238 LIBERTY AND A LIVING. 



object is not to earn money, but to save it, 

 there are early hours, soiled hands, and .a tired 

 back ; some of my friends to whom I have 

 expounded the gospel of idleness, as they call 

 it, although I see nothing of idleness in the 

 raising of cabbages and strawberries, say that 

 just in proportion to my success as a straw- 

 berry grower will be my loss in other directions. 

 They say that a day of hard physical labor in 

 the fields will not end with the reading of a 

 good book or magazine article, but in dozing 

 off at eight o'clock. Farmers must keep 

 farmers' hours. I have made some experiments 

 in this field. I have found that whether or 

 not we go to bed at nine o'clock depends 

 wholly upon whether we accustom ourselves 

 to going to bed at that hour. It may re- 

 quire at first some exertion and many yawns 

 to get through a certain book or an article, 

 especially if it is a stupid one, before going to 

 bed. But it will get easier and easier until the 

 day will not seem to be properly wound up 

 without the two hours' reading. The family 

 circle in which reading aloud in not one of the 

 customary evening employments misses one of 

 the great enjoyments of life as well as a potent 



