MASSACHUSETTS FARMER. 459 



THE MASSACHUSETTS FARMER. 



From an Address before the Worcester Society. 



BY HON'. KMOHY WASHBURN'. 



"While I would speak of the condition of the farmer of Mas- 

 sachusetts as it is, and of what should be done to improve it, 

 I propose to call your attention to what I regard as the two 

 great sources of discontent on his part, growing out of in- 

 dulging the habit of contrasting and comparing his condition 

 with that of others : first, in respect to the corresponding 

 classes at the South and West ; and, second, in respect to those 

 engaged in other pursuits at home. 



If we turn our attention for a moment to the attractions 

 which the South or "West hold out to the farmers of New Eng- 

 land, I am far from admitting that he acts wisely who abandons 

 a comfortable home here in the hope of finding a better or an 

 easier one there. Grant that he would have a richer soil from 

 which to reap a more abundant harvest, at a far less amount of 

 labor, in that region which promises to be the granary of the 

 world, than here ; grant that its progress in wealth and popu- 

 lation is outrunning the calculation of the wildest dreamer, and 

 that upon the millions that are gathering there depend the fu- 

 ture destinies of our country; grant, even, that from the sur- 

 plus population of the North there will eventually grow up 

 along the rich prairies of the West peaceful and prosperous 

 communities, in which New England sentiments and New Eng- 

 land habits may stamp a New England character upon the peo- 

 ple of that region. I am far from seeing in any or all this a 

 cause for envy or discontent on the part of the owner of a snug 

 farm in the county of "Worcester. 



I speak not, of course, of what lies far down the vista of 

 future generations, but of our own — of institutions and privi- 



