MR. URBAN AND A COUNTRY HOUSE 



address himself to one of wide experience and 

 observation in such matters, he would proba- 

 bly say : "My dear sir, do you wish a fifty acre 

 farm, that shall return revenue ? Do you wish 

 it as a plaything, for which you will be willing 

 to pay as much annually as for your opera-box 

 and its attendant expenses? Do you wish to 

 engage your sympathies in the affair, and dem- 

 onstrate some improved method of culture at 

 whatever cost? Finally, do you wish it as a 

 summer home, enjoyable — through all the 

 time of leaves and fruitage — and not a cancer 

 upon the purse through all the remaining 

 months of the year?" 



Well — not one in ten who talks vaguely 

 about having a farm — a country place — is 

 prepared to answer intelligibly and directly 

 such questions. Can you — who have some- 

 times thought of giving your children breath- 

 ing-room, under trees? Can you — who have 

 sometimes thought of glorifying your business 

 successes in Wall Street, by a tasteful home 

 in the country? Can you — publisher, jobber, 

 grocer, bookseller, tailor — who have some 

 vague notions of eventually giving dignity to 

 your gains by establishing a home under elms 

 — have you any precise idea of what you pro- 

 pose? What limit of land— what range of 



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