PROGRESSIVE FARMING. ?5 



spondingly small, but, on an average, sure. And I have some- 

 times thought, that if the excess of profits over the losses in the 

 different branches of industry could by any means be ascertained, 

 we should perhaps find ours not very far behind the rest. It is 

 true that agriculture does not present the possibilities of obtain- 

 ing fortune or fame, which are so attractive in commercial or 

 professional life ; but it does not involve the hazard. We can 

 scarcely conceive of an agricultural Vanderbilt or Astor. The 

 farmer's gains depend upon the same rules of business which 

 insure success in any other calling. Brains, energy, and execu- 

 tive ability, applied to the culture of the land, will not fail to 

 reward their possessor ; moderately perhaps, but sufficiently for 

 the ordinary needs of life. 



We must remember, too, that distinguished success in any 

 pursuit falls to the lot of but few. 



" The many fail, the one siicceeds ;" 



and if we think our neighbor's prosperity is greater than ours, 

 it is but fair to conclude that the fault is partly in ourselves. 



We have thus taken a view of our occupation only from the 

 narrow ground of pecuniary interest. 



It does not come within the scope of my present purpose, to 

 discuss the aesthetics of agriculture, or its relations to the hap- 

 piness of those who make it the occupation of their lives ; but I 

 desire to remind you, in closing, that this aspect of our vocation 

 should not be disregarded. There is no branch of industry 

 which has in itself so many elements capable of producing ease 

 and content, as husbandry. Men of all trades and professions 

 work and drudge in the hope that they may some day obtain a 

 competence, and retire to a landed estate to enjoy the fruits of 

 their labor. But who ever knew a farmer to retire from the 

 farm to mercantile or professional life, or even to look forward 

 to the day when he might enjoy his gains in some other employ- 

 ment ? On the contrary, his attachment to the old homestead 

 increases with advancing years. 



The trees, which his own hand planted ; the lands, once waste, 

 which his skill and labor have caused to bud and blossom as 

 the rose ; the adornings of tree and shrub about his home, — are 

 all redolent with pleasant memories, and unite to weave a bond 



