December, 1911.] 



521 



Scientific Agriculture. 



man's income in this colony would be 

 foundtobederived, directly or indirectly, 

 from the produce of the laud. 



I remember some years ago, in a 

 lecture delivered before a fanning audi- 

 ence, referring to an advertising placard 

 which I had seen. The illustration was 

 a homely one, but it will bear repetition 

 even from a scientific platform. The 

 placard contained a series of pictures. 

 At the top was a picture of the Queen 

 who rules over us all ; underneath this 

 were pictures of the soldier who fights 

 for all ; of the parson who prays for all ; 

 of the lawyer who pleads for all, and so 

 on ; and down at the bottom was a 

 picture of a man following the plouorh, 

 and under him was written — "The 

 farmer who pays for all." No one in 

 this community should lose sight of the 

 fundamental truth indicated in this 

 homely illustration. Every man, woman, 

 and child is dependent for existence 

 upon Mother Earth. Those occupations 

 which have for their aim to make the 

 earth bring forth her riches are at the 

 foundation of our prosperity. Every 

 citizen in the community is virtually 

 concerned in the proper cultivation of 

 the land. The more prosperous the 

 agricultural community, the more 

 numerous become the openings for men 

 in other walks of life, and to raise the 

 status of the agriculture is to raise the 

 status of the whole nation. 



Thus, in its widest sense, the nation is 

 fed by its agriculture. Not only, how- 

 ever, in this wide sense, but also in a 

 higher sense is this statement true. The 

 moral and intellectual growth of a 

 nation is largely determined by the 

 conditions of its rural life. It is well 

 recognised that the country and the 

 city develop different qualities of charac- 

 ter, and each brings into play special 

 virtues and activities. Often the nimble 

 thought of the city contemns the slow 

 conservatism of the country, and pic- 

 tures the farmer as the Boeotian type of 

 stupidity and ignorance, How false is 

 this picture, none know better than 

 those who hive had intimate acquaint- 

 ance with the farming population. 

 There are good men and indifferent in 

 all walks of life, but there is no man 

 fitted to command one's respect more 

 than the first-class farmer, the man who 

 has carved out his prosperity by persist- 

 ent industrious toil on the land. The 

 knowledge and insight such a man has 

 derived from personal observation and 

 contact with nature is astonishing, his 

 readiness and resource are such as to 

 put many of us to shame, and the fresh- 

 ness of his feelings, his hospitality and 

 open-heartedness, come to the man of 

 66 



the world as a refreshing tonic. Hi- 

 conservatism is generally excessive caus 

 tion taught by experience. The moral 

 dignity of his calling is beyond question. 

 Washington described agriculture as the 

 noblest occupation of man. And read 

 also what Emerson says :— 



"The glory of the farmer is that, in the 

 division of labours, it is his pare to create. 

 All trade rests at last on hi* primitive 

 activity. He stands close to nature. 

 His profession has in all eyes its ancient 

 charm, standing nearest to God, the 

 First Cause. He has grave trusts con- 

 fided to him. In the great household of 

 nature, the farmer stands at the door 

 of the bread-room and weighs to each 

 his loaf. It is for him to say whether 

 men shall marry or not. He is the con- 

 tinuous benefactor. The farmer is a 

 hoarded capital of health, as the farm is 

 the capital of wealth, and it is from 

 him that the health and power, moral 

 and intellectual, of the cities came." 



Perhaps the most pressing problem in 

 our nation-building is the improvement 

 of the conditions of country-life so as to 

 encourage the growth of the country 

 population, and to call forth the greatest 

 number of men of this type. The 

 country is the recruiting ground of the 

 cities, and its best men are a perennial 

 source of fresh vigour and impulse in a 

 nation's life, a constant antidote to the 

 selfishness and pessimism engendered by 

 city strife and competition. 



We thus, then, I trust, realize the 

 high and preponderating importance in 

 many senses of a country's agriculture. 



Now, agriculture is not a science ; it is 

 a business. What then has science to 

 do with it? And how should any one 

 venture to speak of the scientific direct- 

 ing of a country's agriculture? Well, 

 what is science ? 



It is really remarkable that, notwith- 

 standing the wonderful growth during 

 the last half-century iu industrial deve- 

 lopment, in machinery, inventions, in 

 discoveries, iu the knowledge and practi- 

 cal utilization of the forces of nature, 

 there are still men, even some of promin- 

 ent positions and comparative edu- 

 cation, who deny to science any practi- 

 cal value. On the other hand we have 

 had academic statements that, in human 

 affairs, science has littie significance 

 except for practical purposes. Notwith- 

 standing such attacks on opposite sides, 

 science is more and more justifying its 

 position by the rapid improvement of 

 its world-wide organization, the enorm- 

 ous swelling of its ranks, the increased 

 volume of its output, and the ever- widen- 

 ing sphere of its activities. In these 



