12 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



of farming, as compared with other professions, has often 

 been pictured in too fanciful colors. Incident to every busi- 

 ness pursuit, there are pleasures to enjoy, difficulties to be 

 overcome, and hardships to be endured. The merchant talks 

 of bad debts, constant confinement to his store, and sleepless 

 nights. The mechanic will tell you there is no demand for 

 his labor, on account of dull times. Men of salary fear another 

 day will find them out of employment, and other professions 

 tax mind and body to obtain a livelihood, and all com- 

 plaining because they have none of the quiet and independ- 

 ence of farm-life. Of all occupations, farming seems to be 

 the safest. 



Does farming pa}^ ? That is a question that bothers many 

 here in the Connecticut Valley. If we look at it in a money 

 point of view exclusively, I suppose the majority of farmers 

 will say it does not pay. Farmers may not always become 

 rich, but most of them rnaua^e to obtain a living for them- 



7 © © 



selves.and their families, which is more than can be said of 

 many other pursuits. There are successes and failures in 

 every calling. It is a well-known fact, that ninety out of 

 every hundred merchants fail during their business life. It 

 was a rare thing for farmers to become bankrupt, in this sec- 

 tion, until within the last two or three years. No business 

 occupation or employment is so sure to be remunerative as 

 farming, if the necessary conditions of success are complied 

 with. And I venture the statement that farming offers more 



© 



attractions than any other pursuit to laboring men of moderate 

 means, provided, always, that the}' have the necessary knowl- 

 edge of the business. A small capital will secure the posses- 

 sion and permanent control of a farm, without financial danger 

 or loss, while trade and manufacturing require large invest- 

 ments, with large risks. 



In a moral point of view, the life of the agriculturist is the 

 purest of any class of men. Man seems to have a natural 

 love for mother earth, and the young man who goes to the 

 city to live, or accepts any other vocation or profession, looks 

 back with longing eyes to -the old homestead in some rural 

 spot in the country, and, as he turns back to visit it, — it may 

 be after many years, — what memories crowd upon him, in 

 his anticipation of seeing his old home once more ! 



