244 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



will of necessity be a great increase of farms with smaller 

 acreage, to the great advantage of the farmer, who, with his 

 increased knowledge and the adaptation of means to a desired 

 end, will be able to produce more on fifty acres than his 

 ancestor obtained on double that amount of land, which will 

 mean for him less labor and more profit. 



The twentieth century has mighty possibilities in store, 

 whose achievements will astonish the world, but not the least 

 will be the progress in agriculture ; the most approved sys- 

 tems now in vogue will then become obsolete, and the world 

 will awake to the knowledge that successful farming will 

 require more intelligence and skill than was ever dreamed of 

 in the past. 



The needs of increasing population, the stimulus of keen 

 competition will serve to accelerate progress along all lines 

 of agriculture in the coming years. Then there will be 

 little or no waste lands. Our abandoned farms will be 

 reclaimed ; some will be devoted to sheep husbandry, some 

 to the growth of forests, and others brought back to tillage, 

 as their merits deserve. Let there be no pessimists among 

 the young farmers, but let them all buckle on the armor of 

 diligence, prepare their minds by well-directed study and 

 observation, and be ready to reap the fruit of intelligent 

 labor. The promises for the coming years are greater than 

 the past has ever held out ; for, as has been remarked, 

 science will solve problems which will reveal a new world 

 for the farmer to revel in, if he will accept the l)oon and 

 profit by it. 



The time will also come, if the farmer is true to himself, 

 when he will occupy the enviable position in the State, — 

 enviable because of his independent position, because of his 

 intelligence and being able to dictate terms to the politician ; 

 for then he may, if he will, be the determining factor in the 

 State, capable of wielding his power for the best good of the 

 body politic. 



This optimistic view is based on the thought that the 

 coming farmers will conserve and unify their power for self- 

 preservation, and as a bulwark for the State ; and in this 

 may not the future historian record the crowning glory in 

 the closing cycle of agricultural evolution ? 



