THE NEW AGRICULTURE. 61 



of New England money in New England resources rather than 

 sending it into the great northwest to develop irrigated fruit lands, 

 "dividendless" mining schemes, or into southern rubber planta- 

 tions. I claim that in this new order of things that the desired 

 capital will be forthcoming, for after the conditions are known the 

 business man will prefer to invest his money at home as a hard- 

 headed business principle. This then is another important factor 

 in the significance of the new agriculture to New England. 



Now is there anything to show that the era of new agriculture is 

 dawning and that it has significance to us ? If what I have been say- 

 ing is founded on facts one would expect a few straws in the current 

 showing its direction. Any man who is a reasonably close observer 

 has not failed to note the change which is so rapidly taking place. 

 Many of these are local but there are some which are interstate. 

 For instance, you remember the Better Farming Special Train which 

 toured Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and 

 Connecticut some four years ago. The railroad people supplied 

 the train and equipment, and the colleges and agricultural organiza- 

 tions, the speakers. The itinerary covered more than a month and 

 nearly 100,000 people visited the train as it stopped for one to two 

 hours on a siding at local points. Following that closely came the 

 Conference of New England Governors with which you are familiar 

 and which developed a commendable get-together spirit. Then 

 came the New England Fruit Show which has revived horticultural 

 interests in New England in a remarkable way. It is admitted on 

 all hands that it was the most successful horticultural event ever 

 held in the East. Plans are now well in hand for a New England 

 corn exposition and a premium list is on the press which will provide 

 about $7000 for the winners. Notice that these are New England 

 events emphasizing the resources of not one, but all of the six New 

 England states. These events are published widely and cannot 

 fail to draw attention to this quarter of the globe. Proof that it is 

 so is shown by the actual inquiries about New England industries 

 and farms. I have recently communicated with boards of agri- 

 culture, railroads, commercial organizations, and real estate dealers, 

 with an effort to learn what renewed interest, if any, is manifest. 

 In a word the verdict is that the inquiry for New England property 

 is more than double what it was four or five years ago. For instance, 



