300 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



tlie farmer ; for in so doing we confer the greatest blessing on 

 the whole. 



Many a man now engaged in the counting-room, workshop or 

 the various professions intends some time to own a farm and 

 enjoy the luxury of partaking of the fruits of his own labor, 

 fresh from the field or garden, and pluck the luscious fruits 

 from his own vine, feeling that he will then be free from the 

 cares and perplexities of business in the cities or larger towns, 

 and that he will breathe a purer and fresher atmosphere on 

 some hillside or vale. 



Were we to take the various vocations separately, aad com- 

 pare them with tlie cultivation of the soil, we should occupy too 

 much time and weary your patience. Suffice it to say, that with 

 most branches of business, when labor ceases, the whole machin- 

 ery is motionless. If the steam is not applied, nothing moves. 

 If the main wheel ceases its revolutions, all the spindles are 

 quiet. Not so with the farmer. In his sleeping as well as his 

 waking hours, in rain as well as sunshine, in his leisure as well 

 as his more active hours of labor, everything moves on until it 

 is perfected for his own use or for the market. While the cow 

 is cropping the tender herbage, reposing in the cool shade, or in 

 tlie more quiet hours of night, the manufactui'e of milk or beef 

 goes on. Tlie swine, also, (if well fed,) is constantly taking on 

 fat in preparation for family use or the butcher ; and when the 

 summer has completed its round, and the fruits of the farm are 

 gathered and made secure, and the earth again puts on its robe 

 of white, no class in the community has more hours for reading, 

 thought, reflection and the improvement of those powers and 

 faculties God has given them. 



It is at this season the thrifty farmer reviews the operations 

 of the past year, examines his accounts, ascertains what has 

 been his success in the various departments of the farm, plans 

 for the next year's campaign, sees what repairs are needed, and 

 makes preparation for them. He also decides what additions 

 are needed to his stock, or whether changes are necessary, or 

 whether they would probably be advantageous to him, decides 

 what fencing will be necessary, or other improvements on the 

 farm or on or about the farm buildings. And when his plans 

 are once matured, he makes all necessary preparation to carry 



