88 The Tariff and the Fanner. 



country. State boards of agriculture have been organ- 

 ized in many of tlie states, and from these have gone 

 forth thousands of bulk\' secretaries' reports, which now 

 lie on shelves hardly ever glanced at. Hundreds of 

 farmers' papers have deluged the land from Maine to 

 California, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, 

 with tons of — shall we sav literature? Then there are 

 agricultural colleges in many if not all of the states, and 

 from these sources have issued incessant bulletins. 

 Above all the rest is the Agricultural Department at 

 Washington, and from this eminence tracts and expen- 

 sive volumes have been rained down. 



If it is true that ''all work and no play makes Jack a 

 dull boy, ' ' how much more is it true that confining minds 

 continually to the same general topic, with no change, no 

 let-up, especially when this topic relates to the very work 

 followed all day long, tends to weary, stupefy, and dis- 

 gust men with books and papers. 



Where the editors of agricultural journals and speak- 

 ers at farmers' meetings have shown a lack of judgment 

 is in not perceiving that to produce the most at least 

 expense is but half the problem. This part is no more 

 essential than to get a fair price for it, nor so much so. 

 If a better agricultural education causes a larger quan- 

 tity to be thrown on the market, and overstock it, the 

 price per bushel or pound will almost invariably fall so 

 low that the total product will bring less than a lighter 

 yield. Should this occur, who but the consumer is the 

 gainer? The farmer has been required to harvest the 

 crop and carry the larger yield to market. For this 

 extra expense and toil he has received less than he would 

 with the smaller vield. 



An illustration of the truth of this on a national scale 



