AGRICULTURE AS A CALLING. 317 



. About six years ago, a Portland merchant purchased a farm and 

 removed to it, six miles from the city. That was before farmers' 

 clubs had attained their present prominence. Enthusiastic in his 

 new calling, he thought it would be both pleasant and profitable if 

 tho farmers in the vicinity could be brought together for a general 

 interchange of views in connection with their calling; notices 

 were posted for such a meeting. To guard against the possibility 

 of a failure, he made it a point to see them personally, explaining 

 the object and soliciting their attendance. Now mark the result. 

 There were present, the minister, the physician, the only members 

 of the so-called learned professions in the place, the merchant, and 

 the boy who had charge of the hall, these four and no more. 



A gentleman in a country town where there was a little neigh- 

 borhood of persons, was much interested and quite successful in 

 cultivating a vegetable garden, but was obliged to perform the 

 labor outside of his regular business hours. His garden became a 

 central point where these few neighbors gathered for friendly chat 

 and gossip after their day's work. They watched the progress of 

 the work, and from time to time expressed deep interest in this 

 garden in particular, and for gardening in general, and each 

 solemnly avowed that they would like a garden and would have 

 one of their own, if they only had time to attend to it ; but I sup- 

 pose that to this day they have not been able to apprehend the 

 fact that the garden in question was cultivated in the spare 

 moments which they suffered to run to waste. 



I will also tell you of a farmer neighbor of mine, a kind, genial 

 man, but narrow in his views. Ilis wants were simple, and his 

 land being remarkable fertile, he made a comfortable living. I 

 remember distinctly a conversation we had in regard to farming. 

 After dwelling at some length upon the degeneracy of the times, 

 and the new fangled notions about farming, to give a point to his 

 moral, he said with a tone and expression in which contempt for 

 the system and pity for his misguided neighbors seemed strug- 

 gling for the mastery, "There are the Roberts', they are spoiling 

 their farm by putting so much of this compost on it." 



In our second division we shall present some reasons why agri- 

 culture has not taken a more prominent position in this State. 

 The great lumbering interest has absorbed a large amount of the 

 labor and industrial energies of our State, diverting them from 

 other branches of industry. Agriculture has specially suffered in 



