1891.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 337 



in its every department. Victory belongs to him that 

 overcometh. It was perseverance that carried the hero of 

 Appomattox to victory. It is' perseverance that carries ten 

 per cent of those who are successful in business life in 

 triumph over the ninety per cent who go down. It is 

 perseverance that has rewarded every farmer in this Com- 

 monwealth with such measure of success as he has attained. 

 Many and many a man has failed on the very threshold of 

 success for the lack of it. If there is any one word that I 

 would leave ringing in the ears of the farmers of this old 

 Bay State as a parting injunction, it is persevere. Whatever 

 of darkness and discouragement may surround you, — and 

 there has been plenty of such in recent years, — lose not 

 your courage ! Farmers are awakening to the necessities of 

 the situation all over the land. They may make mistakes ; 

 some of their notions may be chiuu;rical or impractical at 

 first ; but right shall triumph in the end. A bright star of 

 hope is in the distance before you ; hold on and persevere. 

 Sell not your farms to-day for a song, for to-morrow they 

 will be wanted. Agriculture is too fundamental in its 

 nature to ever go out of fashion, or long remain in depres- 

 sion. A close knowledge of public questions s ineeded by 

 the farmers as a whole ; free discussion of these questions 

 will bring this knowledge. In a free country like ours, 

 people to a large extent are self-educators. Therefore 

 persevere. 



Business Principles. 



Will farmers never learn the value of business principles? 

 No accounts, no adequate value placed upon time, no system, 

 unintentional dishonesty in little things. These are of 

 altogether too frequent occurrence in farming communities. 

 The exact opposites are considered as fundamental to success 

 in other callings ; and yet farming has to support some 

 people, and their number is altogether too large, on these 

 altogether inadequate foundations. As a result come aban- 

 doned farms, — farms that ought to be, farms that must be, 

 and farms that will be, abandoned. There always was a 

 pretty wide gulf between a poor farmer and a g)od one. 

 That gulf to-day is becoming oceanic in its magnitude. The 

 poor farmer must brace up, keep accounts, spend less 



