PROGRESSIVE FARMING. 19 



PROGRESSIVE FARMING. 



From an Address before the Essex Agricultural Society. 



BY JOSEPH S. HOWE. 



One of the chief hindrances to agricultural progress is the 

 reluctance farmers feel towards giving the public the benefit of 

 their experience, either by writing or by speech. There are 

 men before me to-day, whose locks have whitened in the sun 

 and wind and toil of the farm, — men shrewd, observing and 

 practical, who have wrung from the soil all they possess of 

 worldly wealth, — men competent to teach many of those who 

 attempt to instruct us, but who are only unwilling to make the 

 attempt. Could we obtain a record of the experience and prac- 

 tice of these men the result would be invaluable. 



Although tilling the soil has been one of the chief occupa- 

 tions of the race ever since our first parents were driven from 

 the Garden, yet almost the whole field of practical agriculture is 

 debatable ground. There is comparatively little absolutely 

 known of the mysterious processes of growth daily going on 

 before our eyes, and men of equal judgment and experience 

 differ widely in their theories. 



The census returns show that the relative number of farmers 

 is diminishing, especially in the New England States, and that 

 the tendency of population is to gather into cities. Whether 

 this apparent decline in agriculture is because the culture of 

 land pays less return, or because improved implements have 

 taken the place of manual labor, or whether the decline is only 

 apparent, is a problem difficult of solution. It is certain that 

 the demand for all the varied products of the soil is greater than 

 ever, and consumers are slow to believe that the prices they pay 

 are not sufficiently high. At the same time some of us fail to 

 see the substantial, tangible evidence that our business is profit- 

 able. I have thought, therefore, that we might well occupy the 



