I860. 



NEW ENGLAND FAR^VIER. 



35 



much more, then his whole argument falls to the 

 ground. 



Pcrluips I can illustrate the position I take, in 

 no better vray than by relating an anecdote, Avhich 

 was recently told me. A friend of mine who takes 

 a similar view of the matter with me, said "he had 

 been several times opposed in his view by a stout 

 and rugged old farmer Vv'ho instanced his own case 

 to prove that the business was lucrative." "Well," 

 says my friend, "you have made money, have 

 you ?" "Yes, I have done well, and I know it is 

 a good business. But, what are you figuring 

 about P" "I was merely reckoning up to see hov.' 

 much you have made." "I guess I know how much 

 I have made without your figuring." "Well, well, 

 I merely wanted to see ; figures, you know, won't 

 lie." "Well, how do you make it ?" "Do you 

 want I should tell you ?" "Certainly, you can't 

 alter it." "Well, then, if I have got it rigiit, you 

 lack -SGO.OOO of having made a living." "How do 

 you make that out ?" "You say you had so mudi 

 (showing him the figures) left you P" "Yes." 

 "You are now worth zo much ?" "Yes." "Well, 

 then, if you had put j-our mDuey at interest when 

 you came into possession of it, and kept it there, 

 and got your own living since, you would have 

 been worth what I told you." 



Now if my Springfield friend will furnish the 

 evidence of what he says, and v/ill truthfully make 

 it appear that this is "profitable, and that farmers 

 are the most independent people in the world," it 

 is all I ask for. I think, however, that where we 

 mainly differ is in this — he has one class of far- 

 mers in view, and I another. It is the poor far- 

 mer whose position I am speaking of, and not 

 these city folks who farm for amusement, without 

 regard to the cost. 



Again, friend "A" says ; "I suspect that Mr. P. 

 having probably been employed in other pursuits 

 before engaging in agriculture 'some seven or 

 eight years' since, may possibly be lacking in ag- 

 ricultural experience, so necessary to success, and 

 has had the misfortune to locate in a bad situa- 

 tion, both combining, perhaps, to render him sick 

 of his new vocation, and consequently he looks 

 upon the dark side." Here is more guess work, at 

 Avhich friend "A. "has been about as successful as 

 he is in guessing at the "profit" of farming. The 

 truth is, I am not "sick" of farming, nor have I 

 "located in a bad situation." All that I want, is, 

 that the truth and right may prevail. When I see 

 all other classes of men making a living by their 

 business, and generally much more, (which I do 

 not object to,) I am led to inquire how is it with 

 the business that sustains all others ? I would not 

 say a word, did not I believe that there is a remedy 

 for the Avrongs that I am speaking of. But, it is 

 no use to say a woi-d about a remedy till we un- 

 derstand our position, and if things are all right, 

 then let them remain. 



Again, "a good cow should give four quarts at 

 early milliing, at least, or eight quarts per day, 

 through the greater part of the year, and even 

 more than this, a considerable portion of the 

 time." ^I believe a cow may be kept well, in most 

 localities for about forty-five dollars per year, and 

 should yield an average of six quarts of milk per 

 day. "The milkmen generally get from four to 

 six cents a quart for milk, and, consequently, the 

 farmer should not receive less than three or three 

 and a half cents for his mUk, at his door." Now 



this is all guess work again, and you have not giv.en 

 a single fact to substantiate a word of what you 

 have said. A cow that gives milk, requires 2A per 

 cent, on her live weight i)er day of good English 

 hay or its equivalent to sustain her position. Is 

 this keeping her for forty-five dollars per year ? 

 The farmers have been selling their milk for eigh- 

 teen cents per can in this county, and in New 

 Hampshire on the line of the railroads, this last 

 summer. The cans hold, Massachusetts measure, 

 from nine to eleven quarts. Is this "from three to 

 three and a half cents per quart ?'" No sup])osi- 

 tion, or guess work here. Now, if friend "A," can 

 put these items together, and figure up a "profit," 

 I am thinking it would take a larger city than 

 Springfield to hold him. 



Chelmsford, Mass., Nov. 7, 1859. 



T. J. PlNKIIAM. 



AMERICA'S NOBLEMEN". 



The noblest men I know on curtli. 

 Are men whose hands are brown with toil ; 



Who, backed by no ancestral graves, 

 Hew down the woods and till the soil, 



And win thereby a prouder fame 



Than follows king or warrior's name. 



The workingmen, what e'er their task, 

 To cnrve the stone or bear the hod — 



Tlicy wear upon their honest brows 

 The royal stamp and seal of God I 



And brighter are the drops of sweat 



Than diamonds in a coronet ! 



God bless the noble working-men. 

 Who rear the cities of the plain, 



AVho dig the mines and build the ships, 

 And drive the commerce of the main — 



God bless them, for their swarthy hands 



Have wrought the glory of all lands ! 



K"E"W PUBLICATIONS. 



The FiiEE Speaker ; A New Collection of Pieces for 

 Declamation ; Original n» v.'cll as Selected, intended as 

 a Companion to "Tiie Hundred Dialogues." By Wil- 

 liam Bcutley Fowle. Published by the Author. 1S59. 



This book is intended for our common schools, 

 and ought to be in use in every one of them. The 

 pieces of which it is made up, as compositions, or 

 examples of terse and vigorous English, are, as a 

 whole, scarcely equalled by those of any school- 

 books now in use ; while their sentiments incul- 

 cate that love of justice, of freedom and country, 

 which no other school-book has ever yet dared to 

 do. They also everywhere urge that no earthly 

 power should ever, for a moment, be inter])osed 

 to alienate or compromise our direct, personal du- 

 ty to God. All profit, pledge and expediency, must 

 yield to duty to the great Head and Source of all. 



Our school-books are, most of them, tame and 

 savorless things. They exhaust the strength and 

 patience of the pupil in obtaining a fluent and me- 

 lodious elocution, v»hile they ought to press home 

 upon the heart those sentiments of justice and du- 

 ty which will make even the unlettered person el- 

 oquent. The "Free Speaker" has the happiest 

 combination of both. While it breathes the spir- 



