The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1873-03-22
FARM AND GARDEN.
What VIII You Leave Behind?

Talking with an old farmer once he said
when die am going to leave behind me,
10 heritage Tor my children, the home where
they were born, made as beautiful as my means
and Uneducated taste will allow, pleasant
memories of the home firesidc and of the sun.
ny summer days, and true regard for the
dignity and worthincss of the calling which
their father followed" The old man was Sc
full of emotion when he talked in this wise
that he mad to use his handkerchiefto prevent
the tears telling their tale of manly sensitive
ness, His boys were widely scattered having
a varied experience in life; but there was not
one Of them who did not honor the old farmer
they Gnd reverently, too called Father" nor
neOf them who was not glad to visit the old
homestead once year
Now, we repeat the question, "What will
YOU leave behindg' Money? 1t will do your
children little good, comparatively. Money
is easily obtained. But homes are scarce. The
associations which the men of the world val.
ne most are the associations with their early
homes. No man, no matter what his posi-
ton, circumstances or relations in life, who
has had happy and pleasant home in his
youth, fails to remember, love and long for it,
1t is the haven he seeks, one toward which
his heart goes ont whenever he is in trouble :;
it is the shrine to which he makes pilgrimage
whenever he has means and opportunity; it
is the one spot on earth upon which he is will
ing to lavish the wealth he may have acquired
and where he desires to die and be buried.
What will you leave behind, good friend of
the farm? Shall the homestead be your mon
ument? Shall the children return thther as
the pilgrim seeks the shrine of saint? Shall
each tree tell its story of your taste and good
scnse-revive in the minds of your children
the time and circumstances of the planting +?
Shall 1t symbolic by its growth, and extend
ed and extending branches, the growth Of
your children's affections for you, and the in
tiuence your example and precepts are exert
Ing through them? Shall each stone in the
wall, adding to the barn, the house, outbuild-
ings, improvements, orchard, garden and field
speak to them of the love you once bore them
of the labor you once performed that they
might be fed, clothed and educatedg Shall
each blade of grass lift itself up toward heav-
en- and testify to your providence and care !?
Shall each apple blossom in the orchard shed
It's perfume in memory OF the man who plant
ed the seed from which they sprang, or the
tree on which they bloom and laugh in the
sweet May air? VIII money compensate
your children for the loss of such heritage :?
No, sir emphaticaly, Mo-
Let US try to leave behind us something that
shall soften the hearts of men and women
when they remember us-be they our children
or not; but especially let us who have homes,
who are blessed with title to portion of
Gods green earth, see that ii is rendered so
beautiful in the eyes of our offspring that their
hearts will always find anchorage there when
ever the lOngings of loneliness come over
them; whenever the rough elbowings of an
unteeling world jostle them out of humor
with ii. Let the coming spring witness some
effort to leave the old farm better and more
beautiful in the autumn. Let the boys and
girls feel that we have left something behind |
that money cannot purchase, and for which it |
can be no substitute Nec Yorker