2l6 AMERICAN FARMS. 



Though our city cousins may still be a good deal prone 

 to look upon their rustic relations as rather stupid and 

 unintellectual, it is well for them to know that natural 

 conditions are all on the side of the countryman. And 

 certainly the countryman should realize more fully what 

 are his possibilities. The feeling which generally pre- 

 vails, however, makes it preposterous for even the lead- 

 ing farmers of America to think of taking a place in 

 society with the equally prosperous of other classes. 



In business concerns we have regular meetings of our 

 Board of Trade, in all our great commercial centres, to 

 which it is not at all uncommon for lawyers, doctors, 

 manufacturers, and newspaper editors to be invited to 

 take part in debating questions that may affect the rural 

 classes most deeply. But when are farmers requested 

 to become members of these societies, or to give their 

 views on the matters discussed ? It is true, that the 

 Grange organizations — societies which should have a 

 welcome in every rural district — are beginning to give 

 the farmer some prominence ; through this medium, he 

 should voice his sentiments and desires with effect. Yet 

 the farmer is considered rather out of his senses, when 

 he presumes to match his intellectual faculties with 

 others ; and, in fact, his want of success is frequently 

 attributed to his lack of ability. 



Have not the majority of our most able and useful 

 public men, in all the walks of life, been bred on the farm ? 

 Are not our most advanced institutions of learning pro- 

 vided with their brightest intellects from the country 

 families ? We think few will undertake to deny this 

 claim for the country. Said Emerson : " The great men 

 are not in the halls triumphing, but in the fields work- 

 ing. . . . The city is recruited from the country. . . . 



