The semi-weekly messenger., 1906-10-26

careful tendance, and Intensive culti-
vation of their broad domain Of arabic
acres.
The Literary Digest Of September
18th, has the following:
at has been urged by manufacturers
and promoters that the United States
has uutgown its dependence upon ag
ricu,sure Now Mr.. James ). HUI.
president of the Northern Pacific and
Great Northern railroads, prophet not
without honor even in his own country,
prOclaims the opposite view, and sup
ports his opinion with statements and
statistics which are attracting the at
tention Of the press throughout the.
country"
's. There must be & national revolt
declares this man who has demonstrat-
ed his power of foresight in the launch
ing and developing of great enterprises
against the worship Of manufacture
and trade as the only forms OF progress
sive activity and the false notion thar
wealth built upon these at the sacri-
fee Of the fundamental form Of wealth
production can endure The first re-
uuisite, he argues, is q clear recogni-
ton on the part Of the whole people.
from the highest down to the lowest,
that the tillage OF the soil is the aat-
ural and most desirable occupation fer
man, To which every other Is subsid-
iary. and TO which all else must in the
end yield"
Mr.. Hill gees on in these remarkable
words:
within forty-four years we shall
have to meet the wants OF more thau
two hundred million people. In less
than twenty years from this moment
the United States will have 1300Oo,U0o
people. Where are these people, not
of some dim, distant age, but OF this
very generation now growing TO man
hood, to be employed and how support
ed? When the searchlight Is thus
suddenly turned on we recognize not a
mere speculation, but the grim face
of that specter which confronts the un-
employed, tramping hateful streets In
hope Of food and shelter.
In the year 1859, Sd far as our own
resources are concerned, we will APP
proach an ir0nless age. For popuia-
tion of 200, 900. 900 people our home sup
DIV of iron will have retreated almost
There is no substitute whose produc-
tion and preparation for practical use
is not far more expensive. Not merely
our manufa curing industries, but ouF
whole complex industrial life, SO intt
mately built upon cheap iron and coai,
will feel the strain and must su1er
"Only one-half of the land in private
{ ownership is now titled. That tllage
does not produce One-half OF what the
land might be made TO yield, without
losing an atom Of it's fertility. Yet the
waste of our treasure has proceeded 50
far that tho actual value Of the sol
! for productive purposes has alreaay
deteriorated more than 1t should nave
done in five centuries or use. ner.
is. except in isolated and Individual
cases, little approaching intensive ag'
riculture in the United States. Inere
. are only the annual skimmlng OF tne
rich cream, the exhaustion OF virgin
; fertility, the extraction from the eartf
bv the most rapid process OF its pro
ductive POWERS, the deterioration ol
= ,ife's sole maintenance. And all this
. with that army Of another hundred
million people marching in plain sigh
toward us, and expecting and demand
ing that they shall be fed.
EVERY farm properly cared To-
should be worth more money for eacl
wear of its life. The increase OF pop
ulation and demand, the growth OF tn
cities and markets, and the develop
ment of diversified farming with Den
sity of settlement should assure larg
increment. Even where large quaint.
ties Of new and fertile land are Openet
these influences together with the low
est cost of transportation in the world
should make the growth OF value
stead."
This is in a degree peSSlmlctlc, Du
there is much wisdom in the warning
A common form of the let well enough
alone" mid optimism is: "Oh, well. !
will last my time" But neither indl
viduals nor nations can say: Ate
me the deluge'' Why must, If the,
would build wisely and well, build nc
for th cir own time only but for a.
times.
Great as has been the advancement
made in the methods Cf agriculture,
! still falls far short of that n1gh sys
tenn of cultivation which will increas'
rather thar diminish, the value OF tn
farm year by year. Here and tner.
| in the case of farmers, who, with tnel
cereal crops and cotton, raise fruits an
vegetables, and the market gardener
who deal exclusively in truck, ther
. has been a mild system Of intenslv
, farming; but in the dense agriculture
districts of Europe and Asia 1t WouI
not be considered intensive farmln
: at all.
Is 1.-The man with the hCe'' ready
} provide succor to the coming gener'
, ton? Are the millions of soil WORKER
Of the United States ready TO far
the army of relief for the industri
classes beset by disaster in 1850: II
| sun has not long set, but the sloamiI
: has deepened so rapidly that objec
l only a short distance away are
l ready blurred and indistinct on q
country road leading by the homeste;
and the farm. The COWS already mil
Ell, move slow but willing to the
III H. - b. v~Sxi "a