1883.] HINTS TOWARD SMALL FARMING. 279 



purpose, as we know of the ranges of hills and valleys in our own 

 State. We think more of the transit of Venus, a shadow, a speck, 

 moving across the face of the sun — than of the transit of farm 

 produce to the nearest city or village — or the transport of city 

 waste back to the land again. 



Much of the opposition to new lines of travel by rail or com- 

 mon road comes from those who have not given, and perhaps 

 have had no opportunity to give the natural and feasible direction 

 of our roads a thought. Impassable roads, or roads at a difficult 

 grade, kill small farming and drive young people to emigrate be- 

 fore they are old enough to know what is the matter. 



Possibly, in respect to railways, and common roads too, it may 

 be for the selfish interest of a few to keep th& many in ignorance 

 until things are fixed so that the profits of a change may be con- 

 trolled by a few. It seems as hard to-day as it ever was to get 

 Ananias and Saphira, his wife, to take their equal share in the 

 community. 



However that may be, these public interests should be so illus- 

 trated and illuminated by a just government that all may see and 

 become competent to take an intelligent part in developing our 

 natural advantages. No matter if it takes a hundred years to re- 

 alize our plans, so long as we work on the right line and enjoy the 

 reasonable hope of making a good thing in the end for every 

 body. 



This Board of Agriculture would honor itself and serve the 

 State well, by urging better rural engineering upon public atten- 

 tion at every opportunity. 



Rockville might have that wonderfully beautiful thing — when 

 you come to think of it — a continuous intervale road, down the 

 Hockanum valley to Hartford. It can be tnade one of the hand- 

 somest drives in the world. 



A bird's-eye view of our hills and valleys from a topographic 

 survey would show exactly how our roads should run. 



Our western brethren do not neglect these things as we do, but 

 I am thankful we have so few flat surfaces of great extent, where 

 the checker-board pattern — fatal to all pleasant surprises for the 

 traveler — is possible. Occasional square 4-corners are nice, but a 

 thousand miles of them are tedious beyond expression. 



Our government will act in this matter when the people demand 

 action, and not before. A government is a curious thing. Officials 



