THE FARM AND THE HOME. §5 



is equivalent to the advancement and upbuilding of civilization and 

 all pertaining thereto — we must seek, earnestly seek, to beget within 

 our eliildren a love for agricultural pursuits. It is not enougli that 

 we lal)or and secure a competency for ourselves. The man who has 

 accumulated the greatest amount of dollars and cents may not be 

 tlie man who has made the greatest success of life. But the farmer 

 who has so learned to work with nature that his fields are clothed 

 with the evidences of fertility, and who has taught his children to 

 love the God-given pursuit of agriculture, has not lived in vain. 

 We should not encourage our children to become farmers from selfish 

 and mercenary motives, but should inspire them with the true idea — 

 that " agriculture is the grandest, noblest, and most useful employ- 

 ment among men ; " that he who makes a success of tilling the soil 

 ministers, in a large degree, to the success of evei-y industry ; to the 

 happiness of all mankind ; to the growth and permanenc}' of the 

 Republic, and to a higher civilization. Our sons and daughters 

 must be taught, that in order to become successful farmers and 

 farmers' wives, the^- must become diligent and life-long students of 

 nature. 



I desire now to speak more particularly of our homes, and hope 

 to so treat the subject as to awaken the interest of all, but more 

 especially- the interest of the mothers, wives and daughters — the 

 keepers of our homes. The influences of home are vital and 

 potent, extending for good or evil into every department of life ; 

 moulding the character of individuals, giving tone and bias to society, 

 and exerting a controlling power over the destinies of State and 

 nation — in a word, home influences are indelibly impressed upon all 

 lor life. There are no duties devolving upon parents of equal im- 

 portance with those of the home circle. This becomes apparent 

 when we consider that the moral and social status of society is but 

 the reflection of the moral and social character of home. The 

 philanthropist and the statesman rel^' upon the virtue and intelligence 

 of rural homes as the ■ safeguard of national purit}' and liberty'. 

 How vital, then, that home influences be pure in tone ! How neces- 

 sary that there be taught habits of industry, punctuality, trulhfuhiess, 

 kindness, forbearance, respect for others, and all those ennobling 

 traits so essential in forming true and virtuous lives ! 



Home life, in rural communities, is often monotonous. In it we 

 see too little effort to awaken and train the finer sensibilities of our 

 natures. The entire energy of the household is too often devoted to 



