8 



farm with the surplus profit of his commercial adventure. The pro- 

 fessional men of the day — the lawyers, the clergymen, the physicians 

 — all owned and cultivated their land, which they were proud to 

 occupy. And with this American system, as it has been called, a 

 system which the English reformers have advocated, and promised 

 the English people, went a multitude of civil rights, and privileges, 

 and opportunities, which were never lost sight of by those who 

 made up and supported and organized the community. The occu- 

 pants and owners of the farms were the pillars of the church ; they 

 filled the town offices ; they took their places in the legislature, and 

 made laws for the commonwealth ; they took part in the town 

 meeting with its stormy debate and its free ballot ; they aspired 

 to high offices and exercised the right of beating and being beaten 

 at the polls. The school house, the library and the lecture room 

 they entered for their mental culture ; the church for their moral 

 and religious culture. They founded a system of state and society 

 here which required of us, also a liberal expenditure both of public 

 and private necessities and luxuries. In a community founded as 

 they founded theirs, taxes must necessarily be somewhat heavy; per- 

 sonal expenses must be somewhat large ; the advancement of home 

 must be provided for ; the public entertainment will be enjoyed ; 

 the children must be well clad, provided with books, and sup- 

 plied with a good education. And this is the American system 

 of land-holding — with all its duties, privileges and opportunities — 

 a system which the statesmen of the Old World study with 

 profound interest and great care. It may be attended by a great deal 

 of careless and unprofitable and unskillful farming as every system 

 is, but it produces great results, and is the foundation of great pub- 

 lic and private prosperity. 



The agricultural law, which governs the management of farms 

 like these is the supply of the home, and if possible, a neighboring 

 market. For the great grain growing sections of our more populous 

 and older states, with their commercial and manufacturing cities, 

 furnish the great bulk of the market, consuming 90 per cent of all 

 the agricultural produce of this vast country. For the smaller 

 farms these same great centres of population furnish a market for all 

 local crops, and encourage careful and systematic farming. As our 

 population increases, and the manufacturing and mechanical indus- 

 tries extend, this latter system of agriculture with all its profits, and 

 and its independence of long and expensive transportation will pre- 

 vail. While, therefore, the foreign markets present great temptation, 



