282 BOAED OF AGRICULTUEE. 



wealth and population is confined almost exclusively to the 

 cities and large towns, while in many localities, not only the 

 farming population is decreasing, but the value of farming- 

 lands. One reason for this diminution is the fact that since 

 the introduction of machinery on the farm less help is needed, 

 and another, that the income of the form will not allow as 

 high wages as other branches of industry. This seems con- 

 clusive evidence that farming is not considered on a par with 

 other branches of business at the present time. 



It is a common remark that farmers are in better condition 

 now than they were thirty or forty years ago ; that they have 

 better houses, better barns and better herds of cattle ; that 

 families are better clothed and better educated. All this we 

 believe to be true. And how has it been accomplished ? We 

 see from careful observation that families are supported from 

 the wages now received by one man, and something saved be- 

 sides. Now no one, I think, will claim that farmers are not 

 as industrious and economical a class of citizens as there is in 

 any community. Now, if labor alone will support a family, 

 an income for the capital invested, if not more than two or 

 three per cent., will constantly improve the condition of the 

 farm. But the question recurs, If the farmer should put his 

 labor by the side of the help employed, and transfer his capi- 

 tal employed in farming-operations to our savings banks, 

 where six per cent, is paid, free from taxation, would he not 

 accumulate faster? I am a farmer, and an advocate for the 

 farming interests of Massachusetts, and hope for a re-action in 

 their favor. 



Young men in choosing a vocation will take positions where 

 there is the best pay, with the least amount of labor, all other 

 things being equal. These places are more numerous every 

 year, with less competent young men to fill them, so that the 

 farm does not get its share. If a mechanic is to be employed 

 by the farmer, half the farms in the State do not give a daily 

 income sufficient to pay the expense of one man. This is un- 

 fortunate for the farmer, and there needs a re-action to more 

 nearly equalize, so that the attractions of the farm will be at 

 least equal to other branches of industry. 



I have examined the cheese report of the last year, or rather 

 for the year 1871, and I find that some factories did not reach 



