64 MASSACHUSETTS AGfRICULTURE. 



thing is done, it may be done well, and will not have to be 

 undone. He may find it best to use for a while a very 

 unsigiitly conglomeration of old barns, till he gets the means 

 for building one that will not be ashamed of itself in compari- 

 son with your neighbors. It may be wise to botch up the old 

 sheds for a few winters. He may find it necessary to endure 

 the ugly fences by the wayside some years before he can replace 

 them with walls to stand half a century. But if he does each 

 thing well and in conformity with a plan, to be in due time 

 executed in all its parts, like the builder, who lays a stone here 

 and another there, till the structure which had existed only in 

 his mind, stands forth in solid granite, the result will be the 

 same with him. That farm, beautiful, convenient, productive, 

 which had before existed only in his mind, will, by slow but 

 sure degrees, become a substantial reality — a fitting home for 

 his advancing years, a rich inheritance for his children, a mark 

 which he shall have made upon the world, without being the 

 poorer for having made it. 



With regard to the appropriation of lands to this or that pro- 

 duct, as indicated by the nature of the soil, the climate, locality, 

 and markets, it woidd be presumptuous for me to undertake to 

 advise you. If you are as wise men as I take you to be, and 

 as a passing view of your premises would seem to indicate, you 

 have been studying that question long years ; you have not only 

 studied it, but you have experimented upon it ; and I suppose 

 you have for the best of reasons concluded that the grasses, as 

 produced in large pastures and small but highly fertilized mowing 

 lots, and then converted into dairy products and meat for the 

 shambles, are your main chance. For our country as a whole, 

 I have no doubt that Indian corn is the most important crop. 

 It was a beautiful conception of our own Longfellow, that 

 brought it from the spirit-land, in answer to the prayers, long- 

 ings, yearnings of his Hiawatha, for a yet unknown good to 

 mortals. Your soil is well adapted to this crop, so far as raising 

 a large quantity on a small space, is considered. The cost is 

 another thing, for unfortunately your soil is not as friable as it 

 is strong ; and although it is quite settled that you can give 

 great crops, yet it is not perhaps as clear that you can do it 

 with a profit. My own impression is, that a small breadth, 

 highly manured and well cultivated, giving sixty bushels of 



