TRANSACTIONS. 195 



Merriam, of Boston, on 68 acres made $G98. Dr. Morton, 

 of Norfolk has 66 acres which returns as a profit $1,410. 



In this "way we might go on, giving you proof upon proof, 

 that the cultivation of the soil is one of the most profitable. 

 as well as safe, healthful and happy occupations. 



But you may ask, why it is, if farming is so lucrative, 

 that many farmers toil tlirough life and never become rich — 

 why it is that their estates are under a mortgage — why 

 fields are so often running to waste and dwellings hasten- 

 ing to decay ? Tell me, if you can, why only one merchant 

 in a hundred succeeds in accumulatiug property, while 

 ninety-nine become bankrupt. Tell me why hard-laboring 

 mechanics do not always become rich, and why the estates 

 of lawyers and doctors are seldom so valuable as public 

 opinion estimates them. Tell mc this, and I will endeavor 

 to answer that other question. 



The truth is, there is a greater equality among farmers 

 than among other classes. While they are generally what 

 they appear to be, the merchant, the professional man, the 

 speculator, are overrated. They live upon borrowed capi- 

 tal. Their wealth is fictitious, and when they can no lon- 

 ger disguise the fact, then comes a crash and a disclosure 

 of their real position. Not so with the farmer. His 

 gains are constant, if not large — his risks are few — his 

 losses infrequent and trivial. He may mismanage. He 

 doubtless often does, and we may lay it down as a rule that 

 when a farmer has a good location — a good wife — no spend- 

 thrift sons — no fashionable daughters — and yet fails to 

 succeed, the fault is his own, and all the income ten farms 

 would bring him, would not place him in a successful posi- 

 tion. 



What the New England farmer needs is system, fore- 

 thought, patience, to ensure the greatest profit from his 

 occupation. He must give as well as take. He must feed 

 his soil, if he would gather a harvest. He must expend 

 this year's income in improvements, if he would receive a 

 two-fold increase hereafter. 



