Money-lending Farmers

It is a pleasant tfaincr, we suppoae, to have money to ]end, rather than to borrow. The farmer who has money to lend is considera! " full hand "wellflxed" and successful. Bnt this is not alwaya trae. There is a class of monej-lendiog faimni-s who rob thcir farms, their families and their onn sonls, in order that they may have money to lo.an. This clasa of inen are not using wisely their savings, nor are they saving wisely. We kiiow a farmer who boasts thst ne loaned fifteen hundred dollars yeir. it wül illustrate onr point to teil how he made the money. He owns :i beautiful farm, whicli his father bougiit for him at a bankrupt s.ilf!. Ha went to the farm three years ago. It was in good order and "was well improved. Since he began farmin thero he never bonght a nail and does not own a handiaw. The nuruerouspieces of siding split and knock.id off hls ttarn, the brokonfence boards and caps slrewn about the place, teil that he pemls neither time nor rnoney in keapng his f en cea and building? in repair. üo áoea most of his own work; his wife has no help; his two little daugbers milk threeor four cowa, and drive hem ;) and trova the pastare, and feed he hog8. lío id a man of strong conBtitntion; never was sick a day, and res fr nothing but making money. l'1 does nol take a newspaper or agriultural paper. Fiom early moriTto ewy (ivk; he is in bis Öelds. anH hu nn time to koop his fenoe rows and creek bsnks irte f rom sprouts aud vil Wt!CÍ3. We think if he hired more help and kept ha land clear, he would ruske niore. Then, too, ií hs would keep hia buildings and felices in repair he would b better ofl' ten years henee. By thia method he isimpoverishinsf his soil and his soul, and dwarflng hïs mind and Btarving the minds and sonLsof his wife and dauffhters. He is making himself and tus íaniily to be mere beasts of biiriitü lhsiI claves to pelf. It would take more than fifteen huadred dollars to meke that farm and fixtures as good as when the present owner took possession. He is enlargiiiK lliil bank account, but at a greal sacriüoe. it some other man had taken that farm, who would have farraed it intelligently, caring that his rotations, anl clover, and stock had kept Op or itnproved his ril, and oaring thai he increased his o-.vn store oi aseful knowledge, and that his wife an! were not overworked, and that, their soiiis and minds were cared for and educated, and refined by good books and papers, and that they all, as an unled family, were attendants and supporters of the viüag.; church, thnt man Burely wouid hiive received more it irora his farm, and wonld have made it a blessing instead of a plüoo of conlinoment an';l servitud tnr himself and family. The improved condition of his lan.'.s, honses, fences and of his family, would bc an oflsei to the 1,500 in bank, and would afford the cultivated and reüned nature tenfolrl moro pleasure than the sordid, ever declining nature of the rcnck raker can ever conceive of. The intelligent farmer has not neglected his farm or family, and findí that he has still a surplus in the bank. There ia a wet strip of land on the rear of the farm which, if drained, wonld add largely to the income of the place, and increase its healthfulncss! He has calculated the cost of draining it and nnus yiat a fair erop will pay for tho I otit'ay in ono year. He considera I that a better use of his surplus than to put it out at eight per cent. The drain wiil pay many times eight per cent., and is a safe investment. He intends next year to put some better sheep on the thin lauds, and give them lance to olear out tiie uriderbrush in tin; timber land. He expeets to get that all set down nicely to blue grass in afewyears, which will pay better than if left to grovv up in briers and weeds. He is making his farm yield niore each year, and is free h-om ciebt, and has happiness at home, which comes from intelligent, upright livine. Inefact that a farmer has money loaned is not satisfaotory evidence that he has been a successful larmer. ïhe farmer can generally do better with money than to loan it. Before he loans lus surplus he should seo that there is no place on his farm where it cannot bo made to pay a botter per cent. Then, and not til! theu, loan your money and take your chances of losine both interest and principal, and incrcasing your cares and annoyance.