xxiv REPORTS OF DELEGATES. 



pleasure by all who are interested in the occupation of the fanner 

 and desire to see him prosper. The towns wliich lie around tlie 

 centres of trade, and find in them the markets for their agricultural 

 products share the general prosperity of the Commonwealth. The 

 farming towns around the citj' of Worcester, even those in which 

 manufactures have not been established, are thriving and prosper- 

 ous. The same is true of those clusters of which Springfield, Pitts- 

 field, Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton, Fitchburg, Lowell, all the 

 cities of Essex County, and the large towns everywhere, are the 

 centre and attraction. In such localities as these, not onl^^ are 

 the old farms prosperous, but the newly occupied lands yield an 

 ample reward to the cultivator. This is the thriving agriculture of 

 the State ; just as legitimate, and entitled to just as much consid- 

 eration, as that mor3 general mode of farming which occupies 

 broader lands, and finds its market at a greater distance. It is that 

 thriving and systematic agi'iculture which will be found in all the 

 towns now supposed to be decaying, whenever they shall have their 

 locality developed by the diverse industry which characterizes the 

 State generall}', or shall be brought nearer to a market b}' con- 

 venient and economical communication. It is that s^'stem of agri- 

 culture which is alread}' attracting the attention of a large industrial 

 class, whose service in our manufacturing establishments is counted 

 of great value, and whose hard work upon the land is already teach- 

 ing us the lesson that prosperity for our laboring-classes is not con- 

 fined to our mills alone. It is no argument against agriculture to 

 say that the cultivation of the staple does not succeed in Massachu- 

 setts. It is simply a statement which should teach us what agricult- 

 ure is applicable here, and what is not ; and we may be assured 

 that if those who now occupy our soil will not learn this lesson, 

 there are those who have learned it, and now stand read}' to apply 

 it, the instant an opportunity is offered. The farming-lands of 

 Massachusetts will not be abandoned. The}^ possess attractions 

 still, which will be recognized b}' some one, as long as the industry 

 of this State shall endure. The tendency of agricultural develop- 

 ment here is not towards the system of those towns which have 

 paused, but towards that of those which are progressing. It is the 

 latter which are to triumph in the end, as their system is extended 

 throughout the State, and as their example is followed. 



The population of Massachusetts is now nearly a million and a 

 half, supported by almost every industry with which man is familiar. 

 Not everywhere, it is true, does every industry prosper. It is a for- 

 tunate combination that succeeds, and that should succeed, and it is 

 a proper understanding of their mutual relations which gives strength 

 to each. That prosperity which has increased the population of the 



