_Agriculture_ is the generic term, including at once the science, the art, and the process of supplying human wants by raising the products of the soil, and by the associated industries; _farming_ is the practise of _agriculture_ as a business; there may be theoretical _agriculture_, but not theoretical _farming_; we speak of the science of _agriculture_, the business of _farming_; scientific _agriculture_ may be wholly in books; scientific _farming_ is practised upon the land; we say an _agricultural_ college rather than a college of _farming_. _Farming_ refers to the _cultivation_ of considerable portions of land, and the raising of the coarser crops; _gardening_ is the close _cultivation_ of a small area for small fruits, flowers, vegetables, etc., and while it may be done upon a farm is yet a distinct industry. _Gardening_ in general, _kitchen-gardening_, the _cultivation_ of vegetables, etc., for the household, _market-gardening_, the raising of the same for sale, _floriculture_, the _culture_ of flowers, and _horticulture_, the _culture_ of fruits, flowers, or vegetables, are all departments of _agriculture_, but not strictly nor ordinarily of _farming_; _farming_ is itself one department of _agriculture_. _Husbandry_ is a general word for any form of practical _agriculture_, but is now chiefly poetical. _Tillage_ refers directly to the work bestowed upon the land, as plowing, manuring, etc.; _cultivation_ refers especially to the processes that bring forward the crop; we speak of the _tillage_ of the soil, the _cultivation_ of corn; we also speak of land as in a state of _cultivation_, under _cultivation_, etc. _Culture_ is now applied to the careful development of any product to a state of perfection, especially by care through successive generations; the choice varieties of the strawberry have been produced by wise and patient _culture_; a good crop in any year is the result of good _cultivation_.
aspiration, endeavor, intention, tendency. design, goal, mark, determination, inclination, object, end, intent, purpose,
The _aim_ is the direction in which one shoots, or sometimes that which is aimed at. The _mark_ is that at which one shoots; the _goal_, that toward which one runs. All alike indicate the direction of _endeavor_. The _end_ is the point at which one expects or hopes to close his labors; the _object_, that which he would grasp as the reward of his labors. _Aspiration_, _design_, _endeavor_, _purpose_, referring to the mental acts by which the _aim_ is attained, are often used as interchangeable with _aim_. _Aspiration_ applies to what are viewed as noble _aims_; _endeavor_, _design_, _intention_, _purpose_, indifferently to the best or worst. _Aspiration_ has less of decision than the other terms; one may aspire to an _object_, and yet lack the fixedness of _purpose_ by which alone it can be attained. _Purpose_ is stronger than _intention_. _Design_ especially denotes the adaptation of means to an end; _endeavor_ refers to the exertions by which it is to be attained. One whose _aims_ are worthy, whose _aspirations_ are high, whose _designs_ are wise, and whose _purposes_ are steadfast, may hope to reach the _goal_ of his ambition, and will surely win some _object_ worthy of a life's _endeavor_. Compare AMBITION; DESIGN.