A COUNTRY LIFE. TO THE EDITOR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9512, 22 August 1892, Page 3

A COUNTRY LIFE. TO THE EDITOR

Sin,—We hoar a great deal of talk about our laud Jaws, perpetual lease, deferred payment, special settlement, &c. but very little effort seems to be m.?do to induct! our growing up young men to settle upon the land. How is it that our young people do not take kindly to agricultural pursuits ? I think one great reason is the want of energy. City life and parental gentility foster a kind of laziness, and they are iliYighted at the ghost of difficulties that will b;;set them when they ieave the pomps and vanities of the city behind. That indoleut laziness is the cause; of more failures in the life of young colonials than incapacity or want of opportunity. Energy, thrift, and perseverance ought to ba inculcated and encouraged in the young by parents, and the early acquired habits of smoking, gambling, and drinking firmly discouraged, as these habits if not corrected or destroyed tend in a great measure to destroy energy ami thrift, and place impediments in life's path that make it difficult to att iiu to a successful and prosperous career. Some say farming is a life of endless drudgery, that it has few avenues of advancement. These objectors forget that the few who reach the highest rungs of the ladder are not in the majority of instances the happiest ; while the farmer who succeeds in securing a home and a sphere of honest duty has gained that —a well-developed healthy life—which numbers of rich and well-to-do city people would give worlds to enjoy, and which is a life worthy of the most ardent energy and ambition of every young man.—l am, &c, August 18. Ploughman.