22 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTUEE. 



allowed to continue, it will come to that at last, that noth- 

 ing but a great upheaval of old Ocean's bed, forming new 

 continents laden with that rich deposit, which has been accu- 

 mulating for ages, can perpetuate the habitability of the 

 earth. Geologists teach us that such upheavals have taken 

 place in the past, but that the earth's crust is so thick they 

 never can again. 



Fourth. The pursuit of agriculture develops the poetical 

 sentiment. The farmer does not write his lines in ink on 

 paper, but on broad lands with plough and spade. His 

 imagination is inspired by the growth of vegetation, the wav- 

 ing of grain, and the development of animal life, as he sees 

 these things on the farm. Farming does not develop that 

 dry, utilitarian life that many think it does. No other pur- 

 suit has so much of the spirit of poetry in it. Who is that 

 poet who, above all others, carries cheer to the hearts of the 

 people of Scotland, England and America? It is he who said 

 "Thankit be God I can plow." Burns was the farmer-poet. 

 jNIargaret Fuller, in a critique of hers, on the earlier poems 

 of Longfellow, said, in substance, that his verses were inspired 

 by the study and not the field. But Robert Burns was the 

 genuine son of the soil, and his immortal lines are true to 

 Nature, and thrill a responsive chord in the heart of every 

 one of her lovers. 



Fifth. The pursuit of farming develops a healthy moral 

 sentiment. INIany who leave a country life in youth to enter 

 the more public walks of life, and gain wealth and distinction 

 afterwards, do so oftentimes at the expense of those moral 

 qualities which could have been better presei-ved on the form. 

 The course of James Fisk, Jr., is an illustration of this — his 

 own words judging him — when he said, for a long time the 

 only alternative before him was a prison or a palace. Nature 

 is moral, and she breathes morality into those who work and 

 commune with her. The success of business and professional 

 men is more nearly related to morality than every one thinks. 

 Nothing develops the elements of success like agriculture. 



Most of our distinguished senators are the sons of farmers. 

 In the face of the immortal Webster you could see the moun- 

 tains of his native New Hampshire. Finally, we affirm that 

 the pursuit of agriculture tends to develop the religious senti- 



