34 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



Here again we see the need of more light and further scienti- 

 fic investigation. We see, too, the value of a comparison of 

 views among the tillers of the soil, who make claim to no other 

 knowledge than that which is experimental. One of the most 

 genial writers of the day, who unites to a high literary culture 

 much practical knowledge of farming, recently gave the follow- 

 ing excellent bit of advice : — "If farm writers would cultivate a 

 nice habit of observation, and spend their writing force upon ex- 

 actness of detail in regard to their personal experience, and leave 

 scientific disquisition and theorizing to those who give their 

 lives to such studies, I think we should all be much better off 

 for it." Does not the value of an agricultural society depend 

 mainly on the opportunity it affords for an interchange of opin- 

 ion, and a public statement of agricultural experience ? 



If the statements I have made are in the main correct, it is 

 manifest that at present there is no royal road to pecuniary suc- 

 cess in agricultural pursuits, at least in New England. Some 

 doubting agricultural Thomases even claim that there is no 

 path here to satisfactory financial results, and that capital and 

 labor yield in farming more meagre returns than in any other 

 business. On the other hand, the outside world commonly re- 

 gards us as chronic grumblers. It says we are always com- 

 plaining of short crops of hay, rotting potatoes, extreme drought 

 or too much wet, while in fact we generally pay our bills, appear 

 to have enough to eat, and sometimes have a little money in the 

 bank, and we are triumphantly asked " Who ever knew a farmer 

 to fail ? " 



The truth, however, lies between the two extremes, as in the 

 well-known instance of the two ancient knights, who quarreled 

 about the composition of the shield. Farmers generally seem 

 prosperous, and the reason is that as a class they have the fac- 

 ulty of living within their means. If they lay up money they 

 do it by not spending, rather than by large profits. The truth 

 is, my friends, we cannot reasonably expect our business to yield 

 very large money returns. It is a well-established law of politi- 

 cal economy, that any occupation pays a profit in proportion to 

 the risk involved. This rule applies to all pursuits in life as 

 well as to ours. There are few ways of employing capital in 

 which the risk or loss is so small as in farming. 



Hence, we should naturally expect the return to be corre- 



