294: WHAT I KNOW OF FARMING. 



perfect data. I have admitted that Grain and Beef 

 can usually be produced at less cost on great than on 

 small farms, though the rule is not without excep- 

 tions. I only insist that there are room and hope 

 for the small farmer also, and that large farming can 

 never absorb nor enable us to dispense with small 

 farms. 



I. And first with regard to Fruit. Some Tree- 

 Fruits, as well as Grapes, are grown on a large scale 

 in California it is said, with profit. But nearly all 

 our Pears, Apples, Cherries, Plums, etc., are grown 

 by small farmers or gardeners, and are not likely to 

 be grown otherwise. All of them need at particular 

 seasons a personal attention and a vigilance which 

 can seldom or never be accorded by the owners or 

 renters of large farms. Should small farms be gen- 

 erally absorbed into larger, our Fruit-culture would 

 thenceforth steadily decline. 



II. The same is even more true of the production 

 of Eggs and the rearing of Fowls. I have had knowl- 

 edge of several attempts at producing Eggs and 

 Fowls on a large scale in this country, but I have no 

 trustworthy account of a single decided success in 

 such an enterprise. On the contrary, many attempts 

 to multiply Fowls by thousands have broken down, 

 just when their success seemed secure. Some con- 

 tagious disease, some unforeseen disaster, blasted the 

 sanguine expectations of the experimenter, and trans- 

 muted his gold into dross. 



Yet, I judge that there is no industry more capable 



