On all such questions as the above, practical men, though prompt to laugh at any dogmatic intrusion upon their provinces, are especially eager to hear facts. They value these if modestly offered, and under a sense that the experience recorded in books and farm papers has been often gained under totally different circumstances from the case in hand. Books never do record all the circumstances. They deal in relative terms, and in results, often leaving out such vital points as temperature and amount of rain-fall, &c. For example, a first-rate authority on market-gardening, living in New York, gives as a fixed rule that it will not pay to plant truck on land having a clay sub-soil. While ON HABITS AND MANNERS 191 in the South, on the contrary, the rule is worthless, and a clay sub-soil is often especially sought by truck growers. To trust books too far is to become the laughing-stock of sensible men. It is necessary to learn to read between the lines and supply omitted circumstances. The students of Hampton have not only the great privi- lege of seeing a fine farm successfully managed under their eyes and hands, but they are also thoroughly drilled in the elements of agricultural science in their class-rooms. The object of the present series of papers is to supplement the knowledge thus attainable by suggesting a few of the prac- tical ideas about farming, which are not commonly found in text-books, but which the young farmer needs at the very threshold of his experience, and for lack of which many good men have thrown away the labor of years, or of a life- time. In treating of agriculture from this point of view, it is hoped that useful hints may be given to the teachers who go out from Hampton into farming communities, and whose pupils may apply to them for advice. The whole future of those pupils may be determined by a woi-d from an honored teacher, and much depends upon STARTING RIGHT. I It is best for the young farmer to begin at the bottom of the ladder. He has a long course before him. In thirty 192 ON HABITS AND MANNERS. years he may expect to reach a comfortable independence. If not satisfied with this and he tries to go faster, he will usually siuk into some enticing pitfall of speculation. In every country neighborhood are to be found a few men who have made money by legitimate farming, and who are not ashamed to use their own hands. After finding some such man, the young farmer can make the best use of two or three years, by working faithfully and diligently for him, and learning what he knows. If a young farmer has determined to be rich in thirty years, he can better afford to labor at first for a successful man for board and clothing only, than to receive high wages from a slip-shod fox hunter who calls himself unlucky. ii After having given satisfaction to a critical master for two or three years, our beginner will find that though he may have put no money in his purse, and is apparently at the bottom of the ladder, he has really made the first great step upward. He has gotten a character. A man whose judgment is recognized in the place, has given him a thorough trial, and pronounced him .steady, reliable and efficient. What is the result ?

AI-modernized reading of the original text

On all such questions as the above, practical men, though prompt to laugh at any dogmatic intrusion upon their provinces, are especially eager to hear facts. They value these if modestly offered, and under a sense that the experience recorded in books and farm papers has been often gained under totally different circumstances from the case in hand. Books never do record all the circumstances. They deal in relative terms, and in results, often leaving out such vital points as temperature and amount of rain-fall, &c. For example, a first-rate authority on market-gardening, living in New York, gives as a fixed rule that it will not pay to plant truck on land having a clay sub-soil. While in the South, on the contrary, the rule is worthless, and a clay sub-soil is often especially sought by truck growers. To trust books too far is to become the laughing-stock of sensible men. It is necessary to learn to read between the lines and supply omitted circumstances. The students of Hampton have not only the great privilege of seeing a fine farm successfully managed under their eyes and hands, but they are also thoroughly drilled in the elements of agricultural science in their class-rooms. The object of the present series of papers is to supplement the knowledge thus attainable by suggesting a few of the practical ideas about farming, which are not commonly found in text-books, but which the young farmer needs at the very threshold of his experience, and for lack of which many good men have thrown away the labor of years, or of a lifetime. In treating of agriculture from this point of view, it is hoped that useful hints may be given to the teachers who go out from Hampton into farming communities, and whose pupils may apply to them for advice. The whole future of those pupils may be determined by a word from an honored teacher, and much depends upon STARTING RIGHT. It is best for the young farmer to begin at the bottom of the ladder. He has a long course before him. In thirty years he may expect to reach a comfortable independence. If not satisfied with this and he tries to go faster, he will usually siuk into some enticing pitfall of speculation. In every country neighborhood are to be found a few men who have made money by legitimate farming, and who are not ashamed to use their own hands. After finding some such man, the young farmer can make the best use of two or three years, by working faithfully and diligently for him, and learning what he knows. If a young farmer has determined to be rich in thirty years, he can better afford to labor at first for a successful man for board and clothing only, than to receive high wages from a slip-shod fox hunter who calls himself unlucky. After having given satisfaction to a critical master for two or three years, our beginner will find that though he may have put no money in his purse, and is apparently at the bottom of the ladder, he has really made the first great step upward. He has gotten a character. A man whose judgment is recognized in the place, has given him a thorough trial, and pronounced him .steady, reliable and efficient. What is the result ?

On habits and manners