NORTH KENNEBEC SOCIETY. 201 



I could not be a partner in thought or feeling with the farmer 

 who takes no interest as to the improvement of his flocks and 

 herds, or to whom it would be all the same whether they were 

 of one class or another. There is scarcely any object more 

 interesting or noble, within the province of the husbandman, 

 than that of improvement in live stock. How admirable is 

 symmetry in the form of the ox or the horse, or strength in the 

 • one, or swiftness in the other. How much is added to the 

 wealth and the attractiveness of the farm, when indifferent or 

 inferior animals and birds, are superseded by better and hand- 

 somer ones. When you have considered the style and the order 

 of the buildings, and the plan and the condition of the grounds, 

 belonging to a diligent, progressive farmer, you examine the 

 occupants of the stye, and the various sorts of fowls, to learn 

 if the idea of utility and beauty extends to these possessions ; 

 and you go forth into the pastures, expecting to find the same 

 idea revealed in the condition and the beauty of the creatures 

 grazing within them. And you are not disappointed. Whoever 

 becomes a connoisseur in a few things, becomes one in all within 

 the limit of his employment. You are amply remunerated for 

 a little effort, when you behold the noble oxen in repose, see the 

 intelligence of their large eyes, and smell their healthy breath; 

 or the dairy cows, fat, sleek and glossy, cropping busily the 

 sweet grass ; or the white flocks, feeding on the rocky hills and 

 answering to- your call; or the horses, grazing on the plains, 

 and prancing and neighing with pride at your approach. 



Is not Maine to be pre-eminent not only for her sea-board 

 and commerce, but also for her agricultural interests, — her hay 

 fields and grazing farms, and her cattle, sheep and horses ? I 

 learn from every intelligent farmer with whom I converse, that 

 there is no reason why our people may not attain wealth rapid- 

 ly, by raising live stock. Here are grass-bearing acres, without 

 number ; lakes, rivers, brooks and springs, at every point ; a good 

 market at every door, and easy access to the best markets 

 abroad. Then let your flocks and herds multiply and increase, 

 faster than Jacob's did in the land of Laban. Be not in haste 

 to sell your cattle and horses. Wait till your hay and grass 

 can be eaten, and your yearly supply for the market large. 

 Your wool can go to the market, from the first. But be slow 



