42 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



man in the community lias siich facilities for attaining to that 

 just medium which affords the truest source of man's happiness, 

 " neither poverty nor riches," as the American farmer ; for the 

 evils to which I have alluded, and which are felt, if not under- 

 stood by the great majority of farmers, are not inherent in 

 agriculture, but have their origin in the loose manner in which 

 the business of farming is generally conducted. 



In order that any business may be successful, there must be 

 a definite plan, the end of which must become a source of 

 pecuniary income. Too many men enter upon the cultivation 

 of the soil without any more clearly defined purpose than that 

 tlicy must raise a certain amount of corn, or roots, or grass, 

 because all farmers have done so before them ; and in this 

 undefined purpose lies a great source of the limited profit which 

 the farmer receives. The first question which should engage 

 his attention should be this : " To what branch of farming is 

 my soil, as a whole, best adapted ? " When this point is settled 

 in his mind, he should not be turned aside from his purpose, 

 but should make every step in his operations bear upon that one 

 result, persevering in this course diligently to the end. If he 

 proposes to raise milk for the market, he must not be contented 

 with good cows merely, but must furnish himself with those 

 breeds only which have been proved to be the best and most 

 reliable milkers, and his whole system of cultivation must have 

 reference to furnishing those cattle with an abundance of such 

 food as will produce the most generous yield of milk. It is to 

 this oneness of purpose, that the increased profits of the English 

 farmer, compared with our own, is to be attributed. Another 

 important lesson which it is necessary for most of us to learn, 

 is a more thorough division of labor. It is a great hindrance to 

 the success of the farmer, that he must perform so many pro- 

 cesses differing much in character, which, to be practised 

 advantageously, must be thoroughly understood and performed 

 in the best manner. But it is a far greater hindrance, that he 

 mixes all these operations together, building a few rods of wall, 

 and partially completing a drain, patching an old board or brush 

 fence in his pasture, and commencing many other labors, some 

 of which always fall short of completion. 



The high cost and scarcity of labor compared with the same 

 in Europe, will, of course, prevent the subdivision to the same 



