192 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



BOOK FAEMIXG. 



MRS. J. C. WILSON. 



[Read at the Rochester Institute, Feb. 5, 1886.] 



The farmer is much inclined to underrate tlie profession of which he is a 

 member. Too apt ' look up to other men as though they were exalted 

 high above him by thu dignity of their various professions. Too apt to look 

 upon his life as one of drudgery and to envy the more fashionable exterior and 

 soft, white hands of the city clerk or attorney, forgetting the truth uttered by 

 the greatest of poets, " There is no better sign of a brave mind than a hard 

 hand." 



Agriculture is looked upon by men of other trades and professions, as the most 

 independent and the most honorable calling, and A\e:c • '1 left to adopt the employ- 

 ment of their choice, other tilings being equal, scarcely any one would entirely 

 reject the pleasures which naturally flow from the cultivation of the soil. The 

 merchant, worn by anxiety for the safety of his investments, tried by the 

 excitement of trade, taxed by losses or disgusted with unfeeling creditors or 

 careless debtors, looks with envy npon the farm with its quiet, peacefulness and 

 honest independence, and longs to fly to the sunshine and open fields for health 

 and hapjiiness. 



The mechanic, sick of the monotony of business, the ceaseless din of the 

 machine shop and its unwholesome atmosphere, tired of his dependence upon 

 querulous customers or slow-paying employers, longs to become the owner of a 

 little farm where he can become directly dependent upon, his own right arm for 

 all the necessaries of life and its many comforts. 



The lawyer, disgusted with the "glorious uncertainty" of his profession and 

 its "senseless technicalities," vexed by the obstinacy of some perverse judge or 

 some equally obstinate jury, longs for the peaceful pleasures aud honest inde- 

 pendence of rural life. 



The politician, too, has many smooth words and honeyed phrases for the 

 farmer, especially just before an election. He can hardly contain his admira- 

 tion and respect for the "hard-fisted yeomanry" and the modesty for which 

 his class is })roverbial, will only permit him to ask in return the poor privilege 

 of using your votes and spending your money. 



The clergyman, finding his efforts unavailing and that he is stirring up 

 hatred and envy in the community instead of bringing peace and good will to 

 his flock, can but strongly desire to doff his priestly robes and hie to the quiet 

 country where he may find his ta'ents better adapted to the work necessary to 

 provide a livelihood for himself and family. 



The physician, whose whole time is spent amid scenes of trouble and suffer- 

 ing, can but look upon the farmer with envy or wish that his life were other than 

 it is. 



But, in order for the farmer to estimate more correctly his profession, it is 

 necessary that he should 'divest himself of a prejudice which was for- 

 merly very common and of which too much yet remains against what is termed 

 book farming or scientific farming. This opposition sprnigs from a variety of 

 causes. AVe admit that much which appears in our agricultural papers and 

 periodicals 'is of a trilling nature and not practical. And the man who 

 attempts to api)ly what he may read to practical purposes without the aid of 



