THE NEW FARMER 55 



longs no longer to the dominant class, so far as 

 commercial and social and political influence 

 are concerned. But none of these things move 

 him. For he realizes that out of this seeming 

 decline of agriculture grow his best opportuni- 

 ties. He discards pioneer methods because pio- 

 neering is not now an effective art. 



The mossback sees perhaps clearly enough 

 these changes, but he does not understand their 

 meaning, nor does he know how to meet them. 

 He is dazzled by the romantic hafer of the good 

 old times, dumfounded by the electric energy of 

 the present, discouraged and distracted by the 

 pressure of forces that crush his hopes and stifle 

 his strength. 



Economically, the old farmer was not a busi- 

 ness man, but a barterer. The rule of barter still 

 survives in the country grocery where butter and 

 eggs are traded for sugar and salt. The old 

 farmer was industrially self-sufficient. He did 

 not farm on a commercial basis. He raised 

 apples for eating and for cider, not for market — 

 there was no apple market. He had very little 

 ready money, he bought and sold few products. 

 He traded. Even his grain, which afterward 

 became the farmer's great cash crop, was raised 

 in small quantities and ground at the nearest 



