314 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



form some idea of the importance of this study. But not all insects 

 are our enemies, and we might learn also to know some of our best 

 friends. 



BOTANY. 



We should also learn something of practical botany. We should 

 know the name and habit of every weed which grows in our gar- 

 dens and farms. I believe if a census were taken of our farmers, 

 not five per cent, could name the weeds that grow on their own 

 farms. Born and reared upon farms, they know they are weeds and 

 that is all. They don't know whether they are annual, perennial or 

 biennial, and I know instances where by trying to exterminate them 

 they have multiplied them by dividing the roots. 



PRICE OF WHEAT. 



I have on several occasions, not only before this association, but 

 at Farmers' Institutes, expressed my conviction that the day for 

 dollar wheat has passed, and with it has gone also the opportunity 

 of the United States to control the wheat markets of the world. 

 The price of wtieat is now fixed by the ^'Mark Lane Express," and 

 is governed by the crops of other nations that none become too 

 strong and active competitors. German and English capital have 

 developed the wheat belt of the Argentine Republic, and in one year 

 23,000,000 bushels have been exported. India and Russia, too, have 

 unlimited resources in this direction, and the completion of a rail- 

 way from Russia to Port Arthur is not solely for the purpose of 

 maintaining an immense steel clad Russian navy at that point. We 

 are informed also, that at intervals of about ten miles along the line 

 of that railway as it is being built, hamlets are established and stu- 

 dents are put in charge of the serfs who are aided and encouraged 

 by the Czar in bringing the millions of fertile acres under cultiva- 

 tion. This outlook surely is not encouraging to the American 

 farmer w^ho pins his faith to wheat as a money crop. 



This should admonish our farmers and horticulturists to turn 

 their attention to fruit. In no branch of agriculture would they 

 have less competition. Tliere is demand in England for our best 

 apples. Nowhere in Europe can they be grown as easily and suc- 

 cessfully as here. Is it not evident, then, that our boys should study 

 these questions? The bulk of the practical business transacted in 

 Carnegie's office at Homestead, is embraced in the four fundamental 

 rules of arithmetic, fractions, percentage and discounts. Much of 

 the time devoted to geography, reading, etc., might be more use- 

 fully emplojed in nature studies. If these remarks shall lead to 

 further discussion of this important subject, the time will not be 

 spent in vain. I thank you for your kind attention. 



