130 
STATE AGRICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 
and profit, and looking to tliem as the great money crop of the 
farm, from which the income of the year is to be derived. 
Many instances of the results of concentrated labor were 
given, showing how much more profitable the system of con¬ 
centrated labor could be made, than the system of scattered 
and diffusive labor too commonly adopted. A gentleman in 
northern Is’ew York began a few years ago as a harness 
maker. It was slow and unsatisfactory business in his partic¬ 
ular locality, and though he had but limited means, he bought 
a small tract of land, and set out a hop plantation. He culti¬ 
vated w^ell and brought it to the highest state of perfection. 
Large prices ruled during the war and he was able to extend 
his plantation by degrees till at last he had sixty acres in hops 
and amassed by this crop alone, a fortune of over $200,000, 
and at this day he is one of the wealthiest cultivators of his 
neighborhood. Jiving in a princely mansion, and commanding 
the respect and confidence of the whole community. 
It was not a question of large or small farms. The size of 
the farm should depend chiefly upon the amount of working cap¬ 
ital the owner had in hand. If he had capital enough, he could 
work a large farm to profit. If he has'little or no capital, a 
very small farm would be more profitable than a large one, 
because he would concentrate his labor upon a few acres, bring 
them to a higher degree of productiveness and. profit, and 
thus save the expense incident to a large tract of land, which 
is, necessarily, comparatively unproductive. 
Suppose, for instance, a farmer should conclude to make the 
dairy the leading specialty. He had been told there are many 
parts of Wisconsin admirably adapted to it, with rich, luxuri¬ 
ant, well-watered pastures. The dairy offers special induce¬ 
ments to one who is so situated as to be able to adopt it, for 
the reason that it is subject to rather less competition than 
some other branches of farming. The wool-grower, for exam¬ 
ple, has to compete with the wool-grower on the vast plains of 
South America, and in Australia. The beef-raiser has to 
compete with the boundless extent of fertile lands in Texas 
