4 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



unto the ground," — that in His providence it was ordered that 

 the great majority of mankind should cultivate the soil, while 

 the whole race should thus be fed, — that to the moral, political 

 and social elevation of man, as well as to the full and healthy 

 development of his physical powers, agriculture should be neces- 

 sary and essential, and yet that it should give no scope for the 

 exercise of his intellectual faculties, of that " living soul " which 

 he became when God " breathed into his nostrils the breath of 

 life ? " No ; here, as everywhere else, " wisdom is strength 

 and knowledge is power." Why is there such a difference ; 

 what causes the disparity in the condition of farmers ? "Why 

 are not all alike prosperous ? Why is that this farm is fertile and 

 productive, and its owner prosperous and happy, while the one 

 which adjoins it is sterile and unfruitful, and its owner an 

 unsuccessful and disappointed man ? There is no natural or 

 irremediable difference in soil or climate. There is the same 

 health and strength and muscle in the men. The sun shines 

 as genially, the rain descends as seasonably, the dew falls as 

 gratefully for one as for the other. It is because in addition to 

 more diligence and economy, and perphaps to more industry, 

 one brings to his work more judgment, more intelligence, more 

 mind, than the other. 



The farmer should be the last man to have inadequate con- 

 ceptions of his mission, the last to disparage it. As a man 

 thinketh so he is, and so will he do. " Possunt quia posse 

 videniur.^^ We are able when we have faith in our ability. If 

 farmers generally consider their calling ignoble and low ; that it 

 is mere bodily toil, a sullen contest of animal strength with inert 

 matter; that they are but hewers of wood and drawers of water, 

 so will it be and such will they become. But if, on the other 

 hand, they have just and true ideas of themselves and their 

 vocation ; that it is elevated and ennobling ; that not only are they 

 with strong hands to wage successful war against brute forces, 

 but tiiat ripe with intelligence they are to share in the triumphs 

 of mind over matter, then will they and all things around them 

 be transformed. They will walk the earth with a more elastic 

 step. The very grass beneath their feet will wear a^ livelier 

 green. The blue sky above their heads will bend more brightly. 

 The summer breezes will whisper new hopes. The winter 

 storms will inspire fresh courage. Thinking, reasoning, as well 



