24 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



in the ceaseless round of tillage and production, and harvest- 

 ing and marketing. So important is the help rendered b}' 

 all these servants, that when you find a plough, or rake, or 

 reaper that " works well ; " when you have a cow that makes 

 you rich in the treasure of her golden butter, or a horse that 

 in the nobility of his nature faithfully performs the task 

 imposed upon him ; above all, when you find a young man 

 whose excellent judgment, strict integrity, and willing spirit, 

 make him an almost indispensable ally in your work, — then 

 you retain these efficient helpers, and exchange them for 

 others only when you can find better ones than they. Our 

 experience upon the farm teaches us to prize and retain 

 faithful servants. 



We learn from the farm, 



3d, That we should not waste. An observant farmer can 

 hardly fail to be impressed with the fact, that, in the pro- 

 cesses of nature, there is little waste. AVhat wise economy 

 is manifested in that force which keeps the heavenly bodies 

 in their orbits, and adjusts for the earth, with unvarying 

 exactness, the appointed change of seasons ! There is here 

 no waste of force, but just enough to accomplish the in- 

 tended object. Nature shows the same economy of material. 

 To use the illustration of another : " How perfectly discrimi- 

 nating, how illustrative of the principle involved, is the dif- 

 ference here between a stem of wheat and the trunk of a 

 tree ! As intended but for a season, the one, though ade- 

 quate, is hollow and fragile ; but the other, as solid, has not 

 too much material for the support of its top, and to with- 

 stand the storms ; and then it is needed, and was intended, 

 as a supply for the permanent wants of man." Does there 

 seem to be a waste of water when " the windows of heaven 

 are opened," and the swollen streams rush madly over their 

 stoiiy beds ? These same waters find theif way to lake and 

 ocean, to be caught up again upon the bosom of the air, and 

 wafted by the wind to other climes to descend in blessing 

 upon the ground. It is one of the signs of progress in agri- 

 culture, that more and more care is being taken in the econ- 

 omy of material. The fertilizing products of our farms are 

 being turned to practical account. The substances con- 

 stantly furnished in the processes of growth and decay are 

 seen to be the very materials needed to replenish the earth's 



