SECRETARY'S REPORT. 133 



" Not except under fuvortible circustances, as to manure and markets, con- 

 nected witli judicious supervisiua." 



J. L. Wells, Wells. 



*' A man who understands farming, pursues it systematically and judi- 

 ciously, can pay high wages and make good profits." 



[No signature.] 



" Hired labor -will pay at present rates, being lower than for some yeara 

 past." 



C. B. Sumner, Appleton. 

 " It will now, but would not three years ago." 



J. Cargill, Newcastle, 



« 



" Many farmers have an idea that they cannot afford to hire labor to carry 

 on tluir (arms, but my cxjtrience is to the contrary ; and having tried the 

 experiment with care, am fully satisfied that it is profitable to employ as much 

 help us is necessary to carry on farming to advantage." 



E. K. French, Chcstervillc. 



" With the ordinary shrewdness which isduccs success in other business, 

 and makes hired labor there profitable, — a proper system and the direct personal 

 attention of the farmer himself, I think he will get a handsome return from 

 the wages paid to every man he employs, even at the jiresent high prices ; 

 the numiier of employees to be limited only by the extent of his farm, his 

 means for enriching it, and his ability to direct and control." 



John F. Anderson, Windham. 



The question is practically one of considerable magnitude, as on 

 its decision in the mind of each farmer "will depend his course of 

 action, whether he pursue farming as a business, striving to obtain 

 a profit from his operations, or whether he be content to employ his 

 own labor alone, and earn what he can. 



It is a question for each to decide for himself, upon a careful 

 examination of what is within himself, and of all the circumstances 

 surrounding him. If called upon to venture an opinion, after asking 

 that of others, it would vary in form rather than in substance from 

 those above quoted, being, that with skill and capital, and executive 

 talent to direct labor to best advantage, farming could be made profit- 

 able by hired labor in any location, (as to market) or on any soil in 

 Maine, ordinarily cultivated. 



* At Newcastle, and probably also at Appleton, the price of farm labor is regu- 

 lated, in part at least, by the couditiou of the shipbuilding interest, at present 

 depressed. 



