attractiveness of the homes of many who have derived 

 influential and lasting benefits from the lessons they have 

 acquired by visiting our exhibitions. And to-day our 

 exhibits are regarded by the connoisseur as being worthy of 

 admiration and praise, and more especially, those contribu- 

 tions of art and delicate handiwork by the ladies; and this 

 important feature is one worthy of the most liberal encour- 

 agement, inasmuch as it exerts a power for good in the 

 home circle, and imbibes a spirit for the adornment of 

 home, wherever that home may be, that will have a lasting 

 influence on the minds of future generations. 



And we should bestow a fitting recognition on the 

 achievements of her who is the model of her sex, " the 

 farmer's wife," whose contrilmtions in the culinary and 

 dairy departments are the envy of less dextrous hands ; 

 and whose felicity is never so complete as when interesting 

 her children in the manifold duties of usefulness, and 

 whose thoughts are ever centred in home, and from the 

 nature of her often-times isolated surroundings, is ever on 

 the alert to encourage a spirit of livalry in the minds of 

 her children, which may endear them to home or fit them 

 for homes of similar usefulness. The varied duties and 

 experiences of a life on the farm, with its many educational 

 facilities from the works of nature, render it the rival of all 

 competitors for moral influences. 



Pardon me if the sketch is overdrawn, and consider, 

 that what the equiliin-ium of the farmer's vocation lacks in 

 financial returns, must justly be recompensed by superior 

 acquirements in other channels ; and that these qualifica- 

 tions are appreciated at their worth, is evinced by the 

 frequent inquiry for suburban homes by those who have 



