"AS THE world progresses, new and more difficult problems present themselves, and a good working knowledge of nature's modes of action becomes more and more necessary. But no amount of knowledge will ever relieve mankind from the necessity of putting forth effort, which is the greatest factor of growth and development." " Mere physical energy counts for less and practical knowledge for more, now than at any other period of human existence".

You and I are witnessing a gigantic shifting of scenes in the great drama. We are seeing ignorance, prejudice and bigotry vanishing before education. We are seeing the old farms with their old methods, the old men with their old thoughts, pass away, while newness, thrift and energy come on. There are many of the older ways still among us, but they are now simply picturesque and serve to increase the interest in the shifting picture. The old farming will soon pass into history, and coming generations will wonder at it, as we now wonder at the monstrosities of the feudal ages.

Has it never seemed strange to you that men should ever have thought that ignorance is the safeguard of agriculture ? And yet that day has only now passed into the twilight. Have you never wondered that men should think that men are the least part of any calling, that brawn and clay and tradition are more potent that brain ? And yet some of those men are still among us. And do you wonder that the farm has not taken its place beside the forum, and that its brightest sons seek law and medicine and politics ? Do you wonder that ambition and inspiration flee from bigotry ? Farmers are fond of telling us that the farm supplies the intellect that moves the world, that it furnishes the cities with its sturdiest men. This is the saddest commentary that can be made upon farming. A calling that gives its best away, that retains the poorest for itself, can never thrive.

"A horse tied never so closely to a locked granary full of oats will be none the fatter unless his owner have skill enough to pick the lock." We are just now learning this simple lesson, and all the problems of coming ages will grow out of it. Nature has been a sealed book to the farmer, a locked granary. The very forces and conditions with which he has to deal have been hidden from him, and it is sad to think that he has tried to hide them from himself. He has repudiated the best thoughts of the best men in his contempt of "book farming." He has loitered by the wayside, and has then complained that others have out-travelled him.

But the reasons for all this are not difficult to find. They are to be sought largely in the condition of human society which has always placed a ban upon labor. They are to be sought, also, in the stifling of the search for truth, and in indifference to it, which, until the present times, in varying degrees, has characterized even the educated masses. We are only now breaking away from tradition into a freer light of investigation, inspiration and hope. And it is not strange that we have never known until now how ignorant we have been.

"But the end is not yet; energy in the soil and in the plant, never yet utilized, impatiently awaits discovery and the unfolding of the laws which govern it." Things grow old quickly in this human evolution. The best and most encouraging symptom of our farming is the fact that it is changing as rapidly as other things. The tools, practices, thoughts of yesterday are old to-day. To-morrow our best energies will be outdone. A century hence we will appear in our true perspective, in the first act of groping for the light. All our methods and machinery will have passed away, and heights which we cannot sight will have been left behind. . But kindred progress will have taken place elsewhere. Even now the steam engine has passed its zenith.

Do you sigh that you could not have lived in coming centuries ? Does the thought of the future make you faint-hearted ? Does it lessen your appreciation of your own work ? Do not make so fatal a mistake! This is a critical time. It is a crisis, and every man's best effort is needed. One's work is measured by his time, and no man's work in coming centuries can be more valuable than yours is now. Our agriculture needs talent, energy and persistence if it is rescued from its present condition. We are glad that we live in this daybreak of progress, that our blood bounds with the enthusiasm of discovery and anticipation. The wheels will move slower with the approach of noonday. With the greater perfection will come less energy. Ours is the richer inheritance. We have often wished that we might have lived in some of those great old times when the world took on new motives and started afresh. And yet we live in such a time. We need but to appreciate it!