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lias been incurred in opening various lines of coinmuni- 

 €ation with more fertile lands ; still, the price of staple 

 products has steadily advanced and the markets in and 

 around Boston, are the dearest in the Union, for purchas- 

 ing food, if we except the mining districts ; this will 

 continue to be the case so long as the acres within our 

 own limits and within full view of our workshops, are 

 neglected and we depend upon localities far away. Bush- 

 els are bushels, barrels are barrels and tons are tons, and 

 it will require as much force to move them thirty years 

 hence as now, and the older, richer and more influential 

 railroad companies grow, the less disposed are they to 

 carry for low rates. The true working of this plan will 

 ere long be apparent, and it will be seen that if some of 

 the states' money that has been furnished for the con- 

 struction of railroads to carry it into execution, had been 

 expended in the promotion of our agriculture, it would 

 prove a better investment. After all that may l)e said, 

 our manufacturers, in reality, are sensibly affected by the 

 prosperity of the farmer ; they desire our markets to be 

 cheaply supplied with provisions in abundance. If our 

 farmers will now develop their resources, show the capac- 

 ity of the soil, and their ability to furnish the markets, 

 every plan for the promotion of agriculture will be 

 promptly seconded and supported. Were there no high- 

 er motive, a State pride should prompt every citizen to 

 speak a good word for the advancement of this impor- 

 tant branch of industry, for will it not be gratifying as 

 we travel from town to town, county to county, through 

 the length and breadth of the State to see the rough 

 fields made smooth, the waste places productive, all the 

 steep, bleak hillsides again clothed with trees, valleys 

 full of waving grain and well-kept flocks and herds, and 



