V
THE RELATION BETWEEN THE FARMER AND THE RAILROAD[1]
Agriculture was so highly regarded among the people of antiquity that the Hindus ascribed it to the great god Brahma, the Egyptians believed it to have been given to man by Isis, the Greeks credited it to Demeter, and the Romans to Ceres, and the farmer Cincinnatus was called from the plow to, and twice served in, the highest offices of the state. In the United States it is the greatest business, in the number of people engaged in it, in the money value of the product, and in its importance to the welfare of all the people.
The development of agriculture in the United States began with the settlement of the colonies, and, until the Civil War, was rapidly extended. In the ten years ending in
- ↑ Address delivered before the Tri-State Grain and Stock Growers’ Association, at Fargo, N. D., Jan. 17, 1912.
