32 . ■ STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



A. Mr. Graham. — It is brought in in wagon loads in the husk for the 

 protection of the kernels. 



Q. What do they pay per ton for sweet corn? 

 A. Mr. Hale. — Six dollars. 



ETHICS OF THE FARM. 



BY HON. C. J. MONROE, SOUTH HAVEN. 



Among several definitions of ethics, I have chosen the general one — 

 "The Science of Human Duty," duty to one's self, to others and to his 

 Creator. It involves right, character, conduct, virtue and obligation. 

 In this short talk I wish particularly to bring out that phase which 

 relates to common honesty, honesty with one's self and in one's dealings 

 with and relations to others. The need of this should be emphasized in 

 every department of human endeavor. It is one of the foundation prin- 

 ciples in self-government, essential to its existence and continuance, and 

 should be one of the first and most substantial incentives in the fitting 

 of men and women for the home, the neighborhood, the citizen and for 

 the varied social and business affairs. 



There are few if any callings or classes of business which naturally 

 and in so many ways enforce the necessity of honesty as farming. In 

 the ordinary crops, from the selection of the seed to the marketing of the 

 product, integrity must accompany every step. No juggling or deception 

 or neglect will be tolerated by nature, the ever exacting master. If 

 the seed be poor, the ground illy prepared, the subsequent care or cul- 

 tivation slighted, the harvesting delayed, or the marketing carelessly 

 done, this master will pay accordingly and no plea of ignorance, or 

 the shifting of the responsibility upon someone else will be permitted. 

 Watered stocks will be accepted to the extent that they have contributed 

 to the growth and maturity of the plants, likewise combinations which 

 join intelligent methods in the varied and complex operation of the 

 farm, and trusts resting on a foundation of genuine hard-heads, liberally 

 cemented with the mortar of integrity. 



Probably in no department of farming do we find more urgent need of 

 honesty than in fruit growing, particularly in the production of the trees, 

 plants and vines, that they shall be true to name and their quality fairly 

 known and correctly given. The losses, whether from carelessness or 

 from deceit in the sale and delivery of plants, vines and trees, have 

 amounted to many millions of dollars, and what is still worse, in an enor- 

 mous loss of time. Few experts can tell what the fruit will be until the 

 time of bearing. Take, for example, some of the choice apples, and 

 standard pears, which may not bear fruit for ten or fifteen years, at 

 the expiration of which time you may find that you have been deceived. 

 Thus, not only is the use of the land and the years of care and expense 

 mainly lost, but the time cannot be recalled, for it is gone forever. In 

 many cases where men have set trees late in life, the keen disappointment 

 of finding their orchards not true to name and poor or worthless in 



