MR. proctor's address. 29 



of one proprietor, when they came to be divided into 

 the hands of five or six, to yield more on each part, than 

 the whole did when held by one. By a proper division 

 of our lands, allowing no one lo engross more than he 

 can judiciously manage, not only would our territory 

 support a larger population, but the population itself,- 

 would be more independent. 



The pi-oper appropr."afion of capital and labor on a 

 farm may be illustrated by a comparison with the every 

 day occurrence of the building of a house. Suppose a 

 person of moderate means is about to erect a house, for 

 the accommodation of his family, is it wnse to put up the 

 frame and covpring of a building, so large that he cannot 

 finish but a small part of it, leaving the front and cham- 

 bers, a sort of dreary and desolate w^aste for swallows 

 and vermin ; — or is it best to put up a tenement such 

 as he has the means of furnishing and finish in g in a de- 

 cent and comfortable manner? No one who has ever 

 noticed the contrast in such tenements, and many such 

 can be found in almost every village, will hesitate to say 

 that the wiser course will be to erect such an one as 

 can be comfortably finished. Let the farmer apply this 

 principle. Let him procure so much land as he can 

 thoroughly cultivate, and apply himself to this. And as 

 his means increase, so may his cultivation extend. Cap- 

 ital and labor are the true sources of income. If con- 

 centrated they produce more than when diffused. It is 

 not the extent of lands that determines the farmer's pro- 

 fits, but the State of culture to which he brings them. 

 What w'ere formerly sound rules of conduct, have now 

 in many cases become almost obsolete. So many and 

 so great have been the changes in the facilities of com- 

 munication from place to place ; — in the transportation 

 of commodities from one part of the country to another; 

 in the introduction of new varieties, and in the altera- 

 tion of habits of living, that the course wdiich was then 

 judicious now needs much modification. Now when the 

 farmer goes to the market with his beef, his pork, or his 

 butter, — articles from which he used to expect to raise 

 cash to meet his taxes and other necessary payments, — 



