SIO 



THE GENESEE FARMEIL 



ment in the animal, or some hint thrown out for ex- 

 periment, get only a " humph'' for his pains when he 

 submits it for consideration to his parent. 



" I bad rather have fifty more than fifty less," says 

 old uncle P., when his reading, reflecting boy, " Jim," 

 had been telling him of the products of certain 

 acres, devoted to the cultivaticn of grapes, cran- 

 berries, rhubarb, hops, &c. ; and so the old gentle- 

 man and " Jim'' still toil on, on their hondr^ odd 

 acres, trying in vain to keep the endless rods cf 

 fence in repair, the countless uptarned stones picked 

 oif, the thistles kept subdued, and the crops gathered 

 in proper season. Man, it is true, was made with 

 reason far above the brutes: with powers astonish- 

 ing. But one man cannot do everything; tuo can- 

 not, and he is not implanting a love of farmiBg in the 

 hearts o-f his sons, who renders them slaves to 

 "■ work." 



There is no use in the farmers grumbling that 

 "- boys don't like to work." Pew of us really like to 

 woik, merely for the "fun of the thing."'' The law- 

 yer, laboring night and day to clear s client — the 

 physician riding miles in a s-tonu to visit the sick — 

 the mechanic and artisao, each and ever}' one labor 

 for a reward. It rr.ay be money, or it may be an 

 equivalent in some other form, but still a reward. So 

 the farmer works early and late that he may pro 

 dace grain, meat, and all things neces.sary fur the 

 sustenance of himself and family. So bojs, if they 

 are not, should be presea'ed with some inducement 

 to be steady, active and useful. Make men of your 

 boys; tell them your plans of improvement; tell them 

 how much you are in debt, if any, and ask them to 

 help with a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull alto- 

 gether, to remove the incumbrance. If they have a 

 taste for the beautiful, assist them to use it in a 

 proper manner; if a love of fruit, grant them space 

 to plant their grape vine, dwarf trees, strawberry 

 bed, «tc, &c.; you will not regret the time, no, 

 aever. Is it from the neat, shaded house, with its 

 noble trees in front, its well swept walk, lined with 

 fruits and papers, and ils open window, displaying 

 a table loaded with books and papers, that the 

 '^boys run away?'' I answer, no! Is it the boy 

 who has been sent to school and advised to gel 

 knowledge, and, furthermore, hag been av=sisted in 

 this pursuit at home, that gets discontented with 

 Ifhat home? Again I say no. But the boy who is 

 jawed at by his father for every accident — the one 

 who never has a recreation day — the one who never 

 has a cent to call his own — the one who is kept from 

 school except now and then a day — the one who has 

 ever to work with dull tools, milk kicking cows, and 

 drive superannuatea horses, — these and many othei-s 

 do leave, and oft times with reason. How oft I have 

 remembered with gratitude my own father's habit in 

 r 'gard to aB accident. He sometimes enquired how it 

 happened, and volunteered a woid of advice, but no 

 threatenings passed his lips; no angry lecture on 

 boys' careles.«nes3 and waste. No "government" do 

 you say ? I challenge the world to beat it. He 

 was as firm as the everlasting hills, but he had the 

 entire control of his temper and his tongue. He 

 kn 'w that a child who has had bad luck feels bad 

 enough, and will be more careful of offending a kind 

 fa her thin a cross one. 



Have I been obtuse or lengthy in my statements? 

 T.ien I will sum up as briefly as possible. Teach j 

 your boys by your own example that you are inter- ' 



ested in your business; that a farmer may be a gen- 

 lleman; enlist their efforts with your own; arrange 

 your business in such a manner that each and ail 

 may have some time to devote t® hortieulturCr 

 readicg, and self improvement; gratify them some- 

 what it your means will admit, by using a good 

 team and having a pocket book &i their own. 

 LaK'gh if you will, or frown, and say it's the way to- 

 ruin them; make them penurious, vaiu, and all that 

 sort of thiag. I say it is not so. Who will like 

 farming the best — the young man who has a good 

 horse and carriage to use on a holiday, or the on© 

 who is sent to mill with patched breeches, astride a 

 mulf, with a grist oa behind? Echo atiswers, who? 

 McLean, JV. Y. M. D. 



WHY IS FARMIKG CONSIDEEEU A DEGEADIIia 

 VOCAIIONT 



AoKicuLTUBK 13, and must ever continue to be, th» 

 most important secular employment of man. The 

 very existence of the human race depends upon the 

 labors of those engaged in it. This alone should be 

 suSicient to shield it from the reproach of the term 

 "degrading." i^ut it is of the earliest date, and of 

 the highest origin. We can trace it back to the 

 "Garden of Eden." Its author was the Creator of 

 the Universe. It was in man's state of original in- 

 tegrity, that he was placed in the Garden, " to dress 

 it and to keep it." And it must have been consider- 

 ed by the Al'-wise, himself, a most hotoi-able em- 

 ployment. How foolish then, nay, how sinful, for 

 man to consider that degradfijg which God in His 

 infinite wisdom, has instituted for the bentfit of His 

 rational creatures. Why, then, is this vocation, of 

 such sacred origin, considered by man degrading ? 

 It must be because of the depravity of the hun)aft 

 heart PJut this shows itself in so many different 

 ways, and is found running in such innumerable^ 

 channels, that it will be necessary to meutioa some- 

 of the most prominent of them. 



Pride, which holds such universal sway over man- 

 kind, but especially those whom fortune has loaded 

 with wealth and affluence, makes them despise all 

 who are so much beneath them, as to labor for aa 

 honest living. The farmer and his vocation are de-. 

 spised among the other laboring classes. 



Indolence, with its long naps, and easy chairs, ia- 

 duces many to consider the labor of a farm life de- 

 grading, and entirely below the dignity of a gentleman. 



Othei-s, again, are influenced by the love of money, 

 which is the root of all evil. They seek for some 

 employment by which they can speedily gain wealth, 

 ana hoard up riches. They despise the slow and 

 steady gains of the farmer, and consider his vocatioQ 

 a degrading one. 



Another great reason why many consider farming 

 a degrading vocation, is, because they are ignorant 

 of its true nature and character. There is a true 

 dignity in labor, which they do not appreciate; a se- 

 cret feeling of pleasure, to which they are strangers. 

 Certainly, no one, who knows and feels the important 

 position it sustains to man — its high and holy origia 

 — its health-promoting qualities, and the happiness it 

 sends home to the heart of the cheerful husband- 

 man, can consider it degrading. 



The reasons which induce men to consider farming 

 a degrading vocation are so numerous that it would 

 be entirely out of the question to attempt an enume^ 

 ratioa of them all, in such a limited Essay. But I 



