reins of business himself, for fear liis bovs 
will not always drive as straight as he 
thinks he can, will fail to keep his boys 
interested in his work. The boys should 
not only be allowed, but encouraged to 
manage for theriiselves. Give them a por¬ 
tion of the stock and an acre or more of 
land for their very own and let them man¬ 
age it. No doubt but they will make some 
poor calculations and failures—for who 
does not?—but remember that sometimes 
more is learned and longer remembered 
from a failure, than from the greatest suc¬ 
cess. 
Encourage the boys to keep some thor¬ 
oughbred fowls, sheep and cattle, and to 
plant new and improved varieties of small 
fruits and vegetables. Get them to take a 
pride in keeping and growing and pro¬ 
ducing only the best. Get up a little com¬ 
petition between the boys of neighboring 
farms. Encourage them to exhibit their 
products at the County Fair, and they will 
soon become interested and contented and 
happy, and the idea of leaving their home 
and the farm for a more congenial occupa¬ 
tion will be the farthest from their minds. 
If you have $5.00 worth of interest in the 
welfare of your boys, and wish to encour¬ 
age them and interest them in home affairs, 
subscribe at once for the Country Gentle¬ 
man , Rural New Yorker , American Agri¬ 
culturist and as many more good rural 
journals as you can possibly afford, and 
have them in the name of your boys. Add 
the Poultry World or some other good 
poultiy paper if you can possibly afford it. 
In no other way can the same amount be 
expended where it will do them so much 
good and be of so much help and encour¬ 
agement to them, as in papers like the 
above. It will show them continually 
what new breeds of stock, and varieties of 
fruits and vegetables are being introduced, 
and where they may be procured. It will 
show them what is being done by others, 
and stimulate them to go and do likewise. 
The boy will see that he can make money, 
and will have an interest and enthusiasm 
to nerve him on, greater than can be meas¬ 
ured in dollars and cents. What has here¬ 
tofore seemed like drudgery to him will 
become a pleasure, and instead of longing 1 
< | •• # • 
for the dinner or the supper hour to come,, 
as when doing every detail under the di¬ 
rection of his father, the days will seem to 
pass away too soon for him to accomplish 
all he desires to do. And he will be gain¬ 
ing knowledge and experience which he; 
must get in order to become a successful 
business man. His successful ventures, 
will teach him as much, and his failures 
be far less disastrous than they would be 
later in life. He will learn 1o be wide 
awake, enterprising and ahead of his neigh¬ 
bors; and when his father's declining years 
show that the labor and management of 
the farm is too severe for him to longer 
perform, he will have a son capable of 
taking the mantle from his shoulders, one 
who will prove a blessing instead of a curse 
to him in his old age. 
GARDENING FOR BOYS. 
A few words now to the boy himself 
about how to begin and what to plant. 
Supposing he has but little capital to 
invest it is necessary that such branches be 
followed as will make the quickest, rather 
than the largest returns, from a small in¬ 
vestment. Probably Poultry Breeding; 
and Gardening more nearly combine these 
requisites than any other particular lines, 
of business in which you can engage. 
Select a quarter or a half-acre of the 
best ground upon the farm. It should lie 
in a warm sunny sheltered position, and 
must be naturally well drained. If a slop¬ 
ing piece of meadow or clover sod can be 
had choose it. If not take corn stubble or 
land which has not been broken from the 
sod more than one season. It should be 
free from rocks and trees. Make a dia¬ 
gram of it on paper, and decide as early as. 
possible about what shall be planted, and 
how much of the space each variety shall 
occupy. Aim to plant everything in rows 
and have the rows run the longest way of 
the plot and far enough apart so that a 
•horse and cultivator can go between them. 
By running the plow in two or more rows, 
and throwing the soil from each toward 
the other, a ridge will be formed which can 
be raked into a bed for such small seeds as. 
are best sown in garden beds. In this way 
beds are formed which are not in the way 
of cultivating the remaining portion with a 
