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Are we to hold our own against the tide of outside com- 

 petition? arc questions which are frequently propounded. 



And separately and collectively, I answer, yes. 



The reputation which the Essex County Farmer enjoys 

 of being an adept in his calling, is due to the spirit of 

 enterprise with which the business has been pursued by 

 successive generations of farmers, who to-day till the 

 " acres " in many instances of their ancestors, more than 

 to the natural fertility of her soil — yet the quality of her 

 productions is unsurpassed by any section of the country. 

 It may be truly said that it is the natural, yes and original, 

 home of a vast variety of vegetables and fruits. There 

 have been more ciioice varieties of vegetables originated 

 within her borders than in any area of equal proportions 

 in the State. There is not a State in the Union but what 

 receives consignments of seeds produced here, and their 

 exalted reputation for superiority is unexcelled, and it is 

 generally conceded that seeds produced in the latitude of 

 their origin, are the most reliable for all sections. 



Let us bear in mind the fact that on the prosperity of 

 one industry depends the success of another, and that one 

 grand secret of the improved agriculture of the County, is 

 in the extent of the demand for all kinds of farm products 

 in the cities and large manufacturing towns which are so 

 well distributed among us, which is due to the enterprise 

 of the manufacturer, and no section comprises greater 

 resources for obtaining the necessary fertilizing materials 

 to restore and increase the fertility of our farms. And 

 this broad subject of fertilization — how and where to be 

 obtained and how and when to be applied — is one of the 

 fundamental questions which requires much thought and 



