THE SOIL OF NEW ENGLAND. 35 



Grass is the principal crop in New England ; the cattle, beef, 

 and grain we raise, are accessaries ; and any departnre from a 

 policy favoring the production of grass, except in localities 

 warranting a change, is a loss. We sow our grain that the land 

 may become regenerated for the ensuing crop of grass. We 

 cannot compete with the West in raising corn. A pound of 

 beef raised here costs more than a pound brought from there ; 

 and a horse raised in Massachusetts, costs twice what one costs 

 raised in Vermont. Investing in fancy fertilizers, has almost 

 ruined the fortunes and the farms of some. Our bogs lie much 

 nearer than Peru, and by adding alkalies their humus becomes 

 soluble. 



It is a pity, besides being a proof of bad judgment, to let our 

 resources run to waste, A farmer who lets his manure heaps 

 dry up in air, the ammonia fly off to benefit another man's 

 growing crops, while he incurs heavy expenses in buying fancy 

 fertilizers, must make up his mind to poor success. Guano is 

 the opium of tillage, producing illusive and dazzling results, 

 but exhausting the productive capacity of the soil, by means of 

 its alkalies. We have in mind a farmer, scientific, and yet 

 economical and practical, who tills the soil scientifically and 

 profitably ; who culls from the jarring evidence of the experience 

 of others, all that worth preserving ; who makes the rules of 

 nature his own, gathering up all, so that nothing is lost, and 

 into whose business the capital of thought enters largely. 



The agricultural college cannot, it is true, give men common 

 sense where that is wanting ; but it may help give an impulse, 

 a zest to a pursuit, which has been so unattractive to so many ; 

 teach the farmer to appreciate the dignity of his position, as 

 owner of his domain in fee simple ; keep the sons of farmers 

 upon their native fields, and tend to staunch this hermorrhage. 

 But not to colleges alone must we look for a remedy. The 

 majority of our farmers must serve out a long apprenticeship at 

 the plough and the hoe. Thought must be called in to our aid. 

 " Labor becomes a new thing when thought is thrown into it, 

 when the mind keeps pace with the hands." We must learn 

 the why, as well as the hoiv. We are acquainted with the 

 plough as an implement of art ; it also has a scientific aspect. 



The sons of farmers must be fascinated with beauties sur- 

 rounding their toils, of which they never dreamed. The fields 



