MY VINEYARD. 9 



looking at this ideal picture that it would ever be realized 

 as it has been, or what a part of my very self that " light " 

 was to become. I can only feel thankful that a kind 

 fortune has dealt out blessings to me with so liberal a 

 hand. 



On finishing my trade, and becoming foreman of the 

 office, I found the labor and confinement quite wearing. 

 A short respite from work seemed necessary. Accord- 

 ingly my wife and I, (we had been two years married,) 

 made a week's visit with some country friends, who were 

 a half day's journey by rail. The bit of rural life which 

 this visit afi'orded, only served to recall and brighten up 

 the picture of rural pursuits which I had long since drawn. 

 June was abroad in all her glory. There were bright 

 skies, and green pastures, and rich woods, and broad 

 fields of blooming clover ; there were contented cattle, 

 and quiet sheep, and sleek, strong horses ; there were ru- 

 ral sights and sounds on every hand. 



When we had returned home I proposed to my Avife 



the propriety of changing my employment in the office 



for that of farming. In our discussions of the subject, we 



did not forget that there are two sides to country life — 



that it is not always June. My plan was not to procure 



a large farm and engage in general farming, but rather to 



confine myself more particularly to fruit-growing, on a 



moderate sized farm of about forty acres. The prospects 

 1* 



