316 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



The learned professions are no doubt crowded, but there is 

 still "plenty of room at the top," and the young man with 

 good health and a well-balanced head, still has the possibility 

 of forcing his way up the ladder, step by step, to that broad 

 and fruitful field, where such harvests of honor and distinc- 

 tion have been and are waiting to be reaped. In commercial 

 life, where the greatest fortunes are secured, as already 

 intimated, will be encountered, not only the greatest risks, but 

 the most wearing labor and insidious temptations. Consider 

 well whether you are able and willing to grapple with these 

 for the hope of the golden prize which surely lies beyond, 

 but which may, after all your care and energy, elude your 

 grasp. 



Already I have intimated my belief that agricultural occu- 

 pations, while they do not hold out the offer of great or 

 rapid pecuniary gains, are liable to less objections than 

 most others. And I am willing to go on record as say- 

 ino- that I believe that farmino- as a business will continue 

 to grow in importance, notably in New England, during the 

 coming century ; and that, when -the little boy of to-day 

 becomes " old and gray-headed," there will be no need to 

 organize companies to provide for reclaiming the ' ' abandoned 

 farms," for there will then be no such thing heard of here. 

 Rather will the Western farmer be returning from his worn- 

 out farm to seek a better one in the East. My regret is that 

 ive shall not live to witness the full fruition of this pre- 

 diction. 



A great many essays and editorials have been written 

 with a view to answering the question, "How to keep the 

 boys on the farm," as though that was a consummation to be 

 desired. I would not keep them all there, certainly not if 

 there were as many sons in the family as there used to be 

 lifty years ago. But, where a farmer has but one son, he 

 may be pardoned for making an extra effort to retain him 

 upon the farm. My fiither had five : one entered a pro- 

 fession, one remained on the farm, two were mechanics, and 

 one was a printer and journalist, but is now a farmer. Per- 

 haps that was a fair division. No, I do not think all 

 farmers' sons should become farmers, because, in that case, 

 what would the learned professions do for bright boys to 



