provements which our knowledge suggests, and 
which are not merely experimental but ascertain- 
ed fact. What we are here for is to consider how 
to increase the farmer’s successes, lessen his fail- 
ures and place his work upon the most certain 
foundation. His occupation is the first to exist 
in a civilized state. It is the basis of all other in- 
dustry. And only recently we are coming to re-_ 
alize that it is an exact science. The man no long- 
er deserves the name of farmer who conceives of 
his industry as a seratching of the earth, a hit- 
or-miss scattering of seed and a harvesting of such 
yield as soil and weather may permit. That is 
not farming, but a game of chance. This is, there- 
fore, a gathering of representatives of a profes- 
sion; and as such it is a first duty to consider the 
place of farm industry in the national economy, 
and to what extent it is prepared to meet present 
and future demands upon it. For grave national 
concerns, the state of civilizations, the condition 
of social life and the fate of institutions as well 
as the farmer’s position and prosperity will de- 
pend upon his readiness to meet the work surely 
coming in the advancing years. 
After an army has been raised and before it 
can enter upon any campaign, the first consider- 
ation is to provide its food. If that is a failure, 
the bravest and best organized force will melt 
away in a week. Our national supply of food, in 
like manner, is fundamental to the organization 
3) 
