THE NEW EARTH 



diffuse among the people of the United States 

 useful information on subjects connected with 

 agriculture in the most general and compre- 

 hensive sense of that word, and to procure, 

 propagate and distribute among the people 

 new and valuable seeds and plants." 



The initial report of the new Department, 

 issued under the direction of Isaac Newton, 

 the first Commissioner of Agriculture, who 

 held the position from 1862 to 1867, brought 

 out these, among many other points, well 

 worth considering in these later days: 



"Agricultural pursuits," he said, "tend to 

 modify and tranquilize the false ambitions of 

 nations, to heal sectional animosities, and 

 afford a noble avenue of honorable rivalry. 

 The acquisition of comparatively slow but 

 sure wealth, drawn from and invested in the 

 soil, develops health of body, independence and 

 simplicity of life and love of country; while 

 the rapid accumulation of wealth, not by pro- 

 duction but by trade and speculation, is 

 unnatural and unhealthy. It attracts men to 

 cities and tempts men to wild investments. 

 It too often unsettles moral principles and 

 substitutes selfishness for patriotism. Men of 



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