How I Came to Be a Farmer. 15 



country, on the farm, even on a poor run-down farm. To bring this 

 point out clearly and strongly I have told the whole story of just 

 how poor we were. It would be hard to find a family starting with 

 a poorer chance than we did. I shall try to make this point plain 

 all through the book. We had to earn our money before we spent 

 it, and with almost the poorest conceivable chance to do it at first. 

 Take courage, my young friends. With good health and push 

 and a level head, there is a good chance for you, and if your head 

 goes wrong some at first, as mine did, you can level it up in good 

 time, particularly if you are fortunate in getting a good level- 

 headed girl for a partner, as I was. 



Now I think you have a pretty good idea of what sort of a 

 lad I was, and how I came to be a farmer. I might add that I 

 was married when I was twenty-two and moved onto the farm 

 when twenty-six. Now we will pass on to the next chapter, and 

 see what sort of a place we came to. 



