HINDRANCES TO SUCCESSFUL FARMING. 75 



wealth is everywhere admitted to be agriculture ; it creates 

 matter and gathers its productions without injury or diminu- 

 tion from the exhaustless resources of the air and the earth, 

 and thcrcforc every agricultural production is a direct crea- 

 tion of so much additional matter. 



But this, however, is not all. It is not, as in manufacturing, 

 the mere using up or transforming of raw material ; but, 

 under good cultivation, the soil itself is put in a condition to 

 become more productive, and the land itself is raised in value 

 in proportion to the increased income which can bo obtained 

 from it. A farmer of bad habits, indolent or intemperate, 

 or thriftless from natural or acquired incapacity for active, 

 intelligent work, has no more right to expect success in farm- 

 ing than he would in any other business in life which 

 requires even less of judgment, sagacity and untiring 

 vigilance. 



It is said that there are thre^ occupations in life which 

 every man considers himself competent to undertake, — to 

 keep a hotel, to edit a newspaper, and to carry on a farm. 

 The last of these is the last to be attempted, for it is a labori- 

 ous occupation and combined with great impediments. 

 Starting with the postulate that the profession of agriculture 

 is of prime importance, as being the support of all other 

 trades, occupations and professions, how earnestly should 

 the farmer labor to bring it and himself worthy of the high 

 vocation to which he is called. 



Has he generally done this or anything like it? Does he, 

 although engaged in what is confessedly the most important 

 as it is the most widespread occupation, prepare himself for 

 its pursuit, with a care at all to be compared with its magni- 

 tude, or to that bestowed by those following any other branch 

 of legitimate business? Does he, like the professional man, 

 fit himself by a course of study and examination of principles 

 and precedents? Like the manufacturer, does he calculate 

 carefully the first cost of the raw material, the exact expen- 

 diture of time and labor, thereby ascertaining the cost and 

 so regulating the market? Or does he proceed with that 

 method, that directness of purpose, that certainty of accom- 

 plishing certain results, which make the mechanic successful 

 and prosperous ? 



