DISCARDING AGRICULTURE, AND THE RESULT OF IT.
By T.
EVERYTHING that man eats must come from the soil. The one who lives on a flesh diet must look to the fields to supply the grass for the ox or sheep that is slaughtered and brought to his table. And he who lives on the more humane, the more scientific, and the more highly civilized plane of a vegetarian diet, will go directly to the products of the soil for his living, rather than to take it second-hand thru the animal creation. These facts in regard to the source of man’s food-supply being true, it should be apparent to any one that agriculture is the most necessary, the most useful, and the most important of the occupations of mankind. By far the greater part of the people should be engaged in the tilling of the soil. Seventy-seven per cent. of the population of England are in the cities, while only 23 per cent. remain in the country to till the soil and produce the food on which the entire population must subsist. As a consequence, England must depend very largely upon foreign imports for the necessaries of life. This flocking to the cities, that is so marked in England, is also a striking characteristic of this country. Men are striving to get work in shops and stores, and on street car and railroad lines, and places of that kind. And while they have plenty of work, they seem to be getting on all right. But if the factory can not dispose of its goods, and so must shut down for a time, or possibly discharge a large part of its hands altogether, those who are thus thrown out of work are placed in a pitiable plight. They live in crowded city quarters with not a foot of land on which to raise food to eat; and when the shop is closed, their income is wholly stopped. In times of great commercial and manufacturing prosperity they have a plenty, but as soon as the “hard “times” come, they are thrown into the untold sufferings of want. Some men may live and prosper in the cities; but the great majority of mankind should be in the country, and enjoying the solid benefits of country life. And even those who work in the shops or in the stores, should not content themselves until they have a small piece of land to till, even if it is no more than a quarter or an eighth of an acre. At first they may think they can not attend to it; but if they will keep a close record of their doings, they will discover that enough time is wasted mornings and evenings, and oftentimes on holidays, to till quite a garden. And, then, there are the children, who are far better off when engaged in some useful employment than when running the streets and learning mischief, and vice, and crime. It is a short-sighted policy that amounts to gross carelessness (if it is not outright sin against one’s family as well as himself) that leads a man wholly to depend upon his position in the store or factory. The trade, or the position in the mercantile establishment, and even the professions, should be supplemented by the delights of tilling the soil. It is not only the safe plan that cuts off the terrors of hard times, but it also affords a change of occupation that is the most conducive to health and happiness. If we shape our affairs so as to take a little vacation every day in the garden or field, we will not need to spend a month away from home every summer for our health. And then, if we desire and can afford the month’s trip to the country, its joys will be heightened by the buoyancy of health and not weighed down by the heaviness of wasting disease. This is a subject that is worthy of your most thoughtful consideration. Think of it carefully. T.