228 Bureau of Farmers' Institutes. 



The wisest and best in all ages, too, unite in telling us that 

 from our earl}' homes emanate the most potent and far-reaching 

 influences of life. We may wander far and wide, life may bring 

 us the best of all she has to give — friends, influence and wealth — 

 yet nothing interests us so much as the scenes and friends of 

 childhood. If the child's mind be like wax, to receive impres- 

 sions, it is also like adamant to retain them. 



It is related concerning the eminent French writer, Victor 

 Hugo, as he lay dying, and all France bent low to catch the 

 whisper of his words that he spoke almost invariably in Spanish 

 and of his happy boyhood days spent in Spain. As the light in 

 his eyes grew dim, the gifted man dreamed only of his boyhood 

 when he wandered care-free, and the world thinks of Hugo 

 to-day, not at the pinacle of his power as one of the best writers 

 of his time, but as a man loving above everything else, the 

 memories of a happy childhood. 



In the quiet and seclusion of home our children form their 

 best ideals. How important then that these influences are the 

 best; how important that the general line be one of the highest 

 culture and refinement, that the moral and religious character 

 be considered of the gravest import. 



A few years ago I read that wonderful book, " The Greatest 

 Thing in the World," by Prof. Henry Drummond. I was so ab- 

 sorbed in it that I read it not once, but twice. It has found its 

 way into several foreign languages; and the thoughts on right 

 living and the great universal law of love to all mankind are 

 unsurpassed. It is a great thing to be able to live at our best, 

 particularly in our homes. 



In no profession perhaps is the difference between the ideal 

 and the real more apparent than in that of farming. It is to 

 many a pleasing ideal to picture themselves on a fine well-tilled 

 farm, surrounded by fruitful orchards, well-kept gardens and 

 iertile fields. But it is decidedly practical, in these times of close 

 •competition and scarcity of capable help, to the man whose brain 

 must devise the best ways of tilling his soil, caring for his fruit, 

 and rearing his stock so as to give to himself and family a fair 

 and remunerative return for labor expended. 



We sometimes hear the expression, " Farmers are ignorant." 

 Concerning this a recent publication says: "Are they? Indeed! 



