50 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



tiously, with an eye to the main chance. Another condition 

 that I will name is, that our farmers must not readily yield 

 to discouragements. Losses and disappointments are the 

 common lot of all classes and conditions of men. 



If rain and hail and tempest sweep his fields and forests 

 with the besom of destruction, if disease and blight and 

 insect-pests combine to destroy and disappoint his hopes, let 

 him remember that this state of things cannot always last, 

 that a failure this year may be followed by success next year. 

 Let him, then, possess his soul in patience, relying in perfect 

 faith and trust upon the immutable promise of Jehovah, that 

 "while the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold 

 and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall 

 not cease." Let him give no heed to the prophets who 

 prophesy evil things falsely and ignorantly concerning his 

 calling and its prospects. That calling has occupied the 

 ; attention, and employed the sldll and talents, of some of the 

 noblest ones of earth in all ages and in all countries, and will 

 continue to do so to the end of time : it has been, is, and 

 will be, the foundation-stone of the prosperity of nations and 

 of individuals. There are no valid reasons for distrust or 

 discouragement. Let the farmer take counsel of his hopes. 



Science and art have already done much to aid the farmer 

 by the invention and manufacture of machinery and imple- 

 ments, by the use of which he has lightened his labors, and 

 secured better results therefrom. By the use of the mowing- 

 machine, the tedder, and the horse-rake, the cutting, curing, 

 and gathering of the hay-crop, is a pastime in comparison 

 with the old methods. The reaper, with its binding attach- 

 ments, harvests the grain with ease ; while the threshing- 

 machine quickly prepares it for the mill or the market. 

 Improved ploughs and harrows aid in the more thorough 

 preparation of the seed-bed; while cultivators and horse-hoes 

 afford the means for rapid and effective cultivation. Chem- 

 istry, botany, miDeralogy, and meteorology are shedding 

 their morning light upon the pathway of the farmer, clearing 

 away the mists and fogs and clouds of traditional old-fogy- 

 ism, making the way clear and bright. This light is des- 

 tined to increase and brighten, until it shall blaze forth in 

 the full splendor of its meridian glory. 



