118 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



farming. I am perfectly sure that it does not. The farms 

 that have been abandoned lie in localities where it is utterly 

 unprofitable to cultivate them, and, while they have pro- 

 duced in former days admirable crops of fruit and hay and 

 cattle, when the Massachusetts farmer could sell his cattle in 

 a profitable market, the time for those products have gone 

 by, and these farms are so far away from the markets that it 

 is utterly impossible to cultivate them to any profit. That 

 they are entitled to respect and affection there is no question, 

 as the birthplaces of some of the most remarkable men ever 

 known in the Commonwealth. The great statesmen who 

 came from the Connecticut river region to Boston to conduct 

 the affairs of the State, like Governor Strong and his com- 

 panions, were born on the farms in that section of the 

 Commonwealth. Now, many of those farms have been 

 abandoned because the attention of the young men has been 

 drawn to the farms lying further West, and to the great 

 centres of trade in New England ; but, if you will take any 

 agricultural section of Massachusetts, you will find that in 

 that section there are more leading and powerful men raised 

 to-day than there were fifty years ago. I do not mean to 

 say that any one town does this, but take any section or any 

 tier of towns, and you will find going out from those towns 

 to New York and to the other large cities of the country 

 more great merchants and professional men than ever before. 

 New York, Chicago, Boston and every large city are filled 

 with notable instances of country boys who are conducting 

 our great enterprises. I could find in any given section as 

 many able and controlling men to-day as there were fifty 

 years ago, in proportion to the population. 



Now, so far as the rearing of distinguished men is con- 

 cerned, that is my answer. The farms that have been 

 abandoned have been abandoned because they lie in such 

 localities that it is no earthly use to try to carry them on ; 

 and they now lie there ready for occupation by pleasure- 

 seekers, by persons who want beautiful localities, which 

 they can find on those farms, and by men who want a place 

 at a small cost. But meanwhile the farming interests of 

 Massachusetts have increased enormously in value. Let me 

 illustrate. The aggregate value of the farms in the Com- 



