UTILIZATION OF LABOR. 61 



prepare the soil for special crops or to secure its general fertil- 

 ity. This knowledge will come from observation and exper- 

 iment. Simple change of method may so far utilize labor that 

 eight hours may be as good as ten. If turning the furrow in 

 autumn destroys the insect grubs, so that the succeeding crop 

 is doubled, fortunate is the man who knows enough to secure 

 the double harvest, while his neighbor hunts " cut worms" in 

 summer, and lacks bread in autumn. He may not know what 

 species of miller the ravages will produce ; he may not even 

 know that they ever do take wings and fly away ; but if he 

 knows enough to so cultivate his land that his crops are unmo- 

 lested by them, he need not trouble himself respecting the 

 length of their antennce, the color of their wings, or the name 

 of the author who first described them. 



In the same soil one kind of seed will give more bushels than 

 another for the same labor. The seed and earth, rightly related, 

 will save labor, and give to man more time for rest and enjoy- 

 ment. The fruitful apple, the prolific grains, the choice flocks 

 and herds, all give richer returns for the time and strength 

 expended upon them. In the very law of plant and animal 

 growth is found the means of constantly increased utilization of 

 the farmer's labor. The plants and animals most useful to man 

 have a wonderfully plastic constitution ; that is, they appear 

 under different forms known as varieties. So that from nearly 

 all our cultivated plants and domesticated animals there is the 

 possibility of securing choicer kinds than have yet been known. 

 It is for us to learn all the conditions by which the most desir- 

 able kinds are secured, and to be on the alert to preserve them 

 when they appear, that our labor may be turned to the best 

 advantage. What changes for the better have been wrought in 

 New England within the last twenty-five years ! 



I need not spend time to recount the changes in stock and 

 fruit that have been so marked. And may we not reasonably 

 hope that in this line alone such improvements shall be made 

 for the next twenty-five years that one-fifth more product shall 

 be secured by the same labor than now ? If we can secure 

 this result, we have here an important element in human prog- 

 ress, an important condition for the advance of civilization. 

 Leisure will be gained not by stinting ourselves in the necessa- 

 ries or luxuries of life, but because less labor will be demanded 



