TAKING REINS IN HAND 



extent of his means, by the smallest farmer. 

 The crop that is grown at twice its market 

 value to the bushel, may possibly suggest a 

 hint to the scientific theorist; but it will never 

 be emulated by the man whose livelihood de- 

 pends upon the product of his farm. Those 

 who transfer the accumulated fortunes of the 

 city to the country, for the encouragement of 

 agriculture, should bear in mind, first of all, 

 that their endeavors will have healthy influ- 

 ence, only so far as they are imitable; and 

 they will be imitable only so far as they are 

 subordinated to the trade laws of profit and 

 loss. Farming is not a fanciful pursuit; its 

 aim is not to produce the largest possible crop 

 at whatever cost; but its aim is, or should be, 

 taking a series of years together, to produce 

 the largest crops at the least possible cost. 



If my neighbor, by an expenditure of three 

 or four hundred dollars to the acre in the re- 

 moval of rocks and other impedimenta, ren- 

 ders his field equal to an adjoining smooth one, 

 which will pay a fair farm rental on a valuation 

 of only two hundred dollars per acre, he may 

 be congratulated upon having extended his 

 available agricultural area, but he cannot surely 

 be congratulated on having made a profitable 

 transaction. 



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