CHAPTER IX 



THE FARMERS' FUTURE RHYME 



The dawn of light is breaking 



To quiet farmers' fears ; 

 The sons of toil are awaking 



To enjoy peaceful, happy years. 



Then all that want protection, 

 Here is the way, you plainly see : 



Don't continue competition, 

 But join the A. S. of E. 



— IV. R. Freeman, Woodville, Mich. 



Undoubtedly one great, and probably unsur- 

 mountable, obstacle that has hitherto stood in the 

 way of any effective and lasting organization of 

 farmers by any of the plans tried, has been the isola- 

 tion of the agricultural class. When towns were 

 few and widely scattered, means of communication 

 meager, and when the nearest neighbor was dozens, 

 or even scores, of miles away and without any 

 means in the organization for frequent communica- 

 tion, the farmer could, in the nature of things, know 

 little of what was going on in the world, could have 

 few or no relations with other farmers. Lacking 

 knowledge of the lives of others, he lacked sympathy. 

 There was no sense of relationship or interdepend- 



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