198 MY FARM. 



the capabilities of money by which all men and 

 women stand tempted to-day. The Paradise tree is 

 not popularly supposed to grow largely on the farms 

 of amateurs. 



s But the question returns "Do you get any 

 money back ? " 



I think it must be fairly admitted that with most 

 amateur farmers, the business (if we reckon it 

 business) is only an elegant luxury ; absorbing in a 

 quite illimitable manner, all loose funds at the dis- 

 posal of the adventurer, and returning smooth fields, 

 sleek cattle, delicious fruits, and possibly, a few 

 annual premiums. We never get at their ' memo- 

 randa.' Mr. Mechi, indeed, of the Tip-tree Hall, 

 gave us an exhibit of his expenses and his sales ; 

 but he found it necessary to support the statement 

 with sundry affidavits ; people showed wanton dis- 

 trust ; and I think there is an earnest belief among 

 shrewd observers, that the razor straps, soaps, and 

 dressing-cases of Leaden-Hall street (where his 

 original business lies), are, in a large degree, credi- 

 tors of the Tip-tree Hall farming. 



But Mr. Mechi is something more than an ama- 

 teur ; he is an innovator ; and has sustained his in- 

 novations with a rare business capacity, and that 

 inexorable system, which can make even weak ideas 

 exhibit a compacted strength. Amateurs then, can- 



