The Ottawa free trader., 1866-10-06

M \ ~.
mind benighted with prejudice is like 6eId
| given up to thistles. You have first te
eradicate the weeds fprejudice, before you
can sow the seeds of truth, and the first is an
infinitely greater labor than the last. How
great the advantages of that people who have
no preiudices to overcome, but who are
anxlously and inteligibly seeking fors;he
truth. Nor should these observations be
confined to the agricultural portion OF the
community, They apply equally to all
classes & s E
: 1t has been said that frst love is the
strongest and the most enduring; so has i,
been with me. The FIRST dollar ever earned
was upon the farm, and the first business
ever learned vas farming. There WIS my
| bovhooi speat- For years | work j upon n
farm at monthly wages. Commencing SO
young that | could earn, or at least received
but two dollars and a half per month. Dur.
ing the winter months, however, attended
the district school till l was seventeen years
old, when ] was enabled to teach one my self.
In the meantime. however, spent one year
learning the harness makers trade. And so |
acquired my education, working, teaching
apd"stpdyiag,e alternately till kvas enab bled
To support myself BY tryidg eallses. before
| Justices Of the Peace. while l was studying
my profession. At twenty one, | thought |
knew e. ough law to commence the practice
| in a new country, when | started for the
west and arrived in Chicago thirtv-three
years ago last June, with thirteen dollars
! and fifty-sIx cents in my pocket, and one
suit of rather seedy clothes on my back. II
is not appropriate to the OCCASION to speak of
my professional career. only 10 .ay that |
worked harder In my profession, then even
my IRON bound constitution cou,d bear, and
a medical friend advised me that there would
soon be q widow i'll my house if did not
adopta more active life at leasi for apart Of
the timess Your worthy president NAV re-
mber, W. hen q boy, seeing me attending
the court intais place but Walking skeleton,
for his father was an old and highly esteem
ed client of mine. SO it was tha, became
4 farmer again-upoc the farm which | still
own, near Plainfield in Will county. Twenty
eight wears ago l turned the first prairie sod.
put up the first panel of fence and | framed
and built the first house up IN it with my own
hands-my love for the farm had never
abated. and then and there ! returned to my
first love. If attended the courts OF this
and and other neig ghboring counties, / also
worked hard upon the farm, for very soon
recovered my physical strength. although my
malaly still hung about me. There | con-
tinned till 1912 when | left the tarm for the
official position which j held for so many
years among you. 7 trust no: without some
degree of satisfaction to the public. While
upon the farm did not intermit my studies.
and can truly say tha, learne' more law
upol that lone broad prairie than ever
knew before. Bsides many 1,her book.
during that time | read through the Ne~
York reports consisting OF more than forty
volums. and made notes of the important
points here deed I'd. 1t would be unparIon
able III me 20 speak So much OF myself bat
for the lesson ! desire to teach the Young
farmers who hear me. If YOU will, you may
AL acquire good education by your own
efforts. Industry and perse7efance will
surely accomplish it. Apply : surs Ives dill
gently TIL you acquire n taste FOR reading.
anu YOU will find you can rest more after IL
hard davs work 70. an hour or two with your
books than you can IN bcu. Habit in short
time will make Won hungry for rcadi and
Won will LOOK forward 10 your book with
more satistac I than YOU DO to your supper.
And it Is astonishing how much ypd car
accompli lish in q few wears bv improving all
your spare time Hy spare t,me | mean that
which is spent in listless InactiOn, for that
which is spent in reasonable recreation and
amusement | do not consider n isspent.-
These deem essential both for young and
old. though in different degrees. At least |
haveaeted upon this ,hiug. and those who
best know nv habits of life can testify that
have always found time for relaxation, at
least Since the fr>t hard lesson, after began
my pr1cssio str!fe, aud to which have
already referred Before that ! cUnieSs /
could hardly tax: time TO 90 and get married
dcccntly.
Book farming. well remember the time
when many farmers spoke contemp.uously OF
le;,roing anything of their business from
books. and some there NAV be left If this
opinion. some people look upon subject
IN one view only, and that the most limited.
Such will look gon a broad prairie, and see
only the roilti Il oe which gli>tens with MATER;
thcv look upon a Grld and see only the bunch
OF thistle 10 one corner. He who expects to
learn farming iron books alone must ncces
sarily fail iez, III the first place, ali the de-
tails of any process or business could never
be written, and if it were, no human mind
could comprehend it all. Experience and
practice must come in aid OF aud enable one
to apply what i, learned in books of any pro
fesSiou occupation. That must come in
to fill up the detail of what i, learned from
all the books that have ever been written on
the art Of making iron, a,,dacouid any man
expect 10 erect furnace and make good iron
from these alone? Would you trust doctor
in your family who knew nothing Of his pro-
fession but what he had learned in the books?
And so We IN gbt go through all human en-
ployments. Experience is necessary even TO
enable one to comprehend what has been
written of the experience of others. Yet
who shall say that what has been written OF
IRON making, OF medicine, of chemistry, or
of mining, is not an aid TO those who devote
their lives 70 these pursuits And why
should it be less so IN farming? Is the SUBJ
iect so small that every useful idea connected
with it can be learned by the Young man by
the time he is twenty>one years of age, when
he is about to commence farming for himselt!
On the contrary. it is SO large that all the
experience Of all the farmer, m all ages of
the world have never fully comprehended 1t.
Every day develops some ne " and useful idea
in connection with it, and if all these could
be written down and communicated to every
other farmer. think you not that the interests
of agriculture would be thereby promo
ted ? No doubt that many things are written
which are not only useless, bit absolutely
hurtful. This arises from the want of care
fui observation, or because an experiment.
is not carried out to its proper conclusion.
One will observe that corn will grow # gath
cred as soon as it is out of the milk or even
before, if it is carefully cured, with as much
or more certainty than at any other time,
and he writes 1t down for the information of
others. Another. ac'Ing upon this hint and
the we'll known fact lha: the earliest graia in
The field is the. best tor seed, gathers all his
seed corn thus early, and finds that it all
terminates readily; but, as the season ads
yances, he also fluids that the stalks are feeble
and sickiy. and at harvest little or no grain.
II the first had continued his observasons to