SoKv^ps of Lifif/nfion 71 



true that anybody can draw a will, and yet the 

 fact that men and women allow anybody to 

 draw their wills is prodnctive of more fat fees 

 than arise from any other source. Not long 

 ago an acquaintance, who did not realize the 

 truth of the old adage that " a little knowledge 

 is a dangerous thing," drew his own will, and, 

 being childless, sought to leave his property to 

 his wife, who had been the partner of his labors 

 in a long life of toil. The law of the state of 

 New York requires two witnesses to a will. He 

 procured only one, and upon his death the 

 property, which husband and wife had with so 

 much toil secured, was for the most part scat- 

 tered among distant relatives, almost strangers, 

 because he was afraid of lawyers and their fees. 

 In all the varied business which a farmer will 

 meet, — the giving of notes, mortgages, etc., or, 

 better, the taking of mortgages, bills of sale, 

 and promissory notes, — it is well to remember 

 that different conditions of fact make necessary 

 different interpretations of the law, and that it is 

 usually unsafe to follow a neighborhood prece- 

 dent. Oftentimes you may be called upon to 

 transact business where it is not convenient to 

 consult a lawyer. In such cases, and in all 

 transactions of any magnitude or possible im- 

 portance, all talk, or the essence of it, should 

 be reduced to writing. Then it cannot get away 



