256 PHASES OF FARM LIFE. 



him each year, until all had made the famous journey 

 and seen the great river and the steamboats, and the 

 thousand and one marvels of the far-away town. 

 When it came my turn to go, I was in a great state 

 of excitement for a week beforehand, for fear my 

 clothes would not be ready, or else that it would be 

 too cold, or else that the world would come to an end 

 before the time fixed for starting. The day previous 

 I roamed the woods in quest of game to supply my bill 

 of fare on the way, and was lucky enough to shoot a 

 partridge and an owl, though the latter I did not take. 

 Perched high on a " spring-board," I made the jour- 

 ney and saw more sights and wonders than I have 

 ever seen on a journey since, or ever expect to again. 

 But now all this is changed. The railroad has 

 found its way through or near every settlement, and 

 marvels and wonders are cheap. Still, the essential 

 charm of the farm remains and always will remain ; 

 the care of crops, and of cattle, and of orchards, bees, 

 and fowls ; the clearing and improving of the ground ; 

 the building of barns and houses ; the direct contact 

 with the soil, and with the elements ; the watching of 

 the clouds and of the weather ; the privacies with 

 nature, with bird, beast, and plant ; and the close ac- 



&x* \ quaintance with the heart and virtue of the world. 

 The farmer should be the true naturalist ; the book 

 in which it is all written is open before him night 

 and day, and how sweet and wholesome all his knowl- 

 edge is ! 



U The predominant feature of farm life in New York, 



