RURAL LIFE IN LITCHFIELD COUNTY 



Part of the time he taught in Eagle Academy, Goshen, 

 and part of the time was spent in scientific studies at 

 Yale. In 1845 he and his father opened an agricultural 

 school on the home farm in West Cornwall. This 

 school was continued for twenty-four years and num- 

 bered among its scholars some of the notable men of the 

 country. Mr. Gold was always interested in the natural 

 sciences and took up special studies in these subjects at 

 college, and what he learned from his father, coupled 

 with a wide love of nature, fitted him especially as an 

 instructor in subjects that had a particular bearing on 

 agriculture. His house, throughout his life, contained 

 an interesting collection of specimens of minerals and 

 plants of his own collecting. There was hardly a plant 

 growing on his large estate with which he was not fa- 

 miliar. His garden, too, was always a testing ground 

 for new fruits, herbs and vegetables that might be of 

 interest or of value. 



The school was not managed simply as a training 

 school for the farm, but provided that all-round train- 

 ing sure to be useful in any walk of life. Many of 

 the students went to college and later became men of 

 prominence in business and professional life. Manual 

 labor was not a requirement, but Mr. Gold always 

 spent a part of each day working on the farm, and the 

 boys delighted to accompany him and to listen to his 

 wise counsel and his practical explanations. 



