" It may seem to those accustomed to the narrower life
of towns, a lonely, empty life to spend one's years and energies
improving these wild lands; but assuredly the man who labours here with
the best that is in him, not only earns a great reward for himself in
the gradual development and growth of that land, but has deserved well
of mankind in general, and will, some day, receive his "Well done," than
which there is no higher praise, as surely as those whose lives have
been spent in the more public fields of civilisation or in military
prowess.
For some, obscure reason it is generally supposed that the man who
spends his life in agricultural pursuits is bound to have his mental
abilities dulled by the continuous round of duties connected with the
land and the care of animals. The origin of this idea is difficult to
imagine, unless it be that agriculture is the oldest and most necessary
pursuit of mankind; but surely the man who has to keep a perpetual watch
on wind, weather and workers, animal and vegetable kingdom and natural
phenomena, and be ready to anticipate any change, besides being
thoroughly in touch with all the latest improvements, mechanical and
material, in reference to his calling, and conversant with the ruling
prices in the best markets, cannot be held to be a man whose perceptions
are becoming blunted by his business.
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