FARMS. 14a 



yoinif^ stock. He brought up eight cliildren well, taught them 

 to work, and gave them the best literary education the town 

 could supply. They are all well settled, thrivmg and respectable 

 citizens. He has added to his farm both tillage and woodland, 

 and put money in his purse besides. This was done by hard 

 work, temperance, and economy without meanness. Our friend 

 and his equally worthy wife have lived useful and happy lives, 

 and in a vigorous old age sit under their own vines and apple 

 trees, and enjoy the friendship and confidence of the community. 

 Fortunately this is not a \;ery rare instance. Norfolk county 

 and New England can show many such men and homes ; 

 men whose character is our glory, — homes, the abodes of peace, 

 whence are radiated into society the best influences of morality 

 and religion. 



We estimate at its full value the impuke given to agriculture 

 by rich and enterprising men, who cultivate large farms and 

 make farming attractive. Many such persons, from other walks 

 of life, of enlarged views, have been drawn into the country by 

 the charms of rural occupations. We have our full share of 

 these valued coworkers. They establish funds and premiums : 

 they plant trees and hedges ; they introduce the best cattle 

 and implements, and new varieties of fruits and vegetables ; 

 they experiment with manures, in which their successes and 

 failures are alike profitable to the community. But they do 

 not till the land nor contend with the difficulties of the laborer 

 or the small land holder. They do not depend on the proceeds 

 of farming to maintain their families. It is to them a pleasant 

 and healthy pastime. But in the example of the working- 

 farmer given above, there is encouragement to the young man, 

 who shudders at the prospect of years of labor and looks long- 

 ingly to the West. It is a hard life, yet not painful, not 

 unpleasant, not without many compensations. Is it not better 

 to live at home, in a land of schools and churches, and among 

 old friends, and to work for these advantages, than to encoun- 

 ter the sickness and to experience the inconvenience inseparable 

 from the settlement of a new country ? 



The working farmers of this county, who annually increase 

 the value of their farms, do not depreciate agriculture by rep- 

 resenting it as an undesirable employment. A comparison of 



