21 



pbenuiiieiui, preceding or accompanying these disturban- 

 ces. The system of weather reports inaugurated by the 

 national government is unquestionably destined to be of 

 immense value, not only to commerce, but to agriculture. 

 It is almost certain that at no distant day the weather 

 bureau at Washington will be able to predict the arrival 

 of a storm at any particular point, with almost as much 

 certainty as the arrival of the railroad train or steam- 

 boat. It will only remain to devise a .S3^stem of signals 

 by which this information can be transmitted over the 

 country, to enable the former to prepare for a storm sev- 

 eral hours in advance. 



I have thus mentioned some of the contingencies 

 against which the farmer can be more or less guarded ; 

 but there are others which are beyond his control or 

 foresight. 



The farmer's Ijusiness is with the great forces of na- 

 ture. He may lay his plans with the utmost skill and 

 prudence, and drought, or wet or cold may destroy them 

 all. His success, however, will depend upon the exact- 

 ness with which his operations conform to the laws 

 which govern the elements. In this respect his business 

 differs from every other. The manufacturer, for instance, 

 takes a piece of dead matter, like cotton or steel, and 

 makes of it what he chooses. He knows beforehand 

 just what kind of product will come from his machinery, 

 the quantity he will obtain, and what it will cost to pro- 

 duce it. If his machinery goes wrong, he can stop it, 

 and when he has once learned to manufacture an article, 

 he can go on indefinitely producing exactly the same 

 article. 



The farmer desires to manufacture potatoes. He de- 

 posits his material — manure and seed — in the ground. 



