OUR HOMES. 101 



mixed farming. By rotation of crops in mixed farming the 

 land will produce a greater aggregate product and the qual- 

 ity of the crops will be better. The waste of one crop may 

 be used as a fertilizer in the production of another. There 

 is a better distribution of lal)or when mixed farming is fol- 

 lowed, as the various crops are planted and harvested at 

 different seasons. In a locality where only one crop is 

 grown, labor is very scarce and dear during the busy season, 

 as harvesting comes all at once and lasts but a short time. 

 A good year for one crop is not always a good year for 

 another. All ci'ops sometimes fail, but by a proper com- 

 bination the success of one helps out the losses in the other. 

 The declaration of Holy Writ is : " In the morning sow thy 

 seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand, for thou 

 knowest not which Avill prosper, whether this or that." 



One great trouble with the farmer is, he occupies and tills 

 too nuich land. Tlie number of farms in Massachusetts is 

 38,40fi, and the average of the State is sixty-four acres to 

 each farm. A small farm well tilled is the kind of a farm to 

 possess. Upon a small farm greater care is taken in the 

 selection of seed, and this has much to do with the success 

 of the crop. The intelligent farmer (and no one should 

 engage in the [)ursait without intelligence) should be free to 

 produce what he will and by such methods as seem to him 

 best, only guided by the demands of the market. Whether 

 a man tills the soil, practices law, preaches the Gospel, 

 works in a factory, teaches in a college, or is a merchant, it 

 is only a matter of choice, and whatever that choice may be 

 he should follow it closely, with a desire and determination 

 to succeed, and the chances are that he will succeed. One 

 vocation is as honorable as the other. The tillers of the 

 soil should own the land they till and receive the benefits of 

 the improvements they make and the wealth they create. 

 If the farmer owns the land he tills it can be bought and 

 sold like other pro[)erty. 



In a report of the Massachusetts Board of Health, the 

 statement is made that the value of the farm products in 

 Massachusetts is greater, both per farm and per acre, than 

 in any other State in the Union, outside of New England. 

 The same report says in regard to life and health : ' ' The 



