8 



rub it off, then the next below will appear. Rub that off, and the one below 

 it will be developed, and so to the last. Dr. E. L. Sturtevant, of this state, says 

 that he once raised three stalks in his garden, two of which had fourteen ears 

 each, and the other twenty. The united product in kernels was 9136, and they 

 were "large, plump, more so than in other hills," not treated in the same 

 way. One kernel gave him 3880, and he says " I have produced twenty-three 

 ears from one kernel. " There seems to be the possibility of developing, at 

 least the five ears in the one stalk ; now make this practicable on an acre, and 

 you have say five hundred bushels of ears instead of one hundred. Such a crop 

 would pay for the exercise of some extra thought-power^ as well as a little ex- 

 tra tillage. Is not this possibility enough to engage the brain and skill of some 

 enterprising cultivator ? There have been boys of superior natural talents, but 

 they were not fairly known until some teacher had the tact and skill to call 

 them out. Give to nature skillful and thorough educators, and her still re- 

 served stores will be poured into their laps with a bountifulness hitherto un- 

 known. It will pay to be a farmer, an educator in nature's agricultural school, 

 a sovereign in and over the earth. A gentleman once partook with great pleas- 

 ure, of a rabbit pie. It was prepared by an English cook, and when he asked 

 to know how it was prepared, the cook began to give the recipe: "First, 

 catch your hare," — " stop right there," said the gentleman, " this being the 

 first requisite, and a prime difiiculty for me to overcome, it may be best to 

 learn how to do that, before I proceed further. " The necessity and value of 

 a broad and thorough culture may be granted, but how to secure a fair share 

 of the best natural gifts to engage in farming seems yet to be a primary diffi- 

 culty. Some suggestions have already been made in a general way, but allow 

 me to speak a few moments more definitely. 



Josh Billings says, " If you will train up a child in the way he should go, 

 go that way yourself five or six times." A kind and gentle shepherd can easily 

 lead his flock from one pasture to another, and they will be likely to stay there 

 awhile, if the feed be good. A rough and hasty man may possibly driveXhem^ 

 if he has a well trained dog to help him ; but they will not be as apt to remain 

 quiet, and feed generously. There are two ways of moving a locomotive on 

 the track. One is to get behind and push ; the other, to kindle a fire and get 

 up steam as the motive power'. It is better that the boy shall move in any 

 right direction by forces within him, than by forces without. Teach him by 

 example that it is wiser to deposit some money in the savings bank of brain, 

 where he may have his dividends largely increased at will, and always added to 

 the principal, rather than to deposit all in the bank of cash where dividends 

 may be suspended, and the principal endangered by the depreciation of securi- 

 ties. Give him practical illustrations of the value of thought and skill by em- 

 ploying and paying for them as far as practicable, rather than mere brute pow- 

 er and paying a trifle above the brute's wage — food and lodging. And be sure 

 that his own thought forces shall be fully recognized and rewarded. A few 

 well-chosen books on natural history, vegetable chemistry, some of the ologies — 

 bngology and even theology for instance, — a live newspaper, periodical, mi- 

 croscope, drawing materials, may from time to time be among these rewards of 



