Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1851-08-14
AartruItnral.
From the Rural New Yorker.
Letter from a Farmers Wife.

Mr.. EDITOR will you allow farmers
wife to say few words to her sisterhood,
through the columns of your excellent pa
per? We are aware that farmers calling
does not reflect as much honor on his COM
panion as that of many other professions,
but trust the time is far distant when a
" farmers wife" will no more give one an
idea of coarse, red-faced woman, with no
intelligence above her butter and cheese,
than lawyers lady" will fill ones mind
with vision Of loneliness and grace,
But the most serious objection we hear
girls urge against this life, is that there is
always so much to do in farm house, that
no time is left for mental improvement.
Now, we beg leave to say,-this need not
be so. Amy woman in good health, can do
the Homework and plain sewing, for four
or FIVE, and have at least one hour each
day for study, besides all the little odds and
ends of time, for books and newspapers;
and surely mind need not starve upon
that Amy woman who cannot secure this
amount of time to herself and will still do
without help is doing what is not her duty,
either to herself or family.
II is mistaken idea that a woman can
discharge her household duties properly,
without any education, or that doing house,
work tends to deaden the sensibsities, or
produce a disrelsh for books. No such
distaste is ever formed but by needless neg
lect and any one who has ever tried it
knows that the mind must be ever on the
alert, anil that caring for and contributing
to the comfort and happiness of those around
US SO continually, cultivates the most active
benevolence. This, too, we are in meas
ure responsible for the health of our family.
If we do not know that poor bread, hot
buns, rich pastry, hearty and late suppers,
and meals at irregular intervals, are I'M
healthy; or that sufficient supply of clean
bed linen, or fresh air the bed rooms, is
as necessary to health as to comfort, then
our ignorance is responsible for the dispep-
sia and other diseases that may ensue.
A little forethOught often facilitates mat
tiers wonderfully AS with bread-if it be
set to sponge at night it may be baked by
the morning fire, thus saving the trouble of
keeping fire in the afternoon, and getting
up from ones reading or sewing to attend
to ii. There is another thing that takes a
great deal of our time, and that is visiting.
Not that would discourage visiting in the
least, but the parade attending it. We
should visit our friends much oftener, could
we drop in"-spend the afternoon, and
take tea with the family, without giving the
good mistress the trouble Of preparing two
or three extra dishes for our particular ben.
eft, besides having an extra room to set
right next morning.
There is another fashion coming among
us, which | suppose has travelled up from
some city; that we shall not work when we
visit,-as if we could not as well do some
plain sewing or knitting, as do nothing but
talk. But no, our grandmothers took work
it looks SO old fashioned, and that i:
, enough to shut the door of society agains
any thing.
Finally, if any of our sister readers, thai
t shall happen to glance upon this, can give
US any hints to improve US in our art, W.
, shall be most devouly thankful, for we arr
young, as will doubtless be conjectured
and need all the information we can get
We are meanwhile, most earnestly yours,
Il Lucy.