50 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



of the soil, the improvements of wliich, made by him, are 

 aj)])i'opriated to himself, to behold one of the foundations of 

 justice, liberty and equality, which are the dearest privileges 

 secured by our ancestors with their blood. We have only to 

 look over our New England towns to see those social influences, 

 which arc so powerfully exerted by the daily employment of 

 the majority of the people. 



It is interesting to the traveller to pass through this and 

 neighboring Commonwealths, and see the whole cultivated sur- 

 face dotted with the dwellings of intelligent and industrious 

 farmers. The forest is left by itself, while the fields, like their 

 owners, seem to seek congenial companionship. Here and 

 there the spire of some church marks its location among the 

 hills, and in its vicinity, may be found the village store and 

 post office, to which sacred and secular retreats, the inhabitants 

 repair for spiritual and temporal food, and to receive communi- 

 cations from the outer world. I should not fail to allude here, 

 to the school-houses scattered over the land, which occupy so 

 prominent a place among the localities of our earlier days. 



In determining what are the social influences wdiich pervade 

 a community situated in this manner, we must see what are the 

 different sympathies which are called into exercise. One of 

 these influences is exerted by the union of the whole community 

 in the same occupation. This union affects the parties entering 

 into it, in different ways. Inasmuch as the work performed on 

 a farm engages the interest of an entire family, Avho seek not 

 only to make productive their estates, but to render attractive 

 their home, there is added to the usual sympathy of those 

 engaged in a similar occupation, that of families. There is no 

 aristocracy in our agricultural community. Or if it be allowed 

 that there is such, in some localities, it is too small to attract 

 much attention. If it exists, it is based on nothing but the 

 possession of hoarded or inherited wealth. But it is not often 

 the case, where men secure a regular support from farm labors, 

 that there is a great difference in their pecuniary prosperity. 

 This dilTerencc is occasioned often by another cause, which 

 operates favorably upon society, and that is the spirit of emula- 

 tion. The annual products of a farm may be increased by 

 skilful cultivation, and a judicious arrangement. There is 

 often a dis[)osition, in a good farming community, to excel in 



