FAKM LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND. 47 



It will regulate itself in time as soon as the wild lands are all occu- 

 pied. With us the rural population is barely holding its own ; towns 

 however are increasing, in other words, markets are better, with 

 production the same. Hereatter the west will consume a larger 

 ratio of her productions than in the past, for other lines of business 

 are increasing faster than the agriculture. We can argue fr"»m this 

 that fears of overproduction are groundless, and can consistantly 

 increase our varieties and productions. Market gardening, small 

 fruits, the maple sugar and sweet corn industries ; the growing of 

 medicinal plants, herbs and textile fibers ; the manufacture of sugar 

 from beets and sorghum, which I believe will yet be a success; the 

 growing of the forests upon our waste lands, and especially of wood 

 for cabinet work. The culture of the edible mushroom {agaric com- 

 pestris;) the growing of flowers for market ; the increasing: of our 

 g-rain area, especially in buckwheat, an unknown grain in many 

 sections ; the growing of seeds for the trade, which is coming for- 

 ward &o prominently, apiculture, for those who complain of the 

 monotony of country life and want a rousing lively time occasion- 

 ally ; the growing of squabs, trout and carp breeding are items of 

 our numerous possibilities. 



The possibilities of New England farm life must of course depend 

 a great deal upon the business conditions of the whole country. In 

 the last few decades agriculture has not held its own with the general 

 increase. Let us see what figures say, and we will take those of 

 English computing, as they will naturally be more conservative than 

 our own. Mr. Mulhall, the well known English statistician, recently 

 addressed the British Association, and presented some striking 

 figures regarding industrial America, covering a period from 1850 

 to the present year, one generation. He takes the leading elements 

 in our progress, and finds that while our population increased in 

 that time 170 per cent, railroads advanced 1 580 per cent; the 

 banking system 918 per cent; steam power 685 per cent ; wealth 

 680 per cent; manufactures 408 per cent; commerce 315; agri- 

 culture 252 ; education 206 ; and shipping 74 per cent. Mr. Mulhall 

 also estimates that the next census will show a population of 66,- 

 000,000, and an accumulated wealth of $70,000,000,000 or 50 per 

 cent more than the aggregate wealth of all Europe ten years ago. As 

 gratifying as this showing must be to our national pride, is it not 

 also showing us that agriculture is not keeping pace with the general 

 business of the country, although a little reasoning and wrestling 



