AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 301 



Again, this farmer, this Brobdignagiaii farmer, has been unable to 

 carry on his work without loans. With a good crop his credit is 

 good, with a bad crop he has none; the banker knows that it is hit 

 or miss with him, make all or lose all, and charges him interest 

 accordingly. To-day this owner of something a little less than a 

 German petty State, owes a round million of dollars, to pay only part 

 of which he depends on this year's crop. Now, where is the gilt— on 

 the gingerbread, or rubbed otf? 



A near neighbor of this gentleman has an unpretending little ranch 

 of between fifteen and twenty thousand acres, six-seventlis of which 

 is in wheat. The owner is not, I am informed, rolling in wealth, but 

 is at present paying nine per cent, on a couple of hundred thousand 

 dollars of borrowed money. The same too-extensive system has been 

 carried on elsewhere and always with the same unfortunate result, a 

 result not only unfortunate to the individuals, as in the case of the 

 Dalrymples of Minnesota, who, from raising forty thousand bushels 

 of wheat in a single year now raise none, but also to the State in which 

 it is practiced. I rejoice to see that there is a growing disposition to 

 look with less favor upon putting a large quantity of land into grain, 

 and with more favor upon small farms where greater attention will 

 be paid to the details of the business. Economy by force of circum- 

 stances is a dead letter in these gigantic operations. Oregon and 

 AVashington Territory are proceeding upon the smaller, safer, and more 

 economical plan, plowing deep, alternating crops, taking the mellow- 

 ing influences of the summer sun and air on their fallow lands, and 

 as a consequence the farmers, whilst not rolling in wealth, and not ■ 

 speculating upon millions lost or won, are all comfortable, prosper- 

 ous, and well to do. 



The old Latins used to say, experientia docet, but if we are wise we 

 shall be taught by observation as well as by experience. We should 

 learn from what our Eastern friends have learnt, and in that class of 

 scholars, nine-tenths of the farmers of California should hnd a place. 

 The wise ones of the East have learnt that farming on a grand scale 

 is not always most pecuniaril}^ successful; they have also learnt that 

 a more rigid regard for the rules of recuperation is necessary to secure 

 a lasting means of income. Half a county in a ranch is evil enough; 

 half a dozen years of exhaustion of fertility by a savage disregard for 

 the simple rule of give and take, is a great deal worse. Avoid the 

 miserable system which proceeds upon the principle of taking every- 

 thing and giving nothing, of gathering in as many crops as possible 

 from the land with as little care for fertilization as possible, and one 

 of the loudest throats to shriek hard times will be effectually choked. 



It is a short sighted policy, indeed, which cannot see beyond to-day. 

 If this year's crops which come from tickling the earth are magnifi- 

 cent andnext year's are only a little less, even with the same amount 

 of no care, is it possible you cannot see where this will end? It is not 

 enough to have a horse wagoned, you must put your shoulder to the 

 wheel when it gets down into the rut, or you may call on Hercules all 

 your lifetime and get no assistance. Our common mother is very 

 kind to us, and, like a loving wife, repays ten-fold all our attentions 

 and care. Treat her kindly and there is nothing she will not do in 

 return to show her just sense of appreciation. The earth does the 

 best she can for us, I say. She will yield as long as she is able, but 

 when by shabby treatment all vitality is worked out, we should be 

 the last to complain when fruitfulness changes into sterility. It is all 



