Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-14
FARMING AND ITS NBBDs-MR. scoTI'G
ADDRESS.

The annual address before the State Ag-
ricultural Society last evening by Irving
M. Scott, o! San Francisco, was a strong
appeal to the farming class to fully en-
brace the progressive spirit of the age.
That class Of all others can least afford to
hold back. In this, the age of progress,
she lsggards are so soon left as to be for.
gotten. Tilling the soil presupposes Be-
curity of rights 30 far beyond the restraints
Imposed by savage life, that it should CON-
mand the best there is in civilization for
all its purposes, The history of agricult.
ure was rapidly sketched, its advances
noted and the causes that stimulated it.
The remarkable progress of the last half of
the present century in the matter Of arti.
fetal aids to agriculture was clearly out
lined. Considering the social, commercial
snd political aspects of this progress, he
arrives at the conclusion that the rank of
the tiller OF the soil is equal to that of any
Ia the race Q, life, and he adopts Leibig's
SApIceoiOn; krA1SOb aSilSuisuAO 10 WIG
foundation o. all trade and industry-it is
the foundation of the riches of States. I"
This must be supplemented, in order to be
strictly true, by independence of owner.
ership, and hence, he holds that it is un-
questionably true and beyond dispute at
this day that it is an unhealthy condition
of affairs In any State when the lands are
owned by the few, or when the masses are
iandless, as they are in the British Empire.
Our lands therefore should be mostly held
by actual tillers Of the soil As the human
heart loves its own, it is wisdom to make
the farm the property of the man who tills it
he will love 1t, and fight for it as his
own. because il is, in one sense, part and
parcel Of himself. The owner of the soil
feels his interests to be allied with the
best interests Of the State, and he thus be.
comes 8 lover of free institutions, being
himself freeman. This is but one way of
pronouncing against land monopolization,
and might, had the orator had adequate
time, have been greatly enlarged upon.
1t is significant that the land monopoly
question is attracting so much Of attention
that it should be now deemed the
most essential part of an agricultural ad.
dress. The speaker was very urgent for
the broadening of the opportunities of
farm life, and that the farmers of the
State shall embrace for their children all
the educational advantages the State af-
fords. This is all the more necessary, be-
cause agricultural must minister, through
the aid of commerce, to the needs of many
nations, as well as be commensurate with
the requirements OF our own vast popula-
tion, and the farmer therefore should be
one of the very best informed and most
thoroughly educated Of men and equal
to the Importance Of his position in life.
In view of the progress of the age, the de-
yelopments Of scientific research, and its
demonstration OF how best to utilize the
forces and materials Of nature, the duty
and position Of the American farmer as
sumes grave aspect. He must employ all
the agencies that the developments of the
age and its demands require. Already the
complaint is heard that the lands of Cali.
ferpia do not produce IS they once did, and
&kIs sigpa o. exhaustion appear, In view