SUMMER MEETING, 1882. 73 



cook the meuls. Not long ugo wo read about an iMstaiico of this kind when 

 the careworn mother had pleaded for a woodpile until "forbearance ceased to be 

 a virtue." One day the husband came in at noon witli two or three harvest 

 hands, all hungry as bears, but the table was bare too of everything but cloth 

 and dishes, while the cook stove was as cold as an iec-box. lie stormed 

 around some until his good wife made her appearance from another part of 

 the house in answer to the summons, 'MVhere's the dinner?" "Where's the 

 dinner?" wlicn she meekly replied, ''There was no wood, so I hung it up in 

 the hottest place I could find on a ladder on the south side of the house, bat 

 I can't tell you just when it will be cooked." I presume she never had occa- 

 sion to repeat the experiment. » 



But oh! how deplorable is the condition of him who puffs or chews away 

 ten or fifteen dollars every year in the use of tobacco, and then loads down 

 his offensive breath with the plea that he cannot afford to take the papers or 

 join a horticultural society. 



Now don't say all this talk is irrelevant to the question, for at the outset I 

 proposed to show how resources were often wasted. Perhaps some of my 

 remarks may be be called side issues, but we insist that the last mentioned 

 way in which capital and nerve force is directed is a regular front issue and we 

 can't always "dodge it either." What we have already said will apply in a 

 kind of general way to all commendable undertakings, but we have some 

 additional suggestions which may be of practical importance to the horticult- 

 urist. After one has already made at the outset a complete inventory of all 

 his available resources there remains much thought to be given to the time, 

 place, and manner of using them. Don't be so anxious to secure so much land 

 while it is cheap as to leave no capital to improve it successfully, for if all did 

 so it would always remain unimproved with little or no appreciation in value, 

 and finally show a costly and unsatisfactory result. Still we may safely say 

 that a quarter of a section in a body can be well cared for with less outlay 

 than eighty acres scattered over a quarter of a township. I believe it is gen- 

 erally conceeded that the nearer a team is hitched to a load the more they 

 can draw if they have good footing. So it is an advantage for the home to 

 be near the work. There is no definite plan which in all cases would be best 

 for the arrangement of either the fruit orchards or the farm crops as the 

 diversity of soil and situation are such that one must well consider beforehand 

 which is best adapted for a special purpose or what will be the best possible 

 treatment. The facilities for information in these latter years are such that 

 one need not go far astray, and if we can always realize how the years speed 

 on we shall be inclined to make the most of our allotted time, whereas much 

 of it novT goes to waste for the lack of good forethought. Study well how to 

 save time and steps. 



When I was a youth I made an errand to one of our neighbors who had but 

 an hour or two before sent a man and team to do some work nearly half a 

 mile away. But all at once it occurred to him that something else ought to 

 be done just then, so he summoned the man and team back and when they 

 arrived he found the whiflletrees were needed also. Thus another useless trip 

 was made for them and an hour or two wasted just because the work for the 

 day Avas not well planned. The incident was a loss to the neighbor, but per- 

 haps it made an iinpression which was of benefit to that boy in after years. 



I am aware that oftentimes tliere are unforeseen circumstances which will 

 intervene to interrupt one's best plans, but in a measure we can by proper 

 consideration make allowances for these, should they occur, so if they do 



