ON THE DIGNITY OF AGRICULTURE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2543, 27 October 1888, Page 1 (Supplement)

ON THE DIGNITY OF AGRICULTURE.

Some persons would 110 doubt fuel inclined to look upon the heading of this article as a sort of sorry jest—one which is quite out of place in these times, when there is sore distress present among large classes, aud when the most favourable way of regarding the future may be described as timid diffidence. Still, as momentous issues can frequently be traced to trivial causes, it may bo worth while to consider whether it be right to forget to look at agriculture under what is certainly an unfamiliar aspect, although it be certainly a true one, i.e., that of an honourable and honoured pursuit. For reasons, which in an extended form it is unnecessary here to specify, the world of our days has generally, though I admit by no means universally, come to regard agriculture as an employment which is only followed by persons of humble birth, of restricted mental culture, and (perhaps with reason just now) of restricted capital. Is it not very strange that the industry upon which the very foundation of society rests—the pursuit which nourishes all and clothes allshould have come to be so regarded ? Surely such an industry, one would have conjectured, should easily enlist talents of every kind, aud fire the ambition of every aspiring youth. Yet it is absolutely certain that nothing of the sort occurs ; the aspiring youth of these days seeks other fields; and, in many cases, agri culture is left, if pursued at all, to be pursued by tho dullard of the family. Here we have tho rudest possible clashin" of theory with facts. It is the object of°this short article to insist that, whilst agriculture must always be, not only the foundation of all public as well as private prosperity, but the mainstay of all that o-oes to make up a well-ordered state, we are entitled to claim for it, besides and beyond this, that it provides a suitable field for the exercise of all the most varied qualities, and for the highest abilities, of any human mind and position, let these be exalted as they may.

The farmer is not to be considered only as one of many commanders'of .industrial resources ; for he is besides, at one and the same time, both the ally and the antagonist of the chief of those immense and mysterious forces that impel and control tho progress of our world. The farmer is, perforce, linked in partnership with Nature—ll power whose ohangoful moods may, indeed, be guessed at for right or wrong, but which never, even with the exercise of the highest intellects, can be controlled for certain, or definitely directed. This, the poetic side of agriculture, gives it a claim to be considered as the most dignified as well as the most beneficent pursuit which can never fall to the-lot of man. Those engaged in it have habitually to accept defeat when they have dono all that man can to deserve success, and neither to bate heart nor hope in consequence. An intelligent, well-instructed farmer is of necessity constantly ocoupied with the solution, or

with the evasion, of problems which involvo tho most intricate questions of physiology, chemistry, and other kindred sciences. livery one of the--e problems, when even partially solved, is found to lead up to others in endless perspective. To the farmer, more than to any other student, does the remark of Sir Isaac Newton apply, when he said that at the end of a career devoted to enquiry into tho study of nature, he felt as a boy gathering up a few pebbles on the shores of an ocean which knew of no limits. In spite of this, for one reason or other, agriculture has never yet succeeded in enlisting in its ranks any great number of those aspiring, energetic spirits that form the elite of each generation. It is true that one can point in modern times to Jethro Tull, Loudon Sinclair, A. Young, T. Coke, Bedford.. Johnston, Lawes, and other illustrious names ; yet, for all that, the so-called liberal professions—the army, navy, law, and the church—have proved far more attractive, not only to the sons of the nobility and landed gentry, but to those of all classes of accumulated wealth. The Stock Ex change, manufacturing, engineering, and trade have enlisted the sons of that uncommercial middle clas3 now so fast fading away, Surely there must have been some terrible mistake somewhere to have produced the state of affairs which has now so heavily to be paid for, i.e., neglect of agriculture on the part of those persons whoso entire fortunes are often invested in land, which has ended in devorcing from it the best of those who should be most devoted to its cultivation. The result can now be plainly seen by all who eare ; but, for all that, it does not seem to produce the effect wliich might have been expected. Farming continues to be looked upon by a largo share of those now approaching manhood with aversion, by others with contempt. Perhaps this may not b} quite bo much the case at present as it was a few years ago ; still, the disinclination to farm still prevails, and is encouraged to a most astonishing extent, considering the material interests that are at stake. Nothing has yet been said of the immense natural folly which is involved in the disregard of the greatest of all industries—that which is the most necessary to the human race, and is besides the most elevating in its influences by reason of its intimate connection with all the great questions of humanity.

How can one account for this modern disregard of agriculture? Was its importance not divined by tho aspiring minds, the ardent genius of Alexaudra the Great, or by the still greater Napoleon? Or was it, being recognised, rejected from their great designs from its low operation, and its dependency on their insoluble climatic problems that annihilated the carefully-laid plans of the greatest soldiers of modern times ? To all men, however successful in their calling, from time to time comes the harsh reminder of their weakness To none, however, does this conviction come so constantly as to tho farmer. With him everything is uncertain. If ho sows early, can he bo sure that ho will harvest early ? That depends on the weather. What the weather depends on no one yet knows. Every season has its individuality—now favouring one, now another crop. Yet in the favour of the weather lies the farmer's success, for with all the resources of the world open to English markets no crop grown at home can be remunerative unless it is a full crop of tho highest quality. Scientific farming if there bo such a thing, is of modern origin. A small yeoman farmer of our day, shrewd and industrious, has much tho same knowledge as Cato the elder. He appears to have possessed to perfection that rule of thumb knowledge which so annoyed and puzzled the late Lord Palmerston. Cato's farming was of tho pot boiling order; ho loved farming wisely if not well. He sold his old slaves when they had a bad mouth -without a conscientious scruple, Tlmt Roman of olden days was a materialist. Rightly understanding what this meant at first he throve by it; then misunderstanding it, he died by it. In modern times Jethro Tull—evidently an intuitive genius of a high order— seems to have had a firmer grasp of tho principles of agriculture than anyone before him ; would it be too much to say than anyone after him ? How little pure science in its present form can do for us is shown by the constant appeals to records of trial plots. Yet these trials are too often vitiated by the disturbing influences of the weather—an incalculable factor that too often decides our plans, and, like a, ruffian gambler, kicks over the table when his game is up.

To those who would object that the difficulties and uncertainties of farming lower its consideration, it may be well replied that honour is won by overcoming obstacles, and that defeat, if it come?, can bo better accepted at the hands of the elements than of man. Nor is nature always contrary iu all things; she is simply capricious, her blessings and her curses are curiously mingled; and when she seems to be simply malignant, and when she has blighted all of which we had made most sure, sho brings some wholly unexpected compensation, in quarters from which wo had not ventured to hope anything. Anyhow, we wish to insist that the day is apparently dawning when the immense importance of agriculture will be more generally recognised than it over has been yet, and that the best men, of every generation, will take tho field, as generals of agricultural forces, with their armies equipped with every appliance which accumulated capital can provide and science can suggost. Trosto.ninesis.