110 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



time and his muscle as the proprietor of an air-gun shooting 

 gallery, or selling shaving soap from house to house, in the 

 streets of our cities. I accidentally met one of these last 

 named gentlemen not long ago in my own town. His boots 

 were large and heavy ; his face young and fresh, and his 

 arms stout. He carried in one hand a small wooden trunk, 

 from which the lock had been broken, the lid being fastened 

 by a leather strap. He met me with an air born of some 

 brass and some conceit, and showed me his wares with an 

 awkward gesture, but one w^hich would have been full of 

 grace had he held the nibs of a scythe-snath in his hands. In 

 one corner of his box he had a dozen cakes of shaving soap, 

 which he sold at ten cents each, or three for a quarter — 

 " soap of our otim manufacture," he assured me, and which 

 would make a lather " that would not evaporate in twenty 

 minutes !" I confess I looked upon this young man with 

 feelings of mingled pity and contempt : with pity, thinking 

 perhaps he had had a hard master upon some farm, who had 

 made him work early and late with dull and heavy tools, 

 given him few holidays, no money to spend for himself, and 

 no books to read — with contempt, that a strong young man, 

 six feet high, of handsome face and strong arms should be 

 content with selling shaving soap from house to house. I 

 should have honored this man had he been feeding sheep in a 

 barnyard, or standing beside a bin of golden corn his own 

 hands had grown — but as it was : — I thanked him for showing 

 the "goods of our own manufacture" and shook my head. 

 Let me do him and others like him, no injustice. It is true, 

 this young man uisij possibly make a Vanderbilt or a Stewart, 

 hut probablt/ he will become one of the thousands, who, unless 

 they leave our cities for the honest, safe business of farming, 

 will surely drift downward to poverty and uselessness. 



On the other hand I can think of few pictures more full of 

 satisffiction than that of a well tilled and productive farm, the 

 sunny home of a young and industrious farmer, who loves 

 his business ; is proud of his clean fields and handsome cattle ; 

 kind in his family, and loved by his children and friends — 



