CHAPTER III 



FROM LAW TO AGRICULTURE 



was a storm of reproach and disapproval 

 from my parents when they heard of my hus- 

 band's decision. Agriculture as a profession! To be- 

 come a plain mujik as they saw it. An occupation 

 so far below the dignity of an intelligent, balabatish 

 (respectable) Jewish youth! But his decision was 

 irrevocable. 



I was fully in sympathy with his idea and in July, 

 1882, we left for Paris, which boasted a splendid agri- 

 cultural college. There, upon investigation, we found 

 that only single men could enter, as the college was lo- 

 cated a few miles out of Paris and the students lived 

 in dormitories. 



However, we learned soon after that Zurich in Swit- 

 zerland had an excellent agricultural college, and within 

 a month we had left Paris and reached Zurich. Here 

 we found quite a large and interesting colony of Rus- 

 sian students. My husband soon passed his entrance 

 examinations and we settled down to a three-year stay. 



It was during his third and last year that my husband 

 wrote many articles on agriculture for the leading 

 newspapers in Russia. These called forth splendid 



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