Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-04-14
ADDISON COUNTY FARMING.
A NEW VIEW OF TIE QUESTION BY A
FORMER PASTOR IN THE COUNTY.
JELLICO. Tenn. April 10. 1S93

JELLICo, Tenn, April 10, 1893.
Editor Of the Register This question,
like Banquo's ghost, will not down, be-
cause men are continually trying to farm
in Vermont and failing, while others are
trying and succeeding. Is the failure in
the State or in the man? Would the
farmer who fails in Vermont succeed
among the mountains of East Tennessee,
Oh the sandy plains of Florida or on the
rich bottom lands of the great West
Vermont is not the only place where
farming does not pay. But, as rule,
would such men succeed in other voca-
tions? Is farming the only business
that does not pay? No business will
pay when the man is substracted from
it. There are two kinds of theft which
cannot long 60 misunderstanding
from ones self and stealing from ones
farm. And the farmer who steals from
his farm will very naturally steal from
himself, his wife and his children. A
teamster who habitually robs the feed
box and expects good days work from
his team is not only thief, but cruel
one. Let men keep book account with
their farm and see if it owes them liy-
ing. We must deal honestly even by
land. Some land has been so uniustly
treated, so Systematically robbed, that
it cannot laugh even when tickled with
Il hoe. What ais Florida land today ?
1t has been burned over by Indians.
whites and negroes for century.
What is the history of the abandoned
farms of Vermont or of New England
What treatment did they get? What
style of men lived on them? Would it
be easier to recover the farms than the
people who abandoned them?
Does it pay to farm in Vermont? That
depends partly upon what one is striv-
ing for. Some are seeking for money
and the influence it gives them over
men and things. Others want political
power. Many seek pleasure, intense
excitements, vast business competition.
the struggle for mastery over others.
Possibly Vermont might not be as ia
voTable an arena for such conflicts,
though riches, pleasure and power have
rewarded the push of Vermont energy.
But If one is seeking the noblest man
hood and womanhood, the purest pa
triotism, the richest and sweetest do
mestic happiness, wealth and purity of
thought, the best interests of time and
eternity, life not spoiled by death,
honor in the person not the position,
why, then, Vermont is as good place
for this highest, holiest contest as can
be found on the "top side" of Gods
beautiful green earth. When Gen. Lewis
Cass revisited his native New Hamp-
shire as the guest of Daniel Webster,
he expressed surprise that ANYTHING
would grow on such soil. The great
statesman replied that the ground was
too poor and strong for good farming,
$50 we build school houses and churches
and raise men," Mr.. Cass thought the
business had been eminently successful.
And certainly Vermont would not suffer
by comparison with her sister States in
the number and quality of men and
women who have honored her name and
blessed the world.
80 noble mother OF great sons,
Worthy to rank among earth's mghtiest
ones,
And daughters fair and beautiful and good
Yet wise and strong in loftiest womanhood"
Let one travel from Eastport to San
Francisco and from Cape Flattery to
Key West and he will find in every State
a fair sample of the brain, Drawn, blood
and beauty which have made the Greer
Mountains famous at home and abroad
in halls of learning, where high scholar
ship wins in the senate chamber, where
Greek cuts Greek in the battle of giants
or on the field of carnage, where tn,
bravest are put In front and the ranks
closed up. Yes, it pays to farm in Yer
mont II the tarm includes the home