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To their surprise they found many thincp in an occupation six thousand years oUl, 

 \vhivh wcro still the subject of experiment. The best time fur plantinL,^ trees, the soil, 

 and conditions of soil suited to the ditlerenl varieties, tlie best season for cutting 

 timber vith its durability in view, the best mode of preserving timber in the ground 

 or out, and a thousand like thino-s ajipeared still to be subjects of dispute, and thougli 

 of prime importance, to be receiving liltle or no attention among their neighbors. 

 The habits of the various insect enemies that destroyed tlieir fruits and ravaged their 

 fields, seemed little understood, and, in fact, these young men were frequently astonished 

 at meeting with owners of large orchards who, though they could see their apples, 

 peaches, and plums being daily destroyed by insects, were utterly unable to toll whether 

 one or forty ditferent species were the cause, and had never given a moment's atten- 

 tion to the habits of those insects, and to means for their destruction. Even the various 

 birds that fdled the neighboring woods with their music seemed little known, and some 

 among the most useful of them all, who divided their time between singing and the 

 destruction of noxious insects, were subjects of baseless and ridiculous suspicions in 

 the neighborhood, and were slaughtered without mercy on charges the falsity of which 

 might, with a little investigation, have been demonstrated. 



The study of these and of kindred subjects made their labors a constant recreation 

 to them. The daily care of the farm was no longer a task to be performed with 

 machine-like stolidity*, while the mind was constantly wandering to other avocations, 

 and indulging in longings for something of a more engrossing nature. The care of 

 trees, of crops, and of domestic animals was a perpetual study, full of interest, and 

 lacking the dullness that pervades the task of the "professional" student, because 

 every day's growth was presenting to their view new phases for contemplation and 

 thought. For the application of the sciences, of the rudiments of which they had 

 made themselves masters, they had frequent occasion, and as their minds expanded 

 with the multiform nature of their practical studies, a taste of general literature crept 

 in to add to the pleasures of their home. 



And thus these daily laborers became more thoroughly educated than they would 

 have been by spending years at our higher institutions for public instruction. As 

 that education was of a sound and practical nature, it made them respected every- 

 where, and their sentiments and o})inions won attention in whatever circle they chanced 

 to be. They never had occasion to blush for a want of information on subjects with 

 which men in their calling should be familiar, and they never desired to change their 

 occupation, because they could imagine no other so pleasant as that which made them 

 familiar with the green fields and the graceful trees. I indeed believe that either of 

 them took more pleasure in planting some choice tree, and seeing it grow, and blos- 

 som, and bear fruit, than they would have taken in all the various "entertainments" 

 which offer their attractions to the public in large cities. 



I can not say that these young men were ambitious ; yet, in this calling, they won 

 for themselves credit, and accomplished more good than they would have been likely 

 the bar or elsewhere. They were the means, in a great measure, of reforming 

 stem of farming in their vicinity, and of imparting such information as added 



