The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1885-08-19

/ farmers of Massachusetts, in which he
explained with great elearness and force
/ the system of agriculture in England,
and pointed out where it might safely
be copied in Massachusetts,, and where
/ the differing conditions of the two
countries required change. The first
book on Agriculture ever printed in the
/ English language WAS written by Sir
Anthony FitzGerald in the year 1884
and the next was bv the same author,
five years later. FitzGerald was law
yer of eminence and a Judge of one Of
the highest courts in England. His books
are of the best ever written and are
authority on matters of which they treat
I 10 this day. | refer TO these contriOu-
tions made by lawyers to agriculture
with pride. For, even in this letter to
farmers, it would be an unworthy con-
sealment of my feelings if l did not con-
Iess that ! feel just pride in the pro-
fession to which | belong, and in whose
service have passed the best years of
my life, and to whose training / owe not
only the opportunity for honorable
public service, but in some degree. what
fitness | mag possess for that service
lis true, ike all other caliings it has its
faults and its shortcomings, vet it has
done more than any other for human
rights and the amelioraiion of the politi-
cal and civil condition of mankind.
That it has also contributed its due
share to the eadyaneenaep of agriculture
not only in craftsmanship, claiming for
it its just pre-eminence, but in practical
farm life, diving into the deepest
mysteries of the art, is also true. And
there are mysteries in the art of agricul-
ture requiring study, deep thought and
sound judgment. The eyer-varying
conditions of the seasons, the different
character of the various soils, the
hygiene of home and of animal life
The differing modes of culture and prepa-
ration required for different crops, on
different soils and in differing seasons
and climates-all these, and many other
things, constantly demand from the
farmer the highest intelligence, the
closest observation, and the soundest
judgment. Whoever shall believe that
any fool may be good farmer, or that
in its various methods there is not
intellectual food enough, mental stimu-
lus enough for the highest of human
powers, knows nothing of the grand
field on which the farmer operates. He,
nearer than any other calling or pursuit,
performs an act of creation, in prcduc-
ing crops; all others but plainly modify
and change the condition of things
already created.
THE soCIA LIFTS CLAIM
that there should be no private owner
ship in land, because, first, it is the gift
of God to the human race, and second,
| its quantity can neither be increased or
diminished by human agency, as other
things may. But if we regard the pro-
ducts and beneficial use of land as land
itself, as we well may, for all economic
purposes, we see that it is in the power
Of the farmer to double, treble, even
increase indefinitely land as a useful
factor in human existence. Whoever
causes one acre of land to produce
| double what it before produced, has
practically added one acre 20 the earth's
domain. 1t will be seen, that when
the population of the world shall press
on the means of subsistence, as it is now
doing in many old countries, the remedy
will be found in the grand art and
science of the farmers, who by their
skill will make ample for human comfort
| the otherwise too scant and narrow
surface of the earth. The earth untitled,
uncared for by the farmers art, would
now be insU fhcient to maintain one
hundredth part of its present population.
1t would be practically of no value as
human habitation. So it appears that
the farm, with its homestead, its barns,
its stables, its gardens, its orchards and
vineyards, its fields of grain, or grass,
or other pEoducts, aSd its fences, its ditchesl
sprInes. sIS y and ponds. is essentially as much
a creation, a needed creation for practical
and beneficial use, as watch or tele-
phone, or locomotive.
In all this, and much more, the farmer
should feel
JUST PRIDE IL HIS CALLING.
'Tis true his life is one of toll, disa-
greeable toll, with exposure to the heat of
the sun, the cold of winter, and often to
winds, SHOWS and storms; but he should
remember that human labor, whilst it is
the most essential, is at thes same time the
most honorable of all things. There is moth
ing of real value on the face of the globe
which is not the result of human labor,
or which has not the power to purchase
human labor or its products. If a man
possessed for himself, as his own estate,
sll the gold and silver now on the face
of the globe, all that lies hidden and
unworked in the womb of the noun
tains, all that is buried in the bottom OF
/ the ocean, upon a condition, that be
should not buy with it human labor
or its products, he would be a psuper
unless he could labor himself. So re
] member, that if toll is uncomfortable, il
: is the one thing, without which nothing
e would remain of value, either to tbs
> comfort or happiness of mankind
Notwithstanding the toll, often un
requited, and the disappointment Incl
dent to the farmers life, there is much
!, very much, init to attract, to ennobl,
5 and exalt mankind. liz agriculture
a when properly pursued, is an indePen
I dence-an independence not in finance
I alone, but in thought, feeling and action
|, essential to a true manhood, found il
! the same degree IN no other calling. Tn
Q farmer has little concern in the changes
4 often sudden and disastrous, attendan
E on speculating and gambling in stock;
q the hazards of mining, and the ever
n varying fortunes of commerce and mar
e ufactures. Though he may be, and ofte
I is, remotely and incidentally affected b
IS the arrangement in finance and currenc
n caused by these, yet. it he is pruden
4 and careful and out of debt, he may bi
e. defiance to them, and ride the storm
p safety. But
4 THE GREATEST CLAIM
T, Which agriculture now has to Il
Is favor of mankind arises from its exem