306 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



tedder and the horse rake left where they were last used, or 

 under a tree, to battle with the elements until wanted another 

 season. These tools should be cared for as much as the car- 

 riage in which the farmer takes his family to church on the 

 Sabbath. If they are in a proper building, where they can 

 be looked after in the winter, the wood-work repainted, the 

 iron-work kept well oiled or greased, to prevent rust, they 

 will last twice as long as those left out in the field. And, 

 further, if any misfortune should overtake the farmer, and 

 his property have to be sold by an executor, his family 

 would recover more than double the benefit. A manufact- 

 urer of mowing machines has said that a good mowing 

 machine, well cared for, ought to last a farmer his lifetime, 

 if he died in any kind of season. 



Another improvement which suggests itself is to have more 

 attractions about the home grounds. Little labor is required 

 to prepare the ground for a few flowers, shrubs and foliage 

 plants, and the delight the mother and daughters will 

 take in beautifying is worth all the time* expended in prep- 

 aration of artistic beds to be bordered with foliage plants ; 

 a terrace for dahlias and asters ; a mound for verbenas, not 

 forgetting a place for the favorites of our mothers, — the 

 marigold, poppy and sun flower ; a rustic summer-house, 

 covered with climbing vines, where the farmer can sit in the 

 twilight and reflect upon the unrivaled picture before him, 

 and see a beginning in solving the problem, how to keep the 

 boys on the farm. 



To be a successful manufacturer, a man must be educated 

 to his business. He must thoroughly understand every 

 detail, and, when his business is so large as to require it, he 

 must have trusted foremen in every department, to look 

 after the interest of the employer, and see that there is 

 nothing wasted. Such a man seldom fails in what he under- 

 takes. He is constantly on the lookout for improved 

 machines which are required in his special industry. To-day 

 there are large savings to a manufacturer, which but a few 

 years ago were a waste. Scraps of leather about a boot and 

 shoe factory, called gimpins, were formerly used as fuel in 

 the stoves of the shop. Now a large and prosperous indus- 

 try is carried on, in extracting the grease and oil from the 



