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THE FARMER'S iMAGAZINE, 



secure good land, good buildings, and a good landlord, 

 with a principled agent, if he can ; but if he cannot, if 

 the supply is not equal to the demand, by all means let 

 him make the best of those persons and things with 

 whom and with which he has to deal. I recommend 

 every young man to take the judgment of an experienced 

 friend upon every point upon entering business, not only 

 in the hire of the farm, but also in the purchase of the 

 necessary stock and implements. I hive seen many a 

 young man, without much judgment or discretion, much 

 imposed upon both at auctions and in private pur- 

 chases. In the manaiiement of the farm do everything 

 well and at the cheapest cost, and don't bo afraid to 

 calculate the cost to produce a crop, or the cost to rear 

 or fatten an animal. I am sure we look at a farm too 

 much in the mass, instead of calculating the items, 

 whereby we unknowingly lose in one or more depart- 

 ments of our manufacture, for the want of investigation. 

 Scrutiny leads to judicious and profitable outlay. Cul- 

 tivate a thorough judgment of stock, for purchases 10 

 per cent, too dear and sales 10 per cent, too cheap are 

 serious mistakes, and tell heavily against success in life. 

 Young men must know by observation what constitutes 

 a day's work : horses are expensive machinery, and if 

 horses are kept well and worked 20 per cent, daily 

 below par, whereby 20 per cent, of horse muscle is ne- 

 cessarily kept beyond the actual requirements of the 

 farm, I say tliesc again are serious losses. The manual 

 labour, too, of a farm is necessarily a heavy outlay, and 

 a master receiving 20 per cent, minus his due in labour 

 is in an unfavourable position. Young masters must 

 learn what constitutes a fair day's work for a fair day's 

 wages, and see, too, that they get it. Also, in task 

 work, a young man may be much imposed upon by 

 paying a heavy per-centage beyond the value of the 

 work performed. Both horses and men demand serious 

 attention and consideration, with good supervision and 

 direction. The work of the farm should always be for- 

 ward, that it may be performed at the proper time and 

 season. Not to make hay when the sun shines is mis- 

 taken economy. A man always just behindhand is 

 not likely to overtake success. I most strongly re- 

 commend every young man annually to draw out a cor- 

 rect valuation of the live and dead stoci:, and of the 

 covenants of the farm. I do it each year at Oc tober, and 

 at the same time I draw out an actual balance-sheet of 

 the annual returns and expendilure; and I urge upon 

 every young man the necessity of doing the same. The 

 more we are men of figures the more shall we be men 

 of sound judgment, of deep research, and correct prac- 

 tice. Groping on in the d irk has been the ruin of many 

 a man. It is investi;ialion which prevents a continuance 

 in losses ; and it is always wise to know the worst, and 

 meet our difficulties, not by avoiding them, but by re- 

 search, by action, and bs men. I feel it to be absolutely 

 essential for every young farmer to study the agiicuhu- 

 ral literature of the day. The Royal Agricultural So- 

 ciety's Journal must be carefully reid, also the 

 " Farmer's Magazine" ; and it is highly im]iOiiaut 

 weekly to peruse the Mark Lane Evpress or Bell's 

 Weekly Messenger, or some other good agricultural 



paper, that young men may keep pace with the practi- 

 cal and intellectual progress of the age. Again, the 

 Royal Agricultural Society's shows, and the other im- 

 portant and local agricultural exhibitions, are excellent 

 opportunities for comparison, information, and improve- 

 ment. To see other than home systems of farming is 

 decidedly necessary to prevent local prejudices and 

 those narrow notions which grow up under the shade of 

 one's own barn doors. I might say much upon 

 the necessary amount of capital according to the cha- 

 racter of the farm ; also ia recommending thorough 

 draining, deep cultivation, autamnal fallowing, good 

 stock, good manure, no false economy, and the like ; 

 but, in concluding my observations, I prefer to address 

 a few remarks to young men themselves upon their own 

 individual position and bearing. We cannot be blind to 

 the fact that some men, upon their first start in life, 

 make grand mistakes : they start with false riews and 

 false aims, and attain to a false position. In these days 

 of ready credit, how many a man expends far beyond the 

 limit which his income prescribes or warrants, in per- 

 sonal comfort or external show, in handsome furniture 

 and house decoration, in first-class dog-carts, and other 

 extravagances ! Nor is this the worst : such a man 

 usually resolves to cut a shine, be a swell, drive fast 

 horses, attend balls, hunt, shoot, smoke and drink, give 

 dinner-parties, ape superiors, and usually comes to 

 grief. Ttiis is not a picture of plodding industry, and I 

 have drawn an extreme case of folly, to warn young men 

 without adequate means against such a life of tom- 

 foolery. Success is based up<m labour ; and a slow, 

 unpretending, economical start in life is a safe start. 

 Let young men be content to earn their position and 

 their luxuries before they assume the one or indulge in 

 the other, or they will find to their cost that they end 

 their life as they should have commenced it — in labour 

 instead of competency, and that a life of youthful ex- 

 travagance leads to a necessitous old age. Youth is not 

 the time for self-indulgence and the jog-trot easy pace 

 of indolence. Youth is the time for hard but substantial 

 fare, hard every-day lodging and hard work. I am 

 opposed ill toto to the smoking, drinking, and pam- 

 perit)g habits of young men in the ])resent age. I am 

 equally opposed to all the easy-chair habits and the 

 semi-inaction far too common. As a young man I can 

 knock on very well in life without much of the stimu- 

 lants — beer, wine, and spirits, and without the enervating 

 influence of tobacco and many other luxuries ; and, what 

 is more, I find myself better in health, better qualified 

 for business, and better in pocket, without them. I 

 am an advocate for moderation in everything ; and I 

 think it a strange thing indeed if a young man is not at 

 liberty to decline to injure his lieaUh or his constitution 

 because of the voice of public opinion. I especially 

 urge moderation, as I observe young men make fools of 

 themselves in their hours of excitement. I obscive in 

 the hour of excess deeds committed which entail an 

 afterpiece of sorrow and regret ; and how often the loss 

 of character, of business habits, and of fortune may be 

 traced to a wrong step here— to a departure from habits 

 of temperance ! 1 am no ascetic : I can be as happy as 



