AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



ing conditions of soil and climate. It is neces- 

 sary that the farmer be ever alert. "It is a max- 

 im universally agreed upon in agriculture," says 

 Pliny, "that nothing must be done too late; and 

 again, that everything must be done at its proper 

 season; while there is a third precept, which re- 

 minds us that opportunities lost can never be 

 regained/' 1 It is of exceedingly great impor- 

 tance that the farmer have in mind some guiding 

 principles which, like the compass, will enable 

 him to direct his actions in accordance with a 

 definite purpose. 



There remains that class until this day who fail 

 to recognize the presence of natural laws, and 

 who attribute the unusual success of the men of 

 extraordinary ability to dishonesty or to foul 

 play of some sort, while to "bad luck" they 

 ascribe the results of their own laziness. These 

 men who talk of "luck," and who are not willing 

 to attribute to brain and brawn the success of 

 their neighbors, may well draw a lesson from the 

 following story related by the ancient writer, 

 Pliny: "C. Furius Chresimus, a freedman, hav- 

 ing found himself able, from a very small piece of 

 land, to raise far more abundant harvests than his 

 neighbors could from the largest farms, became 

 the object of very considerable jealousy among 

 them, and was accordingly accused of enticing 



1 Natural History, Book XVIII, Chapter 8, Bohn's edition, 

 Vol. IV, p. 1 8. 



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