1883.] HINTS TOWARD SMALL FARMING. 285 



groom and the bride, and the son of man, or the welcome daugh- 

 ter, as the case may be ? 



Don't you think we have a thousand, pure, faithful working 

 families in the State, who deserve to have this much done for their 

 ready cash ? No ? are there not a hundred worthy — nor ten ? 

 Then you have a worse opinion of our people than I have — and as 

 bad as the Almighty had of Sodom. One righteous family — as I 

 hinted before, would do to begin with. 



Such a plant must begin small, or fearful mistakes might be 

 made. Your rattling village, hurried together, is a tumbling bar- 

 rel where all sorts of people are made tO polish a few, and wear 

 out many for little or nothing. The destruction of good raw 

 material, badly selected in American colonies, East and West, is a 

 fearful subject of contemplation. The man who has had a glimpse 

 of the torments of it is afraid of them. "We must begin things 

 small. I wouldn't plant an acorn or an apple as big as a bushel 

 basket, for fear of the fruit when it got ripe, or rotten, and began 

 to tumble on us. 



It was hinted before, that a little water-power would be handy 

 for such a start Well — wouldn't it ? Don't a small farming 

 community have a mighty curious taste for bread of its own grow- 

 ing ? Is there any way of nourishing proper small farm inde- 

 pendence unless we provide means for a grist-mill, and for cutting 

 and finishing lumber too, where there is any to cut ? Of course, 

 in Connecticut we might have steam, but we should rather begin 

 with water as our steady-going fathers began. Water, you know 

 could be used for irrigation, to cover any chance of drouth that 

 might bear upon small holdings of land much harder than on large 

 ones. 



I hinted before that the small farmer must go for his natural 

 advantages. Water is one of the most important of them all over 

 the world. Are there any laws making it doubtful whether a farmer 

 may use his own water ? Then I vow we should clear all those 

 doubts away at the ballot-box. Unless we do an over-mastering 

 tyranny will surely make slaves of the descendants of revolution- 

 ary fathers wlio thought they had won the freedom of their chil- 

 dren forever. 



When the mighty laugh at the strangling of weaker industries, 

 a cord already hangs about their own necks. 



Whatever they are — hold on to your natural advantages — and 



