334 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



country ; others, because of father or mother who needed 

 tender care through declining years, — most admirable 

 devotion and most commendable self-denial, it is true; 

 others still, because they were born there, and had not the 

 moral courage to get away. Not one of the above classed 

 is on the farm, you will observe, because he wanted to be, 

 or because that was his chosen occupation, or because of his 

 desire to excel in farming, or because that was his purpose 

 in life. On the other hand, there is hardly a professional 

 man and but comparatively few business men in this State 

 who did not enter their professional or business calling from 

 choice, and because they had a greater or less ambition to 

 succeed. 



This is only one of a vast number of burdens which agri- 

 culture has to bear. It must be a reasonably profitable 

 calling, for certainly no other could stand such a variety of 

 loads. Unjust taxation, government land distribution, rail- 

 road monopolies, insurance frauds, trusts, grain gamblers, 

 milk contractors, etc., from without, to say nothing of the 

 half-heartedness and the unbusinesslike principles too often 

 adopted by the farmers themselves. What other business 

 could stand it? Thank God there are some farmers in 

 Massachusetts who are not guilty of these last-named errors. 

 We have them in this Board of Agriculture. We know 

 them in every county in this State. We only wish there 

 were more of them. 



In addition to the first great essential to success, — pur- 

 pose, — there should be love of calling, knowledge of the 

 business, perseverance, and the application of business prin- 

 ciples. There are two habits which should be formed, 

 indeed, they are imperative, — the habit of industry and 

 the habit of economy. Add to these virtue and integrity, 

 and we have a man fairly well equipped to become a success- 

 ful farmer. There are other things greatly to be desired, 

 such as good health, good judgment, good executive ability, 

 power to say no, and, lastly, the family relation. These 

 are the essentials, absolute and relative, which will be con- 

 sidered in this paper as essentials to success in farming ; 

 and we shall have in mind farming in Massachusetts. 



