INTRODUCTION. 15 



gration from abroad, it would certainly appear as if 

 the era upon which we are now entering holds out a 

 prospect beyond any thing hitherto revealed to man- 

 kind. We stand on the threshold of a future so fall 

 of promise, so radiant with hope, so teeming with 

 possibilities and opportunities, that imagination can 

 scarcely overdraw, nor enthusiasm exaggerate the ap- 

 proaching scenes of prosperity, affluence, and power. 



To you, Brother Farmers, such reflections as these 

 cannot be without interest, for with you it mainly 

 rests to realize for your country these well-founded 

 and rational anticipations. You hold the keys that 

 shall unlock the treasures of the earth. In your 

 hands are the magic wands that shall convert proph- 

 ecy into history, and organize possibilities into accom- 

 plished events, transmuting the visions of the future 

 into solid facts, and crystallizing anticipated scenes 

 into living realities. 



To you, then, gentlemen, may the writer be al- 

 lowed to address a few plain and candid remarks. 



If the prosperity of this nation is founded upon 

 the prosperity and success of its farmers, then arises 

 at once the vital question, On what does the success 

 of the farmer depend ? The obvious answer is, that 

 it depends mainly upon his getting from his land the 

 largest amount of products, at the lowest rate of ex- 

 pense. To do this requires not only industry but in- 

 telligence ; not merely the faculty of working, but the 

 faculty of thinking.. The man who, by combining 

 thought with action, contrives to get, year after year, 

 five or six bushels more of wheat, and ten or fifteen 



