520 State Boakd of Agriculture, &c. 



before liim, and so plodded on in the old ways tliat tlie lat- 

 ter saw no beauties in tlie calling — much less the prospect 

 of acquiring a competency, if pursued for life. The father 

 had great faith in the signs of the past, but could not dis- 

 cern the signs of the present. If his father before him 

 sowed his peas or turnips in a particular time of the moon, 

 he was scrupulously careful to do the same ; and, contrary 

 to the scripture injunction, he ofttimes regarded the clouds 

 and did not sow, as he should, and, therefore, begged in 

 harvest and had nothing. Tlie son, noticing the spirit of 

 inquii-y and research that characterized the men of other 

 pursuits, and the rewards which came in return for such 

 enterprise, was quick to reason from cause to effect, and 

 never having seen great results achieved upon his father's 

 farm, concludes that the same cannot be reached upon any 

 farm, and so flies to other and more inviting fields, in 

 which he hopes to make up an estate, arrive at honors and 

 retire. 



But we did not design to speak at length upon this 

 branch of our subject further than, by way of contrast, to 

 bring to mind the opportunities that now present them- 

 selves to young farmers to come to the front and help 

 inaugurate a new state of things in ao;riculture. The 

 times and seasons now call for a more thorough culture of 

 the soil and the mind. 



The present condition of the country is very suggestive, 

 and well calculated to turn the minds of young men in pur- 

 suit of a calling to the claims of the original and primitive 

 occupation of man. We have passed one of those epochs in our 

 history that try not only the souls of men but the metal of 



