PRELIMINARY. 1 9 



everywhere. To the open kitchen-door comes 

 the busy housewife to shake a white something, 

 and stands a moment to look, quite transfixed by 

 the delightful sights and sounds. Hoeing in the 

 garden on a bright, soft May day, when you are 

 not obliged to, is nearly equal to the delight of 

 going trouting. 



Blessed be agriculture ! if one does not have 

 too much of it. All literature is fragrant with it, 

 in a gentlemanly way. At the foot of the charm- 

 ing olive-covered hills of Tivoli, Horace (not he 

 of Chappaqua) had a sunny farm : it was in sight 

 of Hadrian's villa, who did landscape-gardening 

 on an extensive scale, and probably did not get 

 half as much comfort out of it as Horace did 

 from his more simply-tilled acres. We trust that 

 Horace did a little hoeing and farming himself, 

 and that his verse is not all fraudulent sentiment. 

 In order to enjoy agriculture, you do not want 

 too much of it, and you want to be poor enough 



