IQ HANDY-BOOK OF HUSBANDRY. 



him to be a happier man who owns a small place, even with a 

 mortgage for his shadow, than is he who, with better facilities for 

 his daily occupations, and better conveniences for his daily life, has 

 hanging before his eyes the fact that some day, when he is older 

 and less able to commence farming again, he must resign his im- 

 provements to his landlord, turn the key on his home, and pitch 

 his tents in strange fields. 



The question of economy, however, cannot be set aside. 

 There are, I know, many farmers whose aim in life seems to be 

 to see how much money they can screw out of the land to invest 

 on bond and mortgage, and the more often they can move and 

 apply their leeches to fresh cheeks, the more tully they will gratify 

 their lowest ambition. They save at the spigot of improvement, 

 and are unconscious of the open bung of exhaustion ; in their 

 way they are happy. But every man who means to take a broader 

 view of farming, and recognizes the fact that the most substantial 

 part of the returns of his labor, and of his outlay, consists in 

 better buildings, better soil, and better stock, will see a sufficient 

 reason for wishing to become the owner of the fee of (lis farm. 

 In the other transactions of life, where the principle holds good 

 that any thing is worth what it will fetch in the market, business 

 men invest money with a view to the chances of its return at any 

 time when they choose to sell. In farming, this principle does 

 not hold good — at least not with regard to the farm itself. 



It is better that the question of selling be not at all considered, 

 for a valuable farm is always a very difficult thing to sell, and very 

 rarely brings so much as it is worth. There are persons who 

 speculate in farms, who buy worn-out land at a low price, and, 

 after improving it, sell it at a high price. They often make money 

 by the operation, and they generally do good. They are a useful 

 class of enterprising men, but they are not the kind of men that I 

 have in my mind now — men who intend to "follow" farming as a 

 permanent occupation, who have made up their minds that it is the 

 thing to do, and who regard it not so much an enterprise as a living. 

 To such, I say, buy your farm judiciously, and, of course, as 

 cheaply as you can. Make up your mind whether it will suit you. 



