No. 4.] EXHAUSTED FARMS. 387 



proximity to our dwellings, but are of greater value in back- 

 grounds and on exposed locations. 



To bring a farm into condition to correspond to modern 

 ideas it will be necessary to change or remove entirely many 

 of the old cross walls and fences, as well as those by the 

 roadside. Modern methods and improved farm machinery 

 call for larger fields, free from all obstructions. Our fathers 

 spent fortunes in fencing the roads and highways, while to- 

 day wise laws relieve us of that onerous burden. This 

 removing of obstructions, of every character, to a freer culti- 

 vation is a work that may be done as opportunities offer. 

 Yet here again definite plans should be kept constantly in 

 view, and the whole system of improvements designed from 

 the commencement. If lands are to be drained, old walls 

 and surface stones can often be utilized in the construction 

 of such drains, and thus a double object l)e accomplished. 



It has been said with truth that a child's mind and char- 

 acter are largely influenced by the scenery and natural sur- 

 roundings of its home. There is no doubt that in manhood 

 we leave the impress of our minds upon the acres that we 

 have possessed. I remember riding across our county in 

 my youth to visit the farm and home of the " great expounder 

 of the Constitution." In later years I have read his life, 

 studied him as a statesman and admired his genius ; but it 

 was when a boy, and viewing the large fields in his great 

 estate, that I formed my high ideal of the true greatness of 

 Daniel Webster. Thus it may be seen that in the restoration 

 of our neglected farms the beauty of the landscape should no 

 longer be ignored, but rather receive the earliest attention 

 of the owner. 



Modern agriculture is imperative in its demands for an 

 abundant fertility in the soils cultivated. Our fathers, cul- 

 tivating a virgin soil, with cheap labor, and with high prices 

 for products, might ignore this question, but to-day how 

 different the conditions. Compelled to cultivate a soil de- 

 pleted in a measure of its former fertility, paying the highest 

 prices of any nation on earth for agricultural lal)or, and pro- 

 ducing crops often sold in the cheapest markets of the world, 

 we are obliged to avail ourselves of every modern improve- 

 ment, to intensify our farming in order to obtain the best 

 possible results. 



