THE NEW AGRICULTURE. 63 



Canada, to Texas, and a dozen other western points. They will 

 come to New England if we will only tell them the truth about our 

 soils, our crops, our markets, and our people. 



These, then, are some of the actual facts going to prove that the 

 undertow which President Brown so aptly applies, is setting rapidly 

 toward New England. Understand, I do not argue there are 

 no problems yet to solve, or that New England's future is to be 

 one long sweet song. We have problems today, and there will 

 be plenty of others for the future. Just now the labor question is 

 vexing. Then there is the satisfactory assimilation of immigrants 

 which are said to equal 2,000,000 annually, counting the natural 

 increase. I am not so sure but the matter of labor and immigra- 

 tion are two factors which will eventually be amalgamated to the 

 advantage of both, and two of our problems largely solved. 



Just now we are in the throes of meat boycotts owing to high 

 prices. This simply means that the producer and the consumer 

 are too far apart. The future must bring them closer together. 

 Right here is a significant factor of a new agriculture, and that is a 

 tendency of the consumer to recognize the problems of the pro- 

 ducer, and the producer to recognize the problems of the consumer. 

 There is a growing desire of each class to get nearer the other while 

 in former days the feeling has been quite the reverse. Producers 

 are learning they must give consumers what they want if they are to 

 get best results and supply it when wanted. Consumers on the 

 other hand see that this catering to their special wants is likely to 

 cost a little more. In other words, I can see developing a spirit 

 of take and give, which is a recognized principle with all business 

 men who have dealings with their fellow-men. There is a pro- 

 nounced recognition of the symbiotic relation between the producer 

 and the consumer. An excellent example of such a relation in the 

 plant world is the bacteria that live on the roots of the legume 

 family, like clover. The clover plant supports these bacterial 

 organisms and in return receives nitrogen which these tubercles 

 gather from the air and which the clover plant needs for its success. 

 Then you have heard about ants which take care of plant lice or 

 aphides through the winter, and in return gather exuding honey 

 dew. In the same way this new agriculture gives the soil air, light, 

 fertility; and the soil in return gives bountiful crops; both factors 



