THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FARM 



states in 1905, bank deposits exceeded one 

 billion of dollars, the largest ever known. 



These figures, taken in connection with the 

 value of the great plant of the American 

 farmer, which has now reached the unthinkable 

 sum of twenty-one billions of dollars, suggest 

 something of the mighty power now vested 

 in those who till the soil, a power once put 

 in combination capable of carrying an influence 

 outside the sweep of the imagination. 



But this is only the material side. Far 

 beyond this lies the influence of the American 

 farmer himself, the farmer of the New Earth. 

 He stands out unique, the first really repre- 

 sentative man in a calling as old as history. 

 He is a menial no longer, he is dependent no 

 longer, he is master of his own fortunes and 

 his own destiny. And these fortunes and this 

 destiny he looks upon clear-eyed and free from 

 egotism. 



I asked the head of one of the greatest 

 horticultural houses in Europe, why it was 

 that the workmen we saw about his estate 

 seemed so uniformly gentle, so noticeably 

 refined of face. 



" It is because of the flowers and the plants," 



377 



