Year: 1874

Talking with an old farmer once, he said !:
"When die, I am going to leave behind me,
as heritage for my children, the home where
they were born, made as beautiful as my
means and uneducated taste will allow; pleas
ant memories of the home freside and of the
sunny summer days, and q true regard for
the dignity and worthiness Of the calling
which their father followed" The old man
was so full of emotion when he talked in this
wise, that he had to use his handkerchief to
prevent the tears telling their tale of manly
sensitiveness. His boys were widely scattered,
having varied experience in life; but there
was not one of them who did not honor the
old farmer, they called (and reverently, too)
"Father :" nor one of them who was not e glad
to visit the old homestead on"e year.


Now, we repeat the question, "What will
you leave behind?" Money? 1t will do your
children little good, comparatively. Money
is easily obtained. But homes are scarce
The association which the men of the world
value most are the associations with their early
homes No man, no matter what his position,
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 out 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 willing
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
monument? Shall the children return thith.
er as the pilgrim seeks the shrine of saint ?
Shall each tree tell its story Of your taste and
good sense-revive in the minds of your chill
dren the time and circumstances Of the plant
ing? Shall it symbolic by its growth, and
extended and extending branches, the growth
ofyour children's affections for you, and the
influence your example and precepts are ex.
erting through them? Shall each stone in
the WALL addition to the barn, the house, out
buildings 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 educated? ?
Shall each blade Of grass lift itself up toward
heaven and testify to your providence and
care? Shall each apple-blossom in the or
CUdTu SICu lLS LII VI IhS ""h
who planted the seed from which they sprang,
or the tree on which they bloom and laugh in
the sweet May air? Will money compensate
your children for the loss Of such heritage?
No, sir emphatically, No!


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 it is rendered so
beautiful in the eyes ofour offspring that their
hearts will always find anchorage there when
ever the longings of loneliness come over
them whenever the rough elbows of an un-
feeling world jostle them out of humor with
it. Let the coming Spring witness some effort
to leave the old farm better and more beauti-
full 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.