MARKET GARDENING. 103 



ness. 1 have heard of the fortunes that a great many have 

 made in different parts of the country ; some have gone West, 

 some have gone to the cities, and some have come back ; and 

 there are but very few of those who had any means when 

 they left home who have not found their money dwindling 

 away, and many of them have come back with their means ap- 

 parently very much reduced ; and, looking over those who 

 have stayed on the old places, I think they will compare fav- 

 orably with those who have left the farms, as a general thing. 

 I recollect in my neighborhood, where there used to be one 

 very thrifty and flourishing farm, carried on by the same 

 family for three or four generations. There were four sons 

 on the farm ; they were well educated, and thought that 

 they could do business that would be more profitable than 

 farming. Two went West, one South, and one went into Vir- 

 ginia, thinking that he understood farming and could carry 

 on that business there. The old farm has recently been sold, 

 and I doubt very much if there is a dollar of its value left. 

 Now, when they left it, they were in as flourishing circum- 

 stances as any farmer's sons in the vicinity. 



I have two sons on my farm. Sometimes they think they 

 are not getting along fast enough. I tell them they are 

 making two dollars where I was making one at their age. I 

 tell them if they will stay on the farm, I think their pros- 

 pects are just as good as those of the young men who have 

 gone to the cities. Many of the young men who have 

 gone to the cities have missed fortune, and I think if any 

 young man who is a farmer's son will take a farm in the 

 vicinity of a large city, and begin in a small way, he can 

 work up, even if he has no assistance. He is on the sure 

 road to a good living and some profit. 



The gentleman who opened the discussion, and some of 

 the gentlemen who followed him, made some remarks about 

 seeds. That is a very important matter for the market gard- 

 ener. There is an opening for a young man to establish 

 himself as a seedsman. I do not know a man in Massachu- 

 setts who can properly be called a seedsman. There are 

 plenty of men who raise seed, but there are few men upon 

 whose seed you can really depend. I think it is more dif- 

 ficult to keep your seed pure than it is to raise thorough- 



