54 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



vated ? Why, are not earth, and sea, and sky, ransacked for 

 manures by a busy crowd of farmers ? Tell me not that the 

 patient is dying " for want of breath." But tell me why he 

 cannot breathe, and then we can apply the remedy. Let the 

 farmers of New England but understand the method by which 

 their farms can be made profitable, and the very air would be 

 redolent with the odors of accumulating fertilizers. This is 

 the sum and substance of the whole matter. Every farmer 

 knows that he has only to ask, and he will receive from the 

 bounteous earth herself an abundant supply of those materials 

 which strengthen and enrich his soil. Let him but learn that 

 it will pay to ask. and the whole difficulty will vanish at once. 

 Let those who have relied upon the bounties of nature, which 

 never fail, and who have learned to rely upon an indolent 

 appeal to the soil for their animal subsistence, remember 

 that in any other occupation than farming, starvation would 

 crown such sleepy efforts, and they may then understand what 

 would be the rewards of activity, industry and intelligent 

 perseverance. 



No man ever knew a busy farmer to grow poor. I never 

 saw a skilful farmer who did not grow rich. And the secret of 

 this skill is in understanding the capacity of the farm. Do you 

 own five acres or five hundred — learn first what those acres are 

 capable of doing for you, and you have opened the " golden 

 gate " beyond which lie all the regions of wealth. The earth 

 is a most willing servant, and be the crop a wagon load of escu- 

 lents for the neighboring market, or the food of a thousand 

 head of cattle, he that calls for this crop with a true under- 

 standing of how he is to call for it, and where he is to find it, 

 is sure to receive his reward. Learn then, first of all, the 

 capacity of your farm, and have faith to believe that it will 

 never disappoint your reasonable expectations. Let this knowl- 

 edge be diffused throughout New England, and the success of 

 her farming is established at once. Learn this, and the science 

 of agriculture becomes at once your ally, pointing to the whole 

 inexhaustible supply of fertilizers lying at your feet. Com- 

 prehend this, and you will find the farm which occupies a 

 township, as easily managed as that ten acre lot whic'h your 

 industrious neighbor has filled with the choicest products ; for 

 no farm was ever too large. The broader the area, the larger 



