No. 7. 



Time is Money. — Pointed-toed Shoes. 



207 



From the Union Agrici^lturist. 

 Time is Money. 



Deak Sir, — I begin to fear that yourself 

 and others may think that I do nothing but 

 write; as I send you something for every 

 number of your paper. Well, suppose that 

 should be the conclusion, — if I had nothing 

 else to do all would be well. But farmers 

 have something to do, besides writing for 

 agricultural papers. This all know; how 

 then, many will inquire, does C. find time 

 to write. If I may answer the question 

 myself, I shall say, that I am troubled to 

 dispose of my spare time — of the long win- 

 ter evenings — of the stormy days, and a 

 great many bits and ends of time. 



I may be answered — teach your children ; 

 make and' mend such articles as you can 

 that you need; read the newspapers, and 

 such books as you have or can get ; this I 

 do, and yet there is spare time. 



My wife and self manage to teach seven 

 children ; and during the winter, keep them 

 at their studies more hours than if they 

 were at school. I make and repair all the 

 wood part of my tools, and some of the iron, 

 and repair all our boots and shoes ; my wife 

 and daughters, the oldest sixteen, work up 

 our wool, about 70 pounds, both spin and 

 weave it; myself and boy, thirteen years 

 old, till about forty acres, and provide for 

 stock that require 40 tons of hay, besides 

 all the coarse fodder that we can muster; 

 this, besides all the incidental work about 

 the house and farm, we do without hiring. 

 Books and papers are literally worn out by 

 being read. The Chicago Democrat or 

 Union Agriculturist, is hailed with as much 

 joy as an old friend ; and if, as we frequently 

 do, we receive a paper from distant friends, 

 nothing could give greater pleasure, except 

 the appearance of those friends. 



A great wonder with me is, how men and 

 families spend their time, without even a 

 paper or a book, or any thing else of the 

 kind. Even their Bible might as well be 

 made of Vv'ood, bound and gilt, to save ap- 

 pearance, as to be filled with the words of 

 God. 



Never have I written, except in the 

 evening; and then generally have some half 

 dozen children about the same time at their 

 studies. Some with slates, some with books, 

 and some with more mischief than study. 

 Even now, one little one pops up her head, 

 with, " Father, how much is eleven times 

 six V Set down eleven and multiply it by 

 six? — "what, six times eleven 1" no six 

 times one, and then si.K times one again. 

 "O? I see; sixty-six." Now multiply 7, 

 8 and 9 in the same way : so I write, teach 



and rest myself; at the same time killing 

 three birds with one stone. 



Now to my reasons for writing. If I say 

 I write to benefit others, none will believe 

 me in these selfish times ; well then, I write 

 to amuse myself, and to use time. 



A. Churchill. 



Avon, March, 1841. 



Pointed-toed Shoes. 



He was a cunning and a clever shoemaker, 

 who first succeeded in turning old Grandfa- 

 ther Squaretoes into ridicule, and in setting 

 up Young Shapefoot as a pattern for univer- 

 sal imitation. What must have been poor 

 old Dame Nature's surprise and vexation, 

 when she saw and felt the abominable 

 change ? The toes have their duty to per- 

 form, when the frame of men is either 

 placed erect or put in motion ; shoes at best 

 are a vast encumbrance in them ; but when 

 it happens that shoes are what is called a 

 bad fit, then all goes wrong indeed, and corns 

 and blisters soon oblige the wearer of them 

 to " wend his way with faltering step and 

 slow." When I see a man thus hobbling 

 on, 1 condemn both his fortitude and folly; his 

 fortitude is undergoing a pedal martyrdom 

 without necessity; and his folly is wearing, 

 for fashion's salio, a pair of shoes ill adap- 

 ted to his feet in size and shape. Corns are 

 the undoubted offspring of tight shoes ; and 

 tight shoes the proper punishers of Imman 

 vanity. If the rules of society require that 

 I should imprison my toes, it does not follow 

 that 1 should voluntarily force them to the 

 treadmill. The foot of man does not end in 

 a point; its termination is nearly circular. 

 Hence it is plain and obvious that a pointed 

 shoe will have the effect of forcing the toes 

 into so small a space, that one will lie over 

 the other for want of room. By having al- 

 ways worn shoes suited to the form of my 

 foot, I have now, at sixty-two, the full use of 

 my toes, and this is invaluable to me in as- 

 cending trees. There is something very 

 forbidding to my eye, in a foot with a pointed 

 shoe on; I always fancy that 1 can see there, 

 comfort and ease, and symmetry, all sacri- 

 ficed at the tinsel shrine of fa&hion. Never 

 be it forgotten, that tight shoes and tight 

 garters are very successful agents in pro- 

 curing cold feet; and that cold feet are no 

 friends to a warm heart. The foot of man 

 is formed in Nature's finest mould ; custom 

 causes us to conceal it, and necessity to de- 

 fend it from the asperities of the flinty path; 

 but we never can improve its original shape, 

 or add any thing to its natural means, in the 

 performance of its important task. — Water- 

 ton's Essay on Natural History. 



