76 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



the evils of a bad reputation as a paymaster, and an unpopu- 

 lar taskmaster. 



When the farm held the monopoly, it could say to the idle 

 men of the market-place, "Go work to-day in my field, and 

 what is right I will pay thee ; " but when trades and profes- 

 sions are able to say, "Educate, and I will pay you better 

 and work you less," then there appears to be an antagonism 

 between education and a2:riculture. Knowledo;e cannot in- 

 jure a man for the farm, if 3'ou can keep him on it; but if it 

 is the means of his leaving it, there is a loss to the farm 

 directly : for, in general, a man of less ability will follow. 

 When the country was new and no manufactories existed, 

 when commerce was in its infancy and the great "NVest was 

 unknown, there was little to induce men from the soil. But 

 now the forests have disappeared, the streams have been 

 harnessed to the mill, the steam-engine has been set up, 

 science has commenced her rule, and art is rapidly finding a 

 home in every family. The mountains must be excavated to 

 bring to light their hidden treasures, and commerce must be 

 carried on to contribute to the new mode of living. To carry 

 on these processes, the best brains and bodies must be taken 

 from every family, and the surplus of other countries must 

 come in to fill up the quota of labor, demanded by three mil- 

 lions of square miles of new lands. The farm-labor that 

 formerly came to us from the other New England States, is 

 now employed in our various manufacturing interests, and 

 our own men find more lucrative employment in connection 

 with those departments of business, than the farm can otfer. 

 It is true that increased means of education enable them bet- 

 ter to fill these situations, and doubtless our school instruc- 

 tion is the means of sending many of the best men from the 

 farm ; for the boy that reads well has the key to all knowl- 

 edge, and soon gets tired of working by the month, and, if 

 he works the soil, desires to be a landholder. It is but a 

 short time before he prefers to superintend, while others 

 work ; and, if successful, will try to get one corner of his 

 farm on State Street, or sell it out and go into other business, 

 or retire. The boy with the rudiments of an education is 

 much more likely to learn a trade and excel in it. The 

 journeyman soon becomes an owner or superintendent, and 



