312 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



to grasp the prize which appears so easy to secure, and 

 refusing to believe that there is any possibility that it can 

 elude his grasp. Here, I say, is often the fatal mistake of a 

 lifetime. Young man, take counsel of your elders. They 

 have traveled over the way upon which you are about to 

 enter. They know where some of the enemy's batteries are 

 masked, where some of the pitfalls and other dangers are 

 concealed, because the}^ have traversed some of these paths 

 before you, and hence are able to give advice founded upon 

 experience. Listen attentively to this advice. Ponder it 

 thoughtfully, w^eigh it carefully; and, having marked out 

 your course, enter upon it with firmness, and a determined 

 purpose to achieve success. 



Here, also, I am obliged to admit that parents sometimes 

 make a mistake equally fiital, by insisting on a certain 

 course in life which they have mapped out for their sons. 

 Advice and counsel they ought certainly to give, re-enforced 

 by lessons drawn from experience and intensified by parental 

 love and solicitude. But all this should stop short of the 

 very appearance of threats or commands. The young man 

 is to be the builder of his fortune ; let him then also be its 

 architect, with such suggestions as your experience and 

 knowledge of the elements and materials which must enter 

 into the structure will enalile you to furnish. The period of 

 life when the young man is completing the theoretical and 

 entering upon the practical preparation for his life work is 

 most important and critical. In seeking to give him counsel 

 and advice as to his course, therefore, the utmost care should 

 be used to lead him aright. I say lead, because you must 

 do that if you would influence him for his own good. In 

 order to do this, several things will be necessary : you must 

 possess his confidence and respect ; you must thoroughly 

 understand his capacities and temperament ; he mast be made 

 to feel that your words of counsel are the outcome of a sin- 

 cere desire for his highest benefit. He will doubtless invest 

 the future with very bright colors, and your experience 

 of practical life may cause you to feel that the picture is 

 misleading. But beware how you cast darkening shadows 

 upon it. Seek, rather, to show him how he may improve it 

 by shading down and softening the view, so that the transi- 



