Selecting the Farm 41 



tour of inspection. The more you go, the more will the 

 place please you, if it be worth your attention. Give heed 

 to the appearance of the neighborhood, — a flourishing 

 country should show its prosperity. When you go in, 

 look about, so that, when needs be, you can find your way 

 out. Take care that you choose a good climate, not 

 subject to destructive storms, and a soil naturally strong — 

 in a healthy situation, where labor and cattle can be had, 

 well watered, near a good-sized town, and either on the sea 

 or a navigable river, or else on a good and much frequented 

 road. Choose a place, which has not often changed owner- 

 ship, one which is sold unwillingly, that has buildings in 

 good repair. Beware that you do not rashly contemn the 

 experience of others. It is better to buy from a man who 

 has farmed successfully and built well. ^ 



What motive, then, in buying a farm? To sell 

 again and quickly, at a profit? Then you are a 

 dealer in real estate, not a farmer. Do you buy 

 in order to indulge in an avocation? Then it is 

 diversion you are seeking. Would you experiment 

 with seeds, roots, and soils? Then it is a chemical 

 laboratory or pure science you are after. Are 

 you timid as to stocks and bonds, shares and in- 

 dustrials generally. Then it is an investment you 

 seek, — something you may be able to find when 

 you would take an inventory. Do you want the 

 farm as a home — a site for yourself where land 

 and sky, the procession of the seasons, springtime 

 and harvest, rain, snow, hail, fungi, insects, and 

 the pleasant anxieties of life weave their warp 



^ The copy of Cato on Agriculture which lies before me bears the date 

 1598, is the edition of John Meursum, printed at Antwerp, by Plantin. 

 I follow the admirable translation of Fairfax Harrison. 



