St. Cloud visiter [sic]. [volume] (St. Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1857-1858, 1858-05-20
Hints for Young Farmers and 9TH

=. MAY, glorious May, the best month, we
suppose, in all the year at the South, and
certainly the best in the North, except its
successor, more glorious June, has at last
come We have waited for it through
winter as long as usual, though not as cold,
and are glad to see it here with its flowers
and its promises of fruits, it's mild breezes
and its charming sunshine. ..... .......
r We need not exhort the farmer to turn
out and breathe it's exhilerating influences
without wall, or "a pane Of glass even, be-
tween him and the wonderful, clevating,
gratitude-begetting works Of his Creator.
He is out before Us, out Of necessity, out by
blessed privilege Of his calling. Let him
not forget that he ought to be the happiest
and best of all and that if he ever ensies
others of different callings, it is only be-
cause he has not the experience of their
trials. ~' @@.@ s''-s.5 s.'.' 's-*
If the wives and daughters Of the farm
homes will accept a homely hint at our
hands, we will say to them, what We need
not say to their husbands and sons ;-be
out, breathe the May airs, strengthen your
physical nature, and elevate your spiritual
by free communion with nature. Know
what the '.men folks are doing, and take
an interest it. Nature is beautiful, love-
ly, exquisite But left to herself she is
wild, erratic, extravagant, little inclined to
the useful. It is the business of your other
halves whether better halves or worse, We
can not now inquire-to train and direct
her powers to the practically usefu1-to
make her grow sweet roses, sustaining food
and luscious fruits, where if left to herself
she would produce only tangled underbrush
and fruitless trees What an avocation is
his! Can women be Indifferent to it 2
Sanderous thought! We put it behind
| us.
But American women have not yet sui.
fciently informed and instructed themselves
in the affairs of the farm. Earnestly but
kindly we say to you, let it not be so always.
Give yourselves the great benefit of little
more outdoor exercise, and your husbands
the benefit Of feeling that you sympathize
with them in their labors, and rejoice with
them in their success. You know that
farm work should be done well and hand
somely. There is a right way for doing any
thing, and there are great many wrong
ways: Good sense and sound jud cement
are the traits in which the farmers arc apt
to excel. An eyeto the beautiful in laying off
lands and finishing up jobs, can add to the
pleasure of their labors without subtracting
at all from the profits. If your husbands
found you admirinS some Of their doings,
but dubious about others-about twice as
ready to see and admire what is pretty and
nice in your eyes as to find fault with what
! is otherwise would really do them a
:; deal of good. z2a a.s @...--... s:.srsa .,...
Woman's taste should have something
to do with the landscape her husband is Gre
ating 1t is common property for both to
look upon. Mans strong tendencies to-
:. wards theuseful, cooperating with woman's
:. keen perception Of the beautiful, could
hardly fail to arrive at good and pleasant
results. In the location of buildings, in
the general appearance Of the homestead,
in the management of the garden, on the
question whether the highway through the
farm, with the exception of the drive, shall
be a neat and tidy lawn, or an t'omnium
gatherum'' of all that is foul and ugly, and
on various other points of common interest
to the whole household, woman's taste
should be consulted, and should not shirk
the responsibility Of expressing its choices.
Aye, many an unseemly spot would assume
new beauty and fertility if the s'women
folks" oftener manifested modest wish
about the outdoor matte1s.-Amcrtcan
En,n,or'c Mana