94 THE TIM BUNKER PAPERS. 



her run in the road summers, and I guess she would never 

 amount to much. And you might have high grade De- 

 vons, with all the elements of splendid working cattle in 

 them, that would bring three hundred dollars a yoke, and 

 treat them so when they were calves and yearlings, that 

 they would not bring a hundred. You might dwarf them 

 or lame them, or injure their horns, or make them ugly and 

 breachy by bad handling. An ox known to jump fences, 

 or kick, or gore cattle, is very much depreciated in value. 



It is just so with the human stock brought up on a 

 farm. Almost every thing depends upon the bringing up 

 a great deal more than it does with the brutes, for the 

 animal nature of man is only a small part of him, and his 

 moral nature and habits are almost entirely shaped by 

 those who have the care of him, while he is young. If 

 this gets the right start, I have always noticed that it gen 

 erally brings every thing else along right, with it. If a fruit 

 tree gets to bearing when it is young, all the forces of the 

 tree will run to fruit, and you will not be troubled with 

 too much wood and foliage. And if a boy blossoms out 

 into the virtues of industry, truthfulness, honesty, tem 

 perance, and purity, I think it is pretty certain we shall 

 have that kind of fruit as long as he lives. 



Now, to get this fruit early, we must prune both root 

 and branch. The shoots that are running to wood must 

 be shortened in, and a spade must sometimes be thrust 

 down upon the roots, and cut them off. This seems harsh 

 treatment, but every fruit grower knows that it is neces 

 sary. So we must shorten in the boys, when they run 

 wild, nip off the blossom buds of vice, lying, stealing, 

 swearing, drunkenness, and such like. There is an old ar 

 ticle they used to do such things with, when I was a boy, 

 called Solomon s rod. The bark was very bitter, but 

 wholesome, and it worked like a charm. I am afraid folks 

 do not use it so much as they used to. At any rate Jake 

 Frink has never used it at all. He was always scolding 



