284                THE WISOON

          For a tarmera' FestivaL
 [At the Fair of the Amesbury, Mma., Agricultural and
 flortic uil=  1iety, the followingbeautintl poem, writ-
 ten for the occasion by J. G. Whittier, was sung by the
 choir.]
     Once more, oh God, befere oar eyes
     The fullness of Thy bounty lies.
     And, shaming all our doubt and fear,
     Again Thy goodness crowns the year.
     On loyal homes, on rebel sonl,
     On slavery's task, on freedom's toil,
     On good and ill Thy mercies fail,
     For thou, oh Father, pitiest all!
     Yet must the debt of sin be paid,
     And Justice come though long delayed;
     The wrong must die, the goed must be
     Joint heir oT Thy eternity!
     Oh I hearts must break with pain and loss,
     And mourners bow beneath the cross,
     But well we know, whste'er befall,
     Thy love keeps watch above us all.

     Farming as an Occupation Again.
  ED. FARMEIR:-In reply to Adolphus, in the
June No. of the FARMNR, I would say that I
never thought of being " offended " by his
statements in the February No.; nor had I the
remotest idea that mechanics qAm lawyers, by
reading my article in the April No., would
thereby be indured to become farmers. I wrote
it principally for the encouragement of such
as Adolphus who seem to think that farming
and fruit raising in this climate is an extreme-
ly unprofitable and discou raging pursuit.   a
  Adolphus and his neighbors, according to
his statements,-which I doubt not are true-
have had exceedingly bad results follow their
efforts to raise apples, &c. If I could see him,
I would inquire as to the varieties planted,
and whether they had hoed,mulched and pack-
ed their trees and shrubbery, as they have been
advised to do in past numbers of the FARMEV.
'My own experience and that of my neighbors
has been quite the reverse.
  I set out a few apple trees on my place, two
years ago, and this year some of them are bear-
ing.  Last year I set out one hundred apple
trees, some grape vines, and other small fruit
and shrubbery.   Out of that hundred apple
trees twenty are bearing this year, several of
them over a dozen each. I have just been out
and counted thirty on one of them, the Duch-
ess of Oldenburg.
  Some of my neighbors have been trying to
raise fruit longer than I have.   Several of



SIN FARMER.



them expect to gather from one to two hundred
bushels of apples this year. They have also
a fine prospect for a good supply of excellent
plums, cherries, currants, strawberries, tic.
One has, I think, twenty pear trees bearing
this year, some of them profusely. Nor can I
leave out of the list several of the finest vari-
eties of grapes; witness the article of J. C.
Brainard on page 484 of the FARMER for 1862.
And just because I had rather have one apple
plucked from my own tree than a bushel bought
at the store, would I own a spot of ground to
raise them on, believing, as I do, that they can
be raised for profit as well as pleasure here in
Wisconsin.
  The reason why we --rate farming above all
other occupations" is, in part, because it is
the foundation of all other business.  The
farmer produces from nature, and as he pros-
pers others prosper; and when he succeeds
but poorly, others stand a good chance to fail
entirely.              -     i
  I think that Adolphus will eventually be-
ome convinced that he is mistaken in suppos-
ing that "Ithe farmer depends as much upon
the mechar;io for his necessities and comforts
as the mechanic for His bread on the farmer."
These excellent pens, this paper, this kerosene
lamp, our magnificent engines &c., are indeed
quite convenient, and for the time seem to be
necessary for our comfort; yet they cannot be
said to be absolutely indispensable. We can
get along, if need be, and enjoy ourselves com-
fortably with far fewer of these mechanical
contrivances than we use now. And, as for
physicians and lawyers, although they are
generally very clever fellows, and their oocu-
pation considered as honorable as the farmer's,
still I don't know as I ever knew an individual
to gain materially in this world's goods by cul-
tivating a very intimate acquaintance with
them.
  The mechanic turning agriculturist, and
failing, proves nothing against farming, as the
same experiment has often been tried by farm-
ers wlth like results. I know a number who
have sold out and gone into other business;
some of them have returned contented to their