18 INDIAN COEN. 



man of ordinary enterprise will be satisfied with any 

 such quantity as the average yield of the last decade. 

 It cannot be denied that thirty-three bushels per acre 

 is too low an average for the whole country, consider- 

 ing that one hundred bushels are by no means unu- 

 sual, and that much higher figures have been reached, 

 even all the way up to two hundred bushels. 



"Whatever has been done in repeated instances, by 

 various parties and under differing circumstances, is 

 surely a reasonable standard for every man to aim at, 

 and one which no true farmer will permit himself to 

 lose sight of. Knowing the limit of possibility, it is 

 only necessary to know further what are the condi- 

 tions essential to its attainment. Comply with these, 

 and you achieve the result. Let every farmer make 

 up his mind, at planting, how many bushels per acre 

 are fairly within his reach. Let him fix his mark in 

 the spring, with a firm resolve to come up to it. He 

 who determines to achieve whatever has been proved 

 reasonably possible, may safely aim at an elevated 

 mark ; and if he conforms to the laws of reason, and 

 nature, and common sense, will hit the centre of his 

 target at every shot. 



But there are, gentlemen, two great agencies op- 

 erating throughout the country, the tendency of which 

 is so favorable and so powerful for good, that I cannot 

 forbear to urge them on your attention. I allude to 

 the influence of farmers' clubs and farming journals. 

 No man engaged in agricultural pursuits can expect 

 to keep up with the spirit of the times, without avail- 

 ing himself of these useful and invaluable means of 



