Town and Country. 223 



a body of trained pickers whose numbers and skill insure the prompt har- 

 vesting of the crops. The vast quantities of early field-pease grown in 

 New Jersey, the pickles, the tomatoes, even the turnips, are gathered by 

 the same industrious class of people. The whole picking-business is 

 known and coveted as a profitable one. Where fruit-growing has long been 

 established, there all the essentials for conducting it profitably will be found 

 within reach ; and therefore it is to such locations that the prospective fruit- 

 grower should direct his attention. 



In every human enterprise, there is some hazard of failure. Business in 

 the city is infinitely more uncertain than in the country. It is true, that 

 a lucky hit in cotton or in stocks may make one wealthy in a day, com- 

 pared to which all horticulture is a very slow coach. The next turn, how- 

 ever, may strip the millionnaire of his last dollar ; but our slow coaches 

 move steadily on, safely and comfortably, because we do not make haste 

 to get rich. Failure is not peculiar to a country occupation. The earth 

 contains within its bosom a sure living for all who industriously and intelli- 

 gently labor to extract it. If they fail in doing so, they must not accuse 

 the soil, but themselves. The failure springs from some fault exclusively 

 their own. But it is well that bad luck, whether in town or country, seems 

 to produce no discouragement to others. Where one drops out of the 

 ranks, a fresh candidate is ready to take his place. The stock exchanges 

 of the great cities have thrown out innumerable pecuniary wrecks ; but are 

 they not more crowded with fresh adventurers than ever ? So countiy life 

 may have its disappointments ; but none of them are absolute wrecks. 



In choosing land, where immediate income is desirable, it will be cheaper 

 to pay what may seem a high price for an acre well filled with bearing 

 fruits, than much less for one in which the plants must be set and tended 

 until they come to yield a crop. Such land will pay interest and a profit 

 from the start. A beginner may be embarrassed by his want of experience ; 

 but he can call in the skilled help of the neighborhood, from which he will 

 be constantly learning for himself His very inexperience will make him 

 tractable, and desirous of doing so. The absence of a headlong selfcon- 

 ceit will be useful to him. He will have nothing to unlearn. He must 

 not invest every thing in land, as a floating capital proportioned to the 

 number of his acres will be indispensable to success. As plants grow 



