THE NEEDS OF AGRICULTURE. 43 



Therefore in conclusion I would say, let head labor and hand labor be com- 

 bined. 



Think, plan, systematize. A little careful thinking has saved days and 

 weeks of labor. Will we heed the foregoing requisites of profitable furming, 

 or will we go on heedlessly, caring more for idle gossip and lazy shiftlessness, 

 than for those conditions which make the average farm profitable? 



And so our lives unless with thoughts and actions filled, 

 Are not much worth to us, or any of our kind: 

 They're blank, or like the garden left untilled, 

 No profit there we see, no beauty find. 



Dr. Wilson: For 28 years I have known the farmers of Avon. There are 

 now 14G of them, and in that time there have not been three failures. 



II. M. Took : My law practice for the past 20 years has been especially 

 among farmers, and 1 know that in that time the farms of Oakland county 

 have trebled in value, thoiigii Oakland was an old connty at the beginning 

 of that time. I have observed that the farmer who does what work he can 

 propei'ly do has in each case succeeded. Agricultural success is more uniform 

 than in other occupations. The bo3's are staying on the farm more than 

 formerly because farni life offers more inducements now. 1 consider the 

 farmers the most respected class in this country. 



Mr. Graham : The day for producing wheat with profit on our high priced 

 laiuls has passed, and the time for producing wool has nearly jiasseil. (Jattle 

 •can be raised in the west much cheaper than by us. What can we raise? 

 We must try to raise what is needed at home. 



Mr. J. Van lloosen: I believe we can compete with the West in raising 

 wheat, and can make money at j^resent prices. Our statistics make it appear 

 to cost 53 cents to raise a bushel of wheat. I think the cost is not over 40 

 cents. If we could employ 1,000 men we would get rich, but on our small 

 farms we have but one or two men to make a profit on, yet there is nuide 

 ^500 for each man employed. Farmers pay thousands of dollars for the 

 education of their children, and nuikc the money on their farms. It pays 

 the best of any business in the country. 



Mr. Wm. Ball: Farming pays iu proportion as the farm is well managed 

 and well worked. It is a safe business, and furnishes most of the chihlren 

 who become eminent in other professions. Do not work the children over 

 hard; give them proper literature, musical instruments, etc., and they will 

 stay at home. 



THE NEEDS OF AGRICULTURE. 



BY SAMUEL JOHNSON. 

 IRead at the Grass Lake, Webster, and Eaton Rapids Institute]. 



To those familiar with the six oracles on agricultural topics, who paint in 

 roseate hues the farmer's home, life, and business, who seem to believe and 

 try to make others believe, that there is nought lacking to bar the fruition 

 of his richest hopes, my topic may seem inopportune: The Needs of Agri- 

 culture. 



