298 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY 



So it has been with us in the West, so it is with us, The brand of 

 newness is upon everything, and between the East and West there is 

 not only a great geographical and climatic difference, but there is 

 also one of life, manners, and custom. 



This difference extends not only to social contrasts and similitude, 

 but to agriculture. The East and West are as different in their pur- 

 suit of this science as in so much else. When "Agriculture East and 

 West" was announced as the subject for this lecture, you probably 

 considered it an ambitious title, as embracing so extensive a subject. 

 So it is. The subject is too extensive to be treated in detail, and this 

 evening, in my sketch of the two forms of agriculture, I shall only 

 attempt to portray the broad features, shall note the salient points, 

 shall only present the more marked contrasts — the three main divis- 

 ions being Style, Extent, and Home-life. ' 



The United States, extending from zone to zone, and from ocean 

 to ocean, has no need to carry on the policy of aggrandizement in 

 order to keep itself in the front rank of nations. The sole extension 

 of America consists in her extension of population, of lands, of sky- 

 piercing mountains, of broad, fruitful valleys, and of rushing rivers 

 that sweep down from the one to fertilize the other; of lakes that 

 are inland seas, and harbors that can float a world's navy. She has 

 all she wants. She has no need, like Russia, to pant for conquest to 

 give her ports; nor like England, to go elsewhere for spices and 

 precious metals; nor like Spain, to barter with other countries for 

 wheat ; nor like the Equatorial Empires, for machinerj^ — her re- 

 sources are infinite. New States are settled and made, our home 

 population increases, immigration pours in, and our millions double, 

 not by the addition of colonies, but by natural growth. The United 

 States plays a double part — first, that of a receiver; second, that of 

 a producer. She has been supplied, now she supplies ; and these 

 supplies not only include those of intellect and manufacture, they 

 embrace the products and appliances of agriculture. 



Though of late years more interest has been shown in agriculture 

 as a means of national greatness, for a long time the science was not 

 appreciated as it should have been. Little by little, however, the 

 necessity of applying an adaptation of the great General's maxim 

 that "armies fight on their bellies," has i^resented itself to the nation. 

 Like the patriarch who found his family rapidly increasing and 

 began to look anxiously around to find out if there were a likelihood 

 of being bread enough for its subsistence, the wise statesmen of the 

 land, looking at the extraordinary growth of population and the pros- 

 pective wealth of the country, began to inquire narrowly into its 

 productive powers. It has become absolutely necessary to know 

 whether the national domain is so managed that it will be likely or 

 capable of supporting the vast people that will most assuredly be 

 ready to live upon it in the coming century. Present productiveness, 

 the producing power of to-day, is a divine gift, a kindly dispensation 

 of Providence, so to speak — what is wanted is a little more human 

 providence, if I may use the term, for the future. I know our trade 

 and commerce are pursued with a thrift and sagacity likely to very 

 materially add to our substantial wealth, and to tend to develop the 

 collateral resources of the country. But, after all, trade and com- 

 merce are not the great interests of a country — do not form the sole 

 support of a nation. That support is agriculture. By it the bulk of 

 the people live, and are fed and clothed. It is, I think, therefore, 



