1882.] FAllM LIFE. 287 



and then replied to his son : ' ' The hired servants have not a dol- 

 lar to their name; they have no borne of their own, and probably 

 never will have. Now you see this nice farm and its surroundings, 

 they are all yours. I cannot occupy it much longer, and now I 

 am only laboring for you." But the boy had become so intoxi- 

 cated with the idea of freedom, and. although he had previously 

 taken a pride in driving the best four-horse team in the county, 

 and that is saying much, still they had lost their charm. The boy 

 left, and obtained a situation as brakeman on the cars, and in less 

 than one year was thrown from the platform, run over, and in- 

 stantly killed, almost within sight of his farm. Now, my young 

 friend, do you think there was anguish in that frenzied family ? 



" Farming as it should be " is the most healthful, the most use- 

 ful, the most noble employment of man, and the first lesson to 

 learn in it, is to estabhsh a good reputation. Eight and wrong are 

 realities; they are no relative terms of indefinite application. 

 Character is all there is of us. If we do an act because it is right, 

 we are made better. We feel it ourselves; others see and feel it. 

 If we do a wrong, we are made lower. And there is one thing 

 about this worth remembering. A life-long ^ooc? character can be 

 spoilt in an hour by our own acts. Honesty and square dealing 

 are respected by all, and appreciated by those we deal with. 



As we have before stated, " farm life " has a bright side. As we 

 come from the field at the close of our labors for the day, we are 

 or should be met with the cheer and smiles of those we love, 

 which relieves the pain of aching limbs and brow, and makes 

 more soft the downy pillow; "the sleep of the laboring man is 

 sweet whether he eat little or much," and after refreshing sleep 

 he rises again with the lark, and, with an elastic step and cheerful 

 countenance, he goes to the labor he loves with spirits as buoyant 

 as air, and exclaims, " Who does not love to be a farmer, and see 

 the grass grow ?" We know there are some that do not take this 

 cheerful view of farming, and I look with sincere pity upon those 

 farmers who are settling down into discouragement over the con- 

 dition of their farms: their crops are light for want of manure, 

 which is little for want of crops; fiom want of anything to sell 

 they are too poor to buy fertilizers, and in utter hopelessness they 

 exclaim. " farming is poor business." Well, such farming is '-poor 

 business." I do not speak of this to add to their discouragement, 

 but to give them a word of cheer, to point them, if I can, to some 

 way to better their lot. I believe the cheapest and easiest way to 



