THE EARTH'S BOUNTY 



Sidney's room over the feed house. The whole 

 family were delighted at being together, and 

 profitably engaged, whilst I have always 

 credited half our success to their faithful co- 

 operation. 



The first stock materially increased, under 

 the new conditions, were sheep which prob- 

 ably seemed strange, as sheep -raising is rarely 

 undertaken by dilettanti., or even practical 

 farmers, in the Eastern States, but, as in sev- 

 eral other instances, an accidentally acquired 

 pet influenced our selection. 



Mr. E., our landlord, w r as an exception to 

 the general rule, and kept sheep; but then, he 

 was a real, old-fashioned farmer, whose an- 

 cestors had prided themselves for generations 

 on having fine stock of all descriptions. The 

 two homesteads were quite five miles apart by 

 the highroad, and in different States; but a 

 well-beaten wagon-track through the woods 

 reduced the distance between the homes to a 

 mile and a half. 



During our second winter there, a severe 



6 



