finds so much to do from morning till night on his own land, that 

 he has not time nor strength to do much more than his own work. 

 When his work is through he goes to bed and sleeps the sleep of 

 the just. Reading books and magazines about Agriculture is not 

 enough. He must see the results with his own eyes in order to 

 be convinced. Experiments wliich he reads about, tried in a dif- 

 ferent part of the State, do not suit his land. The phosphates and 

 guanoes which the books advise him to buy, he gets cheated in. 

 But at these fairs he meets his neighbors, who show him what they 

 have done and how they did it — he follows their example and suc- 

 ceeds. I remember when I was a boy, that the town of Newton, 

 where I lived, was full of old-fashioned farmers, who lived a half- 

 starved life, they and their farms growing poorer every year. 

 They did not believe in theory — not they. The old way was good 

 enough for them. Their cattle could hardly bear their own 

 weight — their plows skimmed the top of the ground — the wet land 

 was not drained. But a young farmer came to the town, married 

 the daughter of one of the citizens, and persuaded his father-in-law 

 to lay out a large sum of money in improved implements and 

 manures. The neighbors said the old man was crazv and would 

 ruin himself. But the more he laid out the more money he made. 

 He and his land grew ricli together. The neighbors began to 

 follow his example ; and when I went back, ten years after, I did 

 not know the town, for all the old yellow, mossy pastures had 

 turned into rich, green fields. 



Let a farmer only keep his eyes and ears open, talk with his 

 neighbors, read agricultural papers, come to these fairs, and cul- 

 tivate his mind, and what life can be happier, more innocent, 

 more useful than his. He is always in contact with Nature, and 

 there is something in her touch which pacifies and purifies the 

 heart. I recollect that a man of quick, passionate temper once 

 told me how much he enjoyed taking care of plants — " for," said 

 he with a sigh, " they never quarrel with me, nor I with them." 

 What a blessing for little children to be brought up in the country, 

 where they make an early acquaintance with the wild flowers in 

 the fields, pick the berries by the wayside as they go to school, 

 learn to know the different trees in the wood, learn to swim in 

 the pond or river ; and instead of oaths and dirty streets, hear 



