^" ESSAY. 



must we look for a remedy. The majority of our 

 farmers must serve out a long apprenticeship at the 

 plough and the hoe. Thought must be called in to our 

 aid. "Labor becomes a new thing when thought is 

 thrown into it, when the mind keeps pace with the 

 hands." We must learn the why, as well as the hoiu. We 

 are acquainted with the plough as an implement of art ; 

 it also has a scientific aspect. The sons of farmers 

 must be fascinated with beauties surrounding their toils, 

 of which they never dreamed. The fields must be tilled 

 intelligently, and not blindly. The more we know of 

 how God works, the better will be our own success and 

 delight. Let the farmer become a man of taste ; let 

 his house contain a library; let him become familiar 

 with the microscope and the wonders it unfolds ; let 

 his grounds be tastefully laid out — taste, like civility, 

 costs little. — Even laying stone-wall might be pleasant, 

 and *we might forget our thin-worn fingers, when it will 

 contribute toward adorning our homesteads. We know 

 a tasteful farmer, who is laying a fine face- wall in front 

 of his house. An awkwardly shaped cavity in it re- 

 mains unfilled, until a nicely fitting stone is dug from 

 his fields. He fulfills a double purpose ; his wall 

 becomes beautiful and his fields smooth. 



We are influenced imperceptibly by our surroundings. 

 The face of the country, whether hilly or flat, has a vast 

 influence on the character of its inhabitants.* The 

 manner in which our homes are adorned, has a great 

 influence on their inmates. The child commences its 

 education before it can talk; and unattractive surround- 

 ings bear a strong, early and constant influence, toward 



*A writer says that a flat country produces flat heads. Byron is said 

 to have owed his poetical proclivities to a residence in youth among the 

 Scottish Mountains. 



