REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 15 



that quantity so much cheaper on four, I feel that patience with such infatua- 

 tion is scarcely less than a crime." 



Xo reflecting mind can but admit that there is too much cause for manly in- 

 dignation at the condition of agriculture in portions of our country. Still, I be- 

 lieve the time is past when even a respectable minority of our farmers wish to be 

 let alone, or are indifferent to the progress made, and to be made, in their voca- 

 tion. The only class of fai-mers who wish to be let alone — and this wish is the 

 child of ignorance — but who ought, of all others, not to be let alone, for the sake 

 of their country, their calhug, and themselves, are those described above. There 

 was a period, it is true, prior to the opening up of our country to a home and 

 foreign market by railroads and canals, when even a better class of fai-mers were 

 willing to follow the old systems of tillage, chiefly because there were few oppor- 

 tunities for improvement, but little intercommunication, and no markets. But 

 the great and increasing demand for all the products of the farm at the present 

 day, as well as the wider range of domestic wants and comforts, together with 

 the intellectual and material resources of the farmer, have developed a general 

 desire for agricultural knowledge and aids, in order that the farm may be made 

 more attractive and j)roductive. 



Now, the individual farmer, however desirous he may be to avail himself of 

 every agricultural help, cannot always do so unless he is aided by some asso- 

 ciated efibrt like the Department of Agriculture, Avhere legislative aid, exten- 

 sive correspondence, time, and ability are combined for purposes of experiment, 

 for the collecting and distribution of seeds, plants, roots, grasses, information, 

 &c., &c., for the following reasons : 



In the first place our country is so vast that many farmers, if left to their 

 own resources, far distant from the great centres of the republic, are deprived 

 of association at fairs and elsewhere, with intelligent agriculturists, or of pro- 

 curing the best stock, seeds, implements, and information. 



Again, the majority of ou^ farmers, though thrifty and ambitious to a-s-ccl, 

 are unable of themselves, for want of time, means, or ability, to make those 

 tkorough experiments and investigations which have done so much to develop 

 the resources of the soil, and thus the wealth and prosperity of the nation. 



Thirdly, it is impossible for isolated individuals to collect and arrange for 

 practical use the vast stores of agricultural information and statistics which are 

 being gathered by associated eff"ort, and which are to stimulate and direct agri- 

 cultural pareuits, as well as guide legislation. 



Too much cannot be said in favor of agricultural statistics. They form the 

 key which is to unlock the hidden treasures of maturing nature, or the chart 

 which is to reveal to the husbandman and merchant the great laws of demand 

 and supply — of tillage and barter — thus enabling both to work out a safe and 

 healthy prosperity. Indeed there is no logic so irresistible as the logic of sta- 

 tistics, and, in this country, those relating to agriculture are of the highest 

 importance ; and I am convinced when the agricultural statistics of the United 

 States ai-e properly collected and arranged, and thoroughly studied by our 



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