228 OUT-OF-TOWN PLACES. 



draw him in this or that direction, against all reason- 

 ing upon the mere merit of the land. 



Agriculturally speaking, it does not much matter 

 where the amateur farmer may go. I do not say this 

 ironically, but in full soberness. If a man, used to 

 city life and its lusts, has made up his mind to redeem 

 himself, so far as he may, by grappling with fifty of 

 God's acres, and by putting the stamp of his energy 

 and toil upon them, he cannot go wrong, wherever, 

 within reasonable distance, the hills and the meadows 

 are spread out. Earnest work will declare itself 

 effectively, on the harsh rocky banks of the Hudson, 

 or upon the unctuous level of Jersey. This much, 

 however, is to be said practically the nearer a man 

 can establish himself to one of those great avenues 

 of travel that is, toward Philadelphia, Boston, or 

 Albany the more sure he will be of finding sale in 

 the event of failure, and the more sure of ready and 

 constant market for whatever produce he may have 

 on hand. 



I aim perfectly well aware that my friend Mr. 

 Urban (and others of like humor) will insist that he 

 has no intention of selling out or of marketing ex- 

 tensively. It is pleasant, however, to feel that we can 

 do such things if we choose. From my own observa- 

 tion I am persuaded that the man who has no chance 

 of selling his country place or his farm is always a 



