exodus of country people to the cities ; and so on ad infinitum. 

 I do not believe we are in any great danger of such a 

 repetition of history. American lands are nearly developed, 

 and the population of our cities will continue to increase 

 much faster than the farming population. Furthermore, 

 whether or no agriculture is to become a profession, it is 

 rapidly being divided into distinct branches, and each branch 

 to be carried on effectively requires a high degree of intelli- 

 gence and skill. As the years go by the intelligence and 

 training given by the schools and the skill obtained by prac- 

 tice will receive greater and greater rewards. 



Herein is your opportunity, young man. You will be 

 paid according to the intelligence, training and skill you 

 acquire in breeding and feeding dairy cattle, and if you 

 possess these attributes in a high degi'ee your reward will 

 compare favorably to that to be had in any other industry. 



But you say : What about the teachings of our " modern " 

 agricultural papers, that are so glibly reciting that success 

 can be insured by using a few well-meant recipes of how to 

 conduct a farm according to the rules of scientific agricul- 

 ture as laid down in their columns ? I have this to say about 

 their teachings, that they are mostly prepared by newspaper 

 reporters out of a job. Their reports of profits of men who 

 merely take up agriculture as a pastime are truly wonderful. 

 These reports and their wonderful figures bring to mind the 

 dictum of Carroll D. Wright ; " While figures will not lie, 

 liars will figure." Xor is this type of agricultural paper 

 the only agency that is deceiving the people in this respect. 

 This country is spending large sums of monej^ collecting 

 statistics that remind one of D'Israeli's saying that " There 

 are lies, damn lies, and statistics." We have also officials in 

 this country who from these figures draw equally unusual 

 conclusions. A very distinguished official recently " demon- 

 strated " by such figures that in the course of the advance 

 in prices in this country the farmer had reaped a reward 

 out of all proportion to that of the man engaged in an;y 

 other industry. To prove his statement he cited the profits 

 of raising corn. He stated that the value of an acre of corn, 

 including forage, was $16, and proved by his figures that 25 



