70 MY FARM. 



neighborhood of large towns ; doubtful if beef and 

 mutton cannot be made cheaper in out-of-the-way 

 districts, where by reason of distance from an every- 

 day market, lands command a low price. 



For kindred reasons, no farm, so near a large town 

 of the East, invites the growth of grain : on this 

 score there can be no competition with the West, 

 except in retired parts of the country, where land is 

 of little marketable value. 



What then ? Grazing does not promise well ; 

 nor does grain-growing. Shall I stock my land with 

 grass, and sell the hay ? Unfortunately, this experi- 

 ment has been carried too far already. A near mar- 

 ket, and the small amount of labor involved, always 

 encourage it. But I am of opinion that no light 

 land will warrant this strain, except where manures 

 from outside sources are easily available, and are 

 applied with a generous hand. Such, for instance, is 

 the immediate neighborhood of the sea shore, where 

 fish and rockweed are accessible ; or, what amounts 

 to the same thing, such disposition of the land as 

 admits of thorough irrigation. In my case, both 

 these were wanting. I must depend for manurial 

 resources upon the consumption of the grasses at 

 home. 



And this suggests dairying : dairying in its ordi- 

 nary sense, indeed, as implying butter and cheese 



