84 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



breeders for three times the amount that Mr. Clellan was 

 able to get for his farm. I have cited this instance, and I 

 might cite numberless like ones, as a proof of a position that 

 I am about to take that is not eagerly assented to in 'New 

 England. It is this : that breeding registered dairy cattle of 

 any of the four dairy breeds is the most profitable kind of 

 dairying for 90 per cent of the people engaged in the dairy 

 industry in jSFew England. I except the men who make mar- 

 ket milk and who live in close proximity to our cities., But 

 I am inclined to the opinion that even they might be in- 

 cluded and the truth of the proposition still be verified. In 

 attempting to substantiate this statement I shall try to 

 cover the whole scope of my subject. Whether I will or 

 no I must invite the young men of the rural communities 

 to engage in breeding and feeding the dairy cow. 



Is it worth while ? Is there anything in this constant bab- 

 bling about back to the land and keeping the young people 

 on the farm ? Something, perhaps ; but its importance has 

 been greatly exaggerated. There are enough agricultural 

 products, and especially dairy products, produced already 

 to meet every reasonable demand. In the beginning this 

 country was populated practically by farmers alone, but as 

 inventions have aided the farmer he has been able to dis- 

 pense with much manual labor, until to-day 60 per cent of 

 the population dwell in the cities and only 40 per cent on 

 the farm. As inventions continue to multiply, and they 

 certainly will, less and less people proportionally will be re- 

 quired on the farm. 



This is as it should be. What needs to be remedied is 

 extortionate transportation charges and the excessive costs 

 of distribution. The city papers should teach their readers 

 that the agricultural industry is the only industry in this 

 country that is on a strictly competitive basis. Farming is 

 the only industry in the country that welcomes every comer 

 to its ranks, the city editor included, and furnishes them 

 with all the instruction at its comm^and to compete with us 

 and to help lower the cost of our products. If the "back 

 to the land " propaganda could be carried out it would bring 

 about another agricultural depression in prices and another 



