416 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



of a cotton mill, speaking of the money value of mere reading 

 and writing, says : " the best mill in New England worked by 

 operatives who are unable to write their names, would never 

 yield the proprietor a profit." If knowledge is so desirable in 

 manufacturing, in whicli guidance of nicely-arranged ma- 

 chinery is a chief employment, how essential is it to men who 

 are perpetually in contact with natural forces, now more, now 

 less active, — men who are required to decide questions of the 

 rotation of crops, of tlie application of manures to various 

 soils, — to make accurate and long-continued experiments in 

 feeding and fattening cattle ? Manufacturers employ the best 

 scientific knowledge and skill in the production of a yard of 

 calico. Is it less important that a farmer should know the cost 

 of a gallon of milk, or a bushel of grain, or a pound of beef? 

 Manufacturers and mechanics work on dead materials, and 

 their labors are consequently less liable to be affected by causes 

 beyond their control than those of the farmer. He deals with 

 living growths, that are modified by light, heat, moisture, elec- 

 tricity and chemical affinities, — and hence he needs knowledge 

 both to facilitate his operations and to multiply indefinitely the 

 productions of the soil ; — in other words, to grow the largest 

 crop with the least expense, at the same time improving the 

 condition of his land. The manufacturer would soon be ruined, 

 who should persist in using machinery and employing methods 

 in fashion fifty years ago. Wliy should the farmer close his 

 eyes to the progress of the world ? Surely the art of farming 

 is not what it was in the days of the Pharaohs. Why should 

 we think that wisdom will die with us ! Is it too much to hope 

 that the time will come when farming shall not be altogether a 

 tentative, experimental, and therefore uncertain art, but that 

 principles shall be established corresponding to the immense 

 interests involved in agricultural operations ? 



Why are some whom I see before me recognized as eminently 

 successful farmers, held up as examples honorable to Norfolk 

 county ? Because they know how to employ their means judi- 

 ciously, and because they endeavor to bring, and so far as them- 

 selves are concerned, have brought farming into good repute as 

 an exact science and a profitable art. Tlie farmer must work. 

 That happy necessity is laid upon him. Is it not better that he 

 should work intelligently than ignorantly ? — adding to his own 



