No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 185 



of the kind and variety that are best adapted to our climate and 

 soils. That is one of the small things that is very important for 

 there are different varieties of soils in our country, and the grain or 

 vegetables that do well on one soil may not do well on a different 

 soil. 



There are so many little every day occurrences that turn up that 

 we need to cultivate the mind to be ready for any and all of these 

 things. For instance, a horse has been worked until quite warm, 

 is then given all the cold water he wants, and a case of colic is the 

 result, while a little thought might have prevented it. The cows are 

 turned into the young clover, and a case or two of bloats, and prob- 

 ably a dead cow. We see the fence down somewhere and think we 

 will repair it to-morrow, but before we get there Jones' hogs have 

 been in and rooted out all our early potatoes. It would be a small 

 thing to make these repairs when we see they are needed. Kemem- 

 ber, a stick in time saves nine. 



The matter of caring for our land and prevent washouts as we 

 see them is a small thing if attended to at the proper time. I think 

 no farmer has had more to contend with in this matter than myself. 

 When I commenced to farm where I am now, the fields were riddled 

 with gutters and washouts. With a little work after the fields are 

 seeded in directing the water in the way you want it to go may save 

 you a sight of labor in after years. 



It is said that home is a home if it is ever so homely, and we are 

 pleased to have it. Like the man with his wife in making his speech 

 said, if everybody would have thought as much of his wife as he 

 did, they would have all wanted her; a wag in the back part of the 

 house called and said; "Yes, if everybody would have known her 

 as I did, no one would have had her." We must make the best of 

 what we have and remember that the one who has cast her lot in 

 with us for life will need to be looked after, and her burdens made 

 as light as possible. And one of the small ways we can help her is to 

 have good dry wood and plenty of it. It is a thing we must have, 

 and the work of getting it must be done some time, and it is just 

 as easy to do it in time and save having bad fires, smoking stoves, 

 and scolding wives, for there is nothing so annoying and trying on 

 a woman's temper as green wood and a smoking stove. I hear some 

 one say, I would like to have the wood dry and ready for my wife, 

 but I do not have the time to provide it for her. I will tell you how 

 to get the time. You will have it in this way; rise one hour earlier 

 every morning during the year, and by so doing j^ou will have gained 

 300 hours, or 30 working days of 10 hours each, and that will give 

 you plenty of time to do many of the little things you complain you 

 have no time for. We should make the home a pleasant place by 

 being pleasant and cheerful ourselves; meet everyone with a pleas- 

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