right to cut and burn diseased trees. The growth of a strong public opinion against poor orcharding is marked by the formation of voluntary associations of fruit-growers, with their own inspectors, having the same powers.
Sound public opinion should be encouraged, and the sentiment of farmers, as a body, should be such that poor farming will be stamped as a moral crime, a crime against one’s fellows, for shiftless farm methods injure the property and offset the labor of the adjacent farmer who is trying to produce the best results; and a crime against the people as a whole, for they have charged the farmer with production of their food and expect him to meet the responsibilities they have imposed. It is noticeable that an excellently managed, well maintained, and highly productive farm in a community creates a spirit of emulation, and tends to elevate the standards of farming on adjacent properties. With a knowledge of how to farm better, local public opinion tends in the direction of condemnation of the careless and indifferent farmer.
