Specialization is the rule now in all lines of business, and as the farmer gets to be more and more a business man, he will adopt business methods, and push ahead. The big farm, partially cultivated, and covered with a great variety of crops which require as many varieties of cultivation to give good results, is a thing of the past, except where some individual farmer is too stupid to read the handwriting on the wall. It never paid as it ought, and it entailed tremendous labor. Now big areas are only cultivated where lots of help is employed, and diversity of crops can only be successfully practiced under the same conditions. Today the custom of cultivating small areas is increasing, and where it is done for profit, the grower more and more tends to specialize. Secretary Critchfield, of the Pennsylvania State Department of Agriculture, said some years ago that “the greatest amount of money in farming was to be made in specialties,” and that the country boy in deserting the farm was “running away from opportunity.” This has since been proved true, and today it is possible for either girl or boy to make a good living from even a small piece of land, if she or he will only give intelligent attention to the matter. It requires labor, to succeed in farming, but so does any other calling, if one wishes to master it, and there is no calling that assures so much independence. People must eat, and the food must be grown for them, whether the times be hard or easy; and even should times be so hard that you can’t sell your product freely, you can eat it freely, and you can not be sure of food and room if you are in a shop or in an office. The American farmer and gardener are the nearest to free workers in the world. The most unlikely things may bring profits when grown as specialties. One man who has a farm in Lewisburg, Pa., is making a good living from raising chestnuts. His profits on their sales average several thousand dollars a year. He made a study of chestnut growing, until he knows a lot about it, and has grafted young trees with Japanese and Paragon chestnuts, thus increasing the quantity and improving the quality of his crop. He has done so well at this, that the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Department has issued a bulletin setting forth in detail Mr. Sober’s method of chestnut culture. If you are interested you can get the bulletin by writing to Harrisburg, Pa., for it. Mushrooms offer a pretty good opportunity to make money, if careful attention is given to detail, but they are still mighty uncertain wild things. It is impossible to give the details of cultivation of specialties within the limits of a book, but if you apply to the Department of Agriculture you can get much information.