No. 4.] COMPETITION AND THE FARMER. 405 



THE LAWS OF COMPETITION AS AFFECTING THE 

 MASSACHUSETTS FARMER. 



BY CHARLES A. MILLS OF SOUTHBOROUGH. 



By competition is meant ' ' The act of seeking, or endeav- 

 oring to ffain, what another is endeavoring to gain at the 

 same time." The survival of the fittest is a terse expression 

 of the same idea; superiority in reaching a given end is 

 shown by competition. 



The stage coach for many years knew no rival as the most 

 expeditious and convenient mode of travel ; it struggled for 

 existence after the railroad had set up rival claims, but at 

 last was compelled to yield unlimited sway to the swiftness 

 and comfort of its competitor. In this case invention 

 wrought the change. 



The wharves at Nantucket not many years ago were 

 crowded with vessels engaged in capturing the whale. The 

 introduction of petroleum, however, left little room for 

 doubt as to the superiority and cheapness of kerosene as 

 compared with its dingy rival ; and so these same wharves 

 are left to idleness and decay. Here discovery wrought the 

 change, and benefited the many at the expense of the few. 



Sometimes this law is wrought out in a brief space of 

 time ; again, like the mills of the gods, it grinds ,slowly. 

 Last autumn the foot-ball eleven of Yale met their opponents 

 of Harvard upon Hampden Park ; after the ball was in 

 motion, it took Yale but fifteen minutes to decide the con- 

 test. Here force, pluck, and skill were all brought into play 

 to decide the battle. 



The laws of competition as affecting the farmer's vocation 

 are less rapid in deciding the victor, but are equally sure. 

 The farmer is not exempt from these same laws ; invention, 

 discovery, force, skill, — factors which are brought into 



