THE NEW AGRICULTURE 



209 



attention to these points? Our wealth has always been re- 

 garded as inexhaustible. 



Nevertheless, no thinking person can shut his eyes to cer- 

 tain national calamities that are advancing upon us ; unless 

 we anticipate them we shall, before we know it, be over- 

 whelmed. Two of these, in particular, may be pointed out. 



It is not uncommon to hear from time to time that an 

 entire crop for miles around is attacked by insects. These 

 spread from farm to farm, from county to county, from state 

 to state. They can be destroyed by prompt and intelligent 

 measures, but only by concerted action on the part of all the 

 inhabitants. Take, for example, the recent attack of the 

 cotton-boll weevil in the South, against which active warfare 

 is being waged. The ravages of pests like these leave in 

 their wake poverty and desolation ; sometimes whole districts 

 have been ruined. 



A further peril is foreseen by statesmen. They picture the 

 land drained of its best men, skimmed of its nutriment, 

 and its crops destroyed by pests. These conditions must 

 inevitably affect the food supply of a great nation. Failing 

 to produce enough food, we shall have to be fed by for- 

 eign peoples either within our borders or outside, — per- 

 haps both. The danger to the country at large is that our 

 farm lands, once deserted, may be quickly taken up by im- 

 migrants who, bringing with them distinctly lower standards, 

 will, before they can be assimilated into our national life, 

 get control of it and us. 



Those who watch the times are telling us these plain truths 

 in one way or another every day. What measures, if any, are 

 being taken to avoid these dangers ? With varying success 

 the grange and the farmers' institutes have been constantly 

 raising the level of country intelligence. Happily much 

 is already being done by the Agricultural Department at 



