CHOICE OF FARMS. 583 



fort, happiness, and general welfare of his family. These should always be primary, and the 

 money-profits of the business a secondary consideration; for, while money-making is one of 

 the great desideratums with most men, it is not the chief good in life, neither does it consti 

 tute the sum total of earthly happiness, as many, by their lives, seem to regard it. Success 

 and happiness in life do not depend so much upon the location and business, as the character 

 of the individual. As a general principle, the man makes the business, and not the business 

 the man. Success is what we make it, and the man of the right stamp, who is honorable in 

 his dealings, energetic, capable, systematic, practical,- and thoroughly business-like, will be 

 successful wherever he maybe located, or in whatever laudable business he undertakes. And 

 those farmers who are generally dissatisfied with their condition, and imagine that they may 

 be greatly benefited by a change of place, will find, in the majority of cases, that the fault is 

 more in themselves than in their surroundings, and that the adoption of a better system and 

 improved methods will produce better results than a change of locality. For this reason a 

 change should never be made without due deliberation, and an honest endeavor to ascertain 

 the true reason for a lack of success that has thus far characterized their business. Of 

 course, there are exceptions to this, as to all rules, but we think it will prove applicable to 

 most cases. 



The desertion of the old homestead is too frequently a mistake with young men. If 

 properly managed, money can be made there as well as elsewhere; while other considerations 

 of importance are involved, such as the influence of the association connected with the old 

 home on successive generations, their tendency to restrain from evil and promote the good in 

 a desire to hand down the family name with honor from one generation to another, etc. In 

 many of the sparsely-settled portions of New England the old homesteads are passing into 

 the hands of foreigners, and the state of society, as well as the lands in those sections, is 

 deteriorating. For the sake of the general good of the community in such localities, enough 

 of the native population should remain to sustain our institutions and maintain that intelli 

 gent enterprise and progress which is characteristic of American people, and which shall be 

 a credit to the country at large. 



Advantages of Large Farms. The size of a farm should always be adapted to the 

 purposes to which it is to be devoted, but it will also be largely influenced by the location. 

 In the Eastern section, where there is a dense population, where taxes are high, and land sells 

 for a comparatively large price, smaller farms will be found more profitable than at the &quot;West 

 and South, where land is plenty and can be bought at much lower rates, and also where 

 extensive use can be made of improved agricultural implements. As a general rule, the 

 number of men who are capacitated to successfully manage extensive farms is small com 

 pared with the number represented by those who can make profitable the management of 

 farms of small or medium size. Some men have special talents for successfully engaging in 

 large enterprises. 



They possess the ability not only to originate the most perfect and systematic plans, but 

 to successfully execute them as well. But these are in the minority, and it will be found in 

 the majority of cases, that the management of small farms, or those of moderate size, will in 

 the aggregate, prove most successful. Large farms, however, possess many advantages over 

 small ones. &quot;While the former will, as a general rule, cost less in proportion to their size than 

 small ones, they furnish a larger proportionate area of tillable soil from which an income can 

 be obtained. The insurance, taxes, repairs, and other expenses will also be larger in propor 

 tion to the investment on a small than large farm; hence, there is a larger proportion of 

 unproductive property in the former than the latter. 



Large farms require a smaller proportionate amount of capital to be invested in build 

 ings. The same principle holds true with respect to fencing. 



The expense of furnishing farming implements on a small farm is very much higher in 



