specialty of those improvements. It is even conceivable that a rotation of crops might be carried on upon a dozen farms, while each farmer gives his attention to his specialty. It would require, of course, a much closer combination in credit with each other than has yet been found among farmers. At the very best, however, farming must still remain the most prominent illustration of limitation in the application of the great labor saving and capital saving by minute division of labor.
_Disadvantages of extreme division._--The great addition to wealth so distinctly traced to division of labor is not gained without some disadvantages to the community. Almost certainly the inactivity of body compelled by confinement to a simple portion of a trade induces physical weakness. The health of workers in factories is often uncertain, and the average of life is known to be reduced. While steadiness of employment contributes to steady habits, the reduced activity contributes to weakness. Perhaps even more perceptible is the tendency toward narrowness of mind. Ingenuity is developed in the "Jack of all trades," although his information in regard to each one may be limited. The man who knows all about a very small part of one trade has little to stimulate his mind to exertion. Indeed, habit is liable to make his very action and judgment purely automatic. The fact that the raw hand can be quickly made effective makes the stimulation to self-education even less than in ordinary circumstances. The constant dependence of each laborer upon the routine of his work and his absolute dependence upon authority for his employment lead naturally to lack of self-control. A man may grow almost like the machine he handles, responding only to the demand of his overseer. These tendencies foster also a growth of class distinctions. Such workmen are thought of as operatives, held in a class by themselves. They may be expected to know little of the interests of community outside their own circle, and are often distrusted in matters of common welfare. They themselves distrust the leadership of those upon whose management they depend for employment.