VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 49 



ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE LAYING OF THE COR- 

 NER-STONE OF MORRILL HALL, JUNE 26, 1906. 



BY ERNEST HITCHCOCK, PITTSFORD, VT. 



There is no period in a man's career more interesting to 

 others or important to himself than when he makes his choice of 

 the business or profession to which he is to devote his life. It 

 is pertinent, on an occasion like this, to inquire what the occupa- 

 tion of farming has to offer an intelligent educated man about to 

 make this choice. 



In the first place we must admit, and we admit it without 

 reluctance, that to the man who regards the mere accumulation of 

 srreat wealth as the sole or even the chief criterion of success the 

 occupation of farming will present few attractions. There are 

 certain limitations, imposed either by natural or economic laws, 

 that seem to prevent, at least under our normal eastern conditions, 

 such accumulation of wealth by the farmer. This general condi- 

 tion is commonly recognized, but some of the reasons may be 

 worth specifying. In the first place, and probably most important, 

 the eastern farmer is by natural conditions precluded from doing 

 an extensive business as we reckon extensive in the modern busi- 

 ness world. As compared with the aggregate business done by 

 men engaged in mercantile, manufacturing and extractive enter- 

 prises the business of the farmer is and will indefinitely remain 

 small. As a rule, barring some lucky discovery, invention or 

 speculation, the great fortunes of our time which have been legiti- 

 mately acquired, have been built up, not by a high percentage of 

 profit, but by a comparatively small percentage of profit on a 

 large business. Many farmers make a percentage of profit which 

 to a merchant or manufacturer would seem enormous, but for 

 reasons we can not take time to specify the farmer is unable to 

 extend his operations beyond certain moderate limits. In fact, 

 the best opinion seems to be that our progress is to be in the direc- 

 tion of intensive rather than extensive improvement. The young 

 farmer can hardly hope to improve on the conditions of his father 

 by extending his operation over an entire town or county, but 

 rather by rendering more productive the ancestral acres. Indi- 

 rectly this limitation operates very seriously against the farmer 



