1883.] THE PARMER AND HIS FAMILY. 173 



his kindness and that of Secretary Gold in making an ex- 

 change in the programme for my personal accommodation, 

 and also to express regret in case of any disappointment that 

 may arise in the audience therefrom. 



THE FARMER AND HIS FAMILY. 



By Henry E. Alvord, of Houghton Farm, New York. 



From the very nature of existence, the greater part of the 

 human race are, and must ever be, engaged in the pursuit of 

 agriculture. Producing the necessaries of Ufe on and from the 

 soil, its tillers must provide not only for their own families but 

 for the rest of mankind, otherwise employed. The producers ex- 

 ceed the non-producing consumers in every portion of the globe. 

 If we seek the greatest good of the greatest number, there can be no 

 better subject for study, with a view to progressive improvement, 

 than is presented in that social and industrial unit of which there 

 exists more than any other, — The Farmer and his Family. 



This especially applies to our own country, where agriculture is 

 the leading and permanent industry of the people. This meeting, 

 and meetings like this, attest the importance attached to this great 

 interest and necessarily to those in whose keeping it lies. There 

 is universal recognition of the fact of universal dependence upon 

 farms and farming, and the higher the civilization the greater 

 this dependence. The products of agriculture form the elements 

 of nearly every kind of business in the whole range of society. 

 We may annually witness the anxiety with which bankers and 

 merchants, manufacturers and the great transportation companies, 

 watch the progress of harvest. Good crops mean good times, bad 

 seasons, hard times. With the blessing of Heaven and bountiful 

 harvests, the whole business life of the nation is quickened. 



History teaches that where a people have devoted themselves to 

 a progressive agriculture, they have been uniformly prosperous, 

 while those nations which have abandoned, or even neglected it, 

 have declined. Many examples might be cited of great statesmen 

 in all ages, who have recognized the lessons of history and en- 

 deavored to impress them upon the policy of their times. 



