"That would be rash. I expect a certain amount of trouble."
"Skilled mechanics' wages are high. Do you recommend our keeping a man here in case things go wrong?"
"Certainly not! If you buy a steam-plow, you must learn to keep it in order."
Broadwood, picturing the Colonel sprawled under an oily engine, battling with obstinate bolts, laughed aloud.
Mowbray frowned.
"Granting the accuracy of your statistics," he said, "you seem to have proved the economy of mechanical power, when used on a large scale. But we are not agreed upon the necessity for such a thing."
This was the opening Harding had waited for and he seized it quickly.
"At present wheat is your mainstay. How many of you will find it profitable to grow at the current price?"
"Not many, perhaps," Mowbray admitted; and the disturbed expression of others bore out the statement. "But is there adequate ground for concluding it will remain at an abnormally low price?"
"It will not remain there. For the next few years it will go down steadily."