MR. URBAN AND A COUNTRY HOUSE 



There is no reason why its near lands should 

 not become the paradise of fruiterers, and of 

 vegetable-growers for the market. Its gen- 

 eral surface — short of the mountains, or of 

 the beautiful rolling lands of Monmouth— 

 does not invite those who look for the pictur- 

 esque as well as the practical. 



But what boots it, talking of this or that 

 locality? If a man has really made up his 

 mind to be shaven, it matters little on which 

 half of his chin the operator shall commence. 

 If Mr. Urban, or any other good friend, is 

 determined to possess himself of fifty acres, 

 he will undoubtedly have associations which 

 will draw him in this or that direction, against 

 all reasoning upon the mere merit of the land. 



Agriculturally speaking, it does not much 

 matter where the amateur farmer may go. 

 I do not say this ironically, but in full sober- 

 ness. If a man, used to city life and its lusts, 

 has made up his mind to redeem himself, so 

 far as he may, by grappling with fifty of God's 

 acres, and by putting the stamp of his energ}' 

 and toil upon them, he cannot go wrong, wher- 

 ever, within reasonable distance, the hills and 

 the meadows are spread out. Earnest work 

 will declare itself effectively, on the harsh 

 rocky banks of the Hudson, or upon the unctu- 



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