Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1857-12-09
WHOLE NO. a14s
= ,f0r tbe farmer.l
WORK FOR RAINY DAYS.

once preached a sermon on the moral uses
of rainy days. The heavens have been
preaching 50 much in the same strain, the
past three or four months, that the topic
will at least be seasonable. They have
come in season, and ou; Of season, so that
farmers who have not had forecast 10 pro.
vide for them, have had occasion to COM
plain OF lost time.
The farmer, of necessity, pursues tho
most of his labors under The open skies;
and unless he can supply his boys and
men with employment under cover, rainy
days must be lost. Some, indeed, work
men and cattle through all weather, but
the practice IS inhuman and impolitic.-
Both teams and men are often disabled,
where the practice is persevered in
Rainy days, if rightly improved upon the
farm, aside from their agency in watering
The earth, will be reckoned among the
farmers richest blessings. They bring TO
the manager of the farm little breathing
spell, when he may contemplate the prog
ress already made in his work, and lay
his plans for The future. At this season,
when everything is pressing, they ars
particularly important. Ola dozen things
that need to be done, it requires a linls
time 10 select the pieces Of work that will
suffer 10 delay.
But the boys must have something to De
on rainy days. Fishing should not be the
invariabls recreation. lfthe farmer has
tool shop, and work bench, both boys
and men will be furnished with profitable
employment when it rains. A few tools
are quite common upon the Premi,es Of g
Yankee farm, and the number might BE-
profitably enlarged. The influence fine
frequent use Of the saw, the hammer, the
bit, and the plane, in making boy handy.
is incalculable. One sees the contrast.
whsn the ignorant European iaborer is
put down upon an American farm. He
knows that kind Of labor to which be has
been trained, and is extremely awkward
al everything else. The boy ofihc Amer
lean farmer, if he has had a workshop to
grow up in, can adapt himself 10 any kind
of mechanical labor with the utmost ease
His arms and fingers are supple, and he.
becomes an adept in all he undertakes.
1This kind of physical education. which
makes boy ingenious in planning, and
skillful in the execution of his plans, is
worth far more than any pecuniary 6r-
tune. Ii makes man comparatively in
dependent, in whatever circun stances he
may be placed. Put him down in the
wilderness, and with an axe, saw, and
auger he will construct him comfortable
house in few days, to shelter bis family
from the storm. If he seeks hi, fortuns
in the city, be viii be ready for any bust
ness that turns up; and if ihe best mode
of conducting it is not already adopted, he
will quite likely discover it. 4T2I
Every farmer, then, who has boys grow
ing up around him, should have snug
work shop, well lighted, and in the winter,
we'll warmed with stove. Ths building
need not be a separate one. A room in ths
crib, carriage house, or barn, may. BE-
fitted up at small cost for this purpose.
Some farmers turn their kitchen into q
workshop, and here on rainy days man.
uiacture their yokes, ox-whips and whiffls
trees. But this is heathenish practice
tina, no good housewife ought to tolerate,
and we quite sure no considerate hus-
band will countenauce it. Woman has
her rights, and those which we are par
iicularly disposed to yindicaie are her
rights to rule in the house. The work
shop should be by itself, and order should
reign throughout. There should be tool.
chest for the smaller and nicer srticles-
the bit stock, and the sets Of augers and
bits for holes of all sizes, from one inch
downward to the smallest gimblei hole,
for the planes. the fine saw, the screw
driver, the tack hammer, the screws and
tacks, the chisels, and rule, the spirit
level, and the measuring tape. A-sl
The larger tools, the axe, saw, and au-
gers, which are more frequently used,
should have places 10 hang or stand, %
that they may be found in The dark, If
necessary. Neatness and system, in the
care Of tools and othsr articles are learned
only in youth. They arc invaluable hab-
its, and often lead TO success in lite. Upon
one side-of the room should be work
bench, on which boards ten or twelve feet
long may be planed. II should be furn-
ished with a vice or wooden screw, in
which all the small articles may be held
fast for the purpose of using the plane or
the shaving knife.
With such a room fitted up and furn-
ished with fifteen or twenty dollars worth
of tosls, the boys will never be at loss
for amusement, and the men will never
lack employment on rainy days. Itwould
pay for itself every year, aside from its
influence of training the boys to skillfuI
labor and industrious habits. lfthe tooth
orbow off rake is broken. John can east :
mend it. lfthe hoe-handle breaks, he has
a piece of ash well seasoned that will
make another. IL the cart ladder gives
out, he knows how 10 put in new slat.
There will be hundreds of items Of ex.
pense saved every year by a workshop.
With this adjunct Of the farm. rainy days
will be greater blessings 10 the farmers