look forward to the day when lie miglit enjoy his gains in some 

 other employment? On the contrary, his attachment to the 

 old homestead increases with advancing years. 



The trees, which his own hand planted, the lands — once 

 waste — wdiich his skill and labor have caused to bud and blos- 

 som as the rose, the adornings of tree and shrub about his 

 home, are all redolent with pleasant memories, and unite to 

 weave a bond of attachment between the farmer and his farm, 

 stronger than can be found elsewhere. 



There is a healthy pleasure in country living in observing 

 the myriad forms in nature, as well the graceful curve of a 

 blade of grass, as the Avavy swaying of a field of grain, or in 

 viewing the woodland, the hills, and the whole l)road land- 

 scape, under the varying aspects of the procession of the sea- 

 sons ; a pleasure Avhich never cloys, Avhich though old is ever 

 new. 



It is a mistake of our time, t ) neglect the cultivation of 

 that faculty which enables us to derive pleasure from these 

 sources. We are noted as a practical, matter-of-fact people, 

 dealing Avith the hard realities of life rather than its graces. 

 We take a certain pride in our rugged and robust ancestry, 

 and place little stress on the more genial qualities they lacked. 



" Beauty will not make the pot boil," is an old saw we take 

 for our motto, forgetting that if it does not make the pot hoil 

 it furnishes a most piquant and relishing sauce to the contents. 



AVe are endowed with the perception of beauty as a means 

 of happiness ; and it is neither unthrifty or effeminate for the 

 farmer to prove all the pleasures 



"That valleys, groves, or liills or field 

 Or woods or steepy mountains yield." 



The most gifted men, from Xenophon and Cato and Virgil, 

 down to our own day, have found their solace and dcliglit in 

 rural pursuits. 



Let us, then, as farmers, make the most of our opportunities. 



