36 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



must be tilled intelligently, and not blindly. The more we 

 know of how God works, the better will be our own success 

 and delight. Let the farmer become a man of taste ; let his 

 house contain a library ; let him become familiar with the 

 microscope and the wonders it unfolds ; let his grounds be taste- 

 fully laid out — taste, like civility, costs little. Even laying 

 stone-wall might be pleasant, and we might forget our thin- 

 worn fingers, when it will contribute toward adorning our 

 homesteads. We know a tasteful farmer, who is laying a fine 

 face-wall in front of his house. An awkwardly-shaped cavity 

 in it remains unfilled, until a nicely-fitting stone is dug from his 

 fields. He fulfills a double purpose ; his wall .becomes beautiful 

 and his fields smooth. 



We are influenced imperceptibly by our surroundings. The 

 face of the country, whether hilly or flat, has a vast influence 

 on the character of its inhabitants.* The manner in which our 

 homes are adorned, has a great influence on their inmates. 

 The child commences its education before it can talk ; and 

 unattractive surroundings bear a strong, early and constant 

 influence, toward educating boys away from the plough. The 

 farmer stamps his character upon his fields and home, in unmis- 

 takable hand-writing. By the arrangement of his hedges, 

 orchards, shrubbery and shade trees, he makes landscape. He 

 is a painter in living colors. He has a pleasant or an unpleasant 

 home, almost as he pleases. 



Taste is consistent generally, with good judgment ; and the 

 practice of it does not require wealth, or a high education. 

 Smooth fields are more productive than rough ones, and a taste- 

 fully arranged farm will sell for much more than one upon 

 which less taste has been shown. There has been very little 

 expense incurred in making this difference ; a little thought 

 has been expended ; a plan worked out, formed perhaps, while 

 others were idle. We are idle for an hour ; we might have 

 planted a tree which would have made us happier for a lifetime. 

 Not every tree is useless which does not bear tangible fruit. 

 We admire the taste of our ancestors, who planted the elms 

 before our doors. They have been bearing the fruit of joy and 



* A writer says that aflat country produces ^a< heads. Byron is said to have 

 owed his poetical proclivities to a residence in youth among the Scottish 

 Mountains. 



