Life^ Primleges and Prejudices of the Farmer. 509 
his employer; for as none but fools judge of work before it is 
finished, no sensible man will attempt to make alterations in a 
house while it is in the process of construction, because no one 
but the architect who designed it can see the fitness of all its 
parts, until it is completed. Many a good design has been spoiled 
by the hasty alteration of the proprietor, and it may be set down 
as an infallible rule in building that any interference with the 
architect on the part of the employer, will always result in his 
loss and disappointment. If a gentleman chooses to spoil his 
house and waste his money, it is his own business, to be sure, but 
he has no right to injure the reputation of another person by 
mixing up his own crudities with the designs of the architect he 
employs, and who will have to bear the censure of any defects in 
the house which he may unjustly have the credit of constructing. 
Waldwic forms probably as good an example of a complete 
and well constructed farm cottage villa, as the surrounding country 
can afford. The design of the house is after the old English 
style, and it is finished inside and out in the most substantial man- 
ner: the walls are constructed of hammer-dressed brown stone, 
from extensive quarries in the vicinity, the timber of oak and 
chestnut, and the roof of cedar. The original house, like nearly 
all the old houses in this part of the country, had a piazza on the 
western front. 
THE LIFE, PRIVILEGES AND PREJUDICES OF THE FARMER. 
BY THOMAS BARLOW. 
In my previous number of this volume, (page 459,) I dwelt 
somewhat upon the reputation of agriculturists, the inclination of 
parents to educate their children for other pursuits, and to aban- 
don agriculture as not so honorable as a professional life. I en- 
deavored to show the evil and folly of this inclination and view of 
things. 
No man is truly honorable, unless he is both industrious and 
useful. If a man is industrious, his industry must be of an useful 
kind to be honorable. That agricultural industry is among the 
most useful, all must admit; and it must follow of course that 
those who pursue it, must class among our honorable and useful 
men, so far as vocations are concerned. 
One great thing that has tended to prejudice the minds of many 
against agricultural pursuits, is the backward condition of the 
farming classes in a literary point of view. That literary im- 
