vert into a yoke of oxen. The feeding, care 
and training of these animals stimulated 
his best energies, and when the steers were 
two years old they took the first prize at 
the county fair, and at four years old, such 
were his earnest efforts that they were sold 
at a large price as a fancy pair of cattle. 
Out of the proceeds of this sale our farmer 
boy appropriated a sum sufficient to replace 
his calves, and then made safe investment 
of the balance as a fund for future opera¬ 
tions, and as a foundation for his sub¬ 
sequent success as a prosperous and wealthy 
farmer. 
This was not an exceptional case with 
Farmer B, since all his boys were treated 
with the same consideration, were taken 
into his confidence and consulted as to the 
daily work on the farm. He even increased 
their interest in farm life and work by giv¬ 
ing them some property to care for and to 
labor over. To each a piece of land was 
yearly cut off, for the special benefit and 
profit of the one who worked it Farmer B, 
with a strong sense of justice and equity, 
insisted in his family government that the 
boys should not be kept in the background 
simply because they were boys. They were 
admitted to all the refining influences of 
the home circle. Their rooms were supplied 
with comforts, ornaments and conveniences, 
on an equal scale with those of their sisters. 
From the start the boys were encouraged to 
emulate in taste and refinement not only 
their brothers but their sisters. They were 
never behind the village young people in 
rational enjoyments or social acquirements. 
The result of this rational system pursued 
by Farmer B is that three of his boys are 
married and settled near their father’s farm, 
in fact, two of the farms were taken from 
the broad acres of the old homestead, and 
still there is enough land remaining. The 
fourth and youngest son, a sort of Benjam¬ 
in, is studying for the ministry. One of the 
daughters, a pet with the old folks, married 
a farmer, and with her husband lives upon 
the old place. These are not fancy sketches, 
but the incidents have all transpired under 
my own observation. I hope the compar¬ 
ison between the two methods is sufficiently 
striking to induce fathers and mothers to 
give this subject careful consideration, and 
in many cases so to reform their methods 
as to encourage the boys to remain on the 
farms.— E. I). Richards , in the American 
Cultivator. 
The Old Elm Tree. 
As 
I sat 
beneath 
an old elm 
tree, the wind 
went whistling by. 
It bent its boughs 
and softly breathed the 
following with a sigh : ‘ ‘I 
* hive lived here for many a 
year and seen the summer come 
and go; the spring-time with its 
flowers and rain, the autumn with 
its fruit and grain, the winter with 
its chilling blast, when with snow and 
ice the skies are overcast. In summer 
time beneath my shade have children oft¬ 
en played; and oh, how oft, beneath my 
boughs, have lovers renewed their plighted, 
vows, and many a time the old and feeble 
have sought my shsde to smoke their 
pipes or ply the needle; and thus it’s 
been with smiles and tears, I have 
watched them come and go for 
three-score years, and many a 
tale I could tell of what in my 
time befell. But age is 
creeping o’er my head 
and I fear my roots are 
getting dead; 
and 
soon 
I’ll w- 
it her 
and 
decay 
like 
those 
who sought 
my shade each day. 
—Chicago Sun. 
Let a man take time enough for the most 
trivial deed, though it be but the paring of 
his nails. The buds swell imperceptibly, 
without hurry or confusion, as if the short 
Spring days were an eternity.— Thoreau. 
When you have had Catarrh long enough, just 
send 10c. to Dr. R. C. Sykes, 181 Monroe St., Chicago, 
for his “True Theory of Catarrh.” 
Nothing will supply the want of sunshine 
to peaches; and, to make knowledge valua¬ 
ble, you must have the cheerfulness of wis¬ 
dom. Goodness smiles to the last.— Emer¬ 
son. 
