90 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. [Jail., 



carried for us; they are to be brought to us ; we are to be taken to 

 them, far more expeditiously, safely, and cheaply than at present. 

 And the thing whose worthlessness annoys and afflicts you may 

 yet be brought or sent where it may render its service and find its 

 value. 



When we speak of a system of transportation our thought is 

 apt to range over a wide extent of territory. We think of a state, 

 or nation, or a continent. We see long lines of railway with their 

 swiftly moving trains. We see canals, and rivers, and broader 

 waters, with all the varied transports which float upon their 

 bosom. It requires some effort to bring our thought down even to 

 the common neighborhood roads in this connection. It will per- 

 haps excite a smile if I speak of a system of transportation within 

 the limits of the farm. Yet, this is what every farm should have, 

 and to some extent must have. That this system be a good one, 

 well devised, and well maintained, and liberally used, is of more 

 consequence to the individual farmer than all the railroad problems 

 outside the farm. The farmer as well as the railroad engineer 

 needs to study questions of lay-out, and grade, and road-bed, of 

 rolling stock, and motive power. Rapid movement, easy move- 

 ment, along its lines of transportation, is as essential to the suc- 

 cessful prosecution of the business of a farm as it is to the com- 

 merce of a nation. That class of things which seem worthless or . 

 worth but little, because out of place, is numerously repi'esented 

 upon the farm. Three out of four of them do not need to be 

 carried beyond its boundaries to find their place and use. Many 

 times this is impracticable, because of the wretched system of 

 farm transportation, framed without thought and maintained with- 

 out care, which is a good deal more common than it should be. 



Surely in regard to all things worthless because misplaced, the 

 general nature of the remedy is obvious, and our age is rapidly 

 working out the complex problem of its application. We shall 

 not see its complete triumph, but it is given us to see that it is 

 coming, and to have some share in its fruits. 



A thing may seem worthless because misplaced in point of time. 

 Our point of time is the present, and the thing we hold may belong 

 to the past or the future. If it belongs to the near and clearly 

 anticipated future, we easily reconcile ourselves to the situation, 

 and even rejoice in it. If you can see clearly that the city lot you 

 hold is going to double its value in five years, you are well content 



