1892.] ESSAYS. 163 



those engaged in other branches of farming. They being 

 located near the large towns and cities where land is high, have 

 been forced to get their income from a limited area ; this could 

 be accomplished only by very liberal fertilization and thorough 

 cultivation, and by making that branch of farming a specialty. 



The success of this course has been so marked, it has been an 

 incentive to those engaged in other branches of farming to appl}' 

 the same principles in their practice ; and thus they have been 

 one of the many helps in bringing all branches of agricultural 

 pursuits to their present high state of perfection, and bringing 

 agriculture as a whole to be regarded as it should be, not only 

 the most important and healthful but the pleasantest and most 

 ennobling occupation of man. The day has long since passed 

 when agriculture was looked upon as degrading, fit only for 

 those who had not wit enough to earn their living at anything 

 else, or when any man need feel called upon to offer an apology 

 for being engaged in a business beneath his dignity, or when 

 there was not ample opportunity to use his brain as well as 

 brawn. In agriculture as in all other business the largest meas- 

 ure of success comes to the man of the most brain power, 

 the ability to reason from cause and effect. The success that 

 has been attained by the most successful market gardeners has 

 led to the quite general belief that they possessed some wonder- 

 ful secret or key to success which they could impart to their less 

 successful and struggling brothers if they would, and it is a 

 noticeable fact that in essays and debates they have been prone 

 to deal more in glittering generalities than in exact and specific 

 statements, and we certainly cannot blame any man for protect- 

 ing his own interests; for if a farmer or gardener has by years 

 of careful study and observation learned any secret about the 

 business he should reap the benefit the same as the inventor 

 whose invention is protected by a patent. But is there any such 

 secret to success in agricultural pursuits ? Are not the condi- 

 tions of agricultural and mechanical labor entirely diff'erent ? A 

 certain machine or piece of furniture or other mechanical work 

 would be done in different shops by the same processes, but 

 owing to the varied conditions of our farms, in soil, location, etc., 

 no rules can be formulated, that will apply to them all. Each 



