No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 655 



sions does not necessarily imply a successful life. Financial suc- 

 cess does not alone bring peace of mind and contentment. The 

 advantages of the wealthy are frequently overestimated, as is well 

 illustrated in one of Dr. Lewis' lectures. He says how much more 

 docs the capitalist get out of his millions than a man of hundreds 

 get out of his hundreds. The millionaire can not wear, as he walks 

 the streets, a hundred coats, a hundred vests, a hundred hats, or a 

 hundred pairs of shoes. When he sits down at the table he can not 

 eat a whole roast ox, or two or three barrels of potatoes, couple 

 bushels of turnips; in fact he rarely eats as much as his brother 

 in poorer circumstances. When he dies, he requires no ten acre lot 

 to bury him. The hole that his body will fill will be no larger than 

 that required by a pauper who died in the poorhouse. His eyes can 

 not penetrate further than mine, his ears can hear no better, 

 his feet can run no faster, his life's enjoyment is no keener. The 

 most we can get out of this world is lodging, clothing and board. 

 In the light of various other testimonies, as Cornelius Vanderbilt, 

 Stephen Girard, Depew and other capitalists and knowing the trials 

 that merchants, lawyers, physicians and others i:i the various walks 

 of life have to contend with, we may readily conclude that the farmer 

 has as many possibilities for happiness as in any other occupation 

 or profession. 



Let no one feel that his lot in life is a hard one and his work 

 unimportant, if on a farm, if there is much to be done that does not 

 make show to the world. The reward may be only in the satisfac- 

 tion of faithfully doing one's duty and making those around us 

 happy. The farmer should not only take an active interest in grow- 

 ing better crops but in being better educated in his calling, and 

 thus making him better fitted to fulfil his duties as members of so 

 ciety. To secure this end no education is too good for the farmer 

 and his family. The home on the farm should be the place where 

 the farmers' wives exercise their best gifts, where they may both 

 sow and reap, and which is left for them to brighten and beautify 

 or to darken disgrace. First of all, they should remember that 

 the farmer's house must be a true home and not merely a house. We 

 have all seen careful housekeepers whose first and last thought was 

 to keep their surroundings with absolute neatness. Overshoes must 

 be put here, boots and shoes there, papers folded in their creases, 

 the best carpets only trodden upon by strangers, curtains drawn 

 or carpet would fade. These were housekeepers, not home-makers. 

 The virtue of neatness we all know is the housewife's glory, but 

 when carried to excess, becomes a shame, and defies family comfort 

 and banishes the angel of peace from the home, and yet comfort, 

 important as it is, is not the first and last aim in life. It is not all 

 of life to love, for some in their excessive fondness for comfort 

 for the children have become blinded, and allow those whom they 

 might comfort to walk in evil ways and to those things which they 

 ought not without putting forth a restraining hand. Says an indul- 

 gent mother: "I want my children to have a good time while they 

 are young; they will see enough of this world's hardships before they 

 die:" There is no better place than on the farm to train children. 

 If left to themselves they will grow up to be selfish, disagreeable, 

 ease-loving, with hearts incapable of feeling any interest in any 

 thing that docs not immediately affect their physical comfort and 



