292
��THE GRANITE MONTHLY.
��heroic past is their richest inheritance. In his earlier years, obedient to the custom of the fathers, Mr. Pike attend- ed the district school. This institu- tion, original to New England, dis- charges a function in the training of the young which, to our mind, some of the methods and more ambitious inventions of modern educators fail to fulfill. In the district school, if properly taught, are secured habits of faithfulness and diligence, and a per- manent knowledge of elementary branches, which are of daily practical use in the life of the people. There, too, the silly conceits and factitious distinctions of society are broken down, as children see that success is achieved by brains, not money ; by in- dustry, not social standing. In this sometimes rough but general inter- course of youth, democratic ways and independence of thought are acquired, and the seeds of a true manhood and womanhood are planted. Our system of public schools is in harmony with the organism of the state, and in them our children imbibe a spirit of obe- dience to wholesome, legitimate au- thority, and so become conservative of public discipline and order. Men learn to rule by learning to obey. It was here that Mr. Pike laid the foundations of character.
Later, he was for a time a scholar in the academy at Hartland, Vt. After a season of study there, he matriculated in that long-time famous and still existing center of pro-collegiate education, Kimball Union Academy, at Meriden, N. H. The principal, at that time, was the Rev. Cyrus Richards, and un- der his guidance several terms were passed in the acquisition of the more abstruse learning of the books. But the months drift by, and at the age of fifteen Mr. Pike graduates from the schools and passes on to the sterner duties of manhood and of life. The winter months of the six ensuing years are filled with the active work of the pedagogue, and the summer sea- sons in constant, laborious work upon the home farm.
��During this period he was ripening the lessons of his pupilage, and matur- ing plans for the future. At the age of twenty-one Mr. Pike, though he still spent his winters for some years in teaching, became a trader in cattle and a merchant in the products of the soil. By his enterprise in this, his chosen vocation, he reached the position of a foremost man of a notable class among the farmers of New England. Familiar from youth with the harvest capability s of the rich levels and the sun-warmed hills of Sullivan county, and gifted with a quick sense to perceive the wants of modern markets, he has, by unusual energy and sagacity, fitted means to ends, and, with a Midas-touch, turned his agrarian resources into gold. His success teaches the lesson that the New England farm has no less poten- tial wealth at present than in times past, if skill but holds the handles of the plow. Let the modern farmer cling to the old homestead and the paternal acres, and take counsel with the progressive science of soil-enrich- ment ; let him employ the same skill in the cultivation of his farm and the management of his stock ; let him use the same enterprise in utilizing markets, and the same economy in the disposi- tion of his funds, which are necessary in other employments, and his suc- cess is sure.
We would here quote from a leading paper of the state a few lines pertinent to our narrative :
" Capt. Chester Pike, of Cornish, has one of the largest, if not the larg- est farm in the state. It contains about one thousand acres of land, di- vided into wood, mowing, tillage, and pasture land ; forty acres in corn, a:id seventy acres in wheat, rye, oats, barley, and potatoes. Last season he raised six thousand eight hundred baskets of corn. He has one hundred and thirty head of cattle, three hundred sheep, thirty-seven horses, and forty hogs, and raises hay enough to keep his stock through the season, or about three hundred tons. Capt. Pike's farm lies in the town of Cornish, on the
�� �
