Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1860-11-08
The Bearing Of Farming upon Health,


poet of a profession or calling. That bust
ness is chosen which promises the largest and
quickest returns. Let the golden stream
be quick and Violent is the prayer Of the
multitude, prayer often answered, but at
the expense Of health and life. The folly of
such choice is apparent enough to all who
are not personally interested in it, and the
miserable victims themselves most bitterly
lament it when too late to retrieve their
steps
Massachusetts pays good deal of atten-
ton to vital statistics, and, in the Eleventh
Report Of the registrations of mortality,
made by the Secretary Of State, the results
of the bills for eighty years, ending with
1851, are made olt. 1t is assumed that ey-
cry man's business affects, to some degree,
his health and chances Of life, and that the
averagesage OF the members Of any profess
sion or calling is the proper measure of its
healthfulness. Whether we admit this, or
not, it is, probably, the best measure We have.
From these Statistics covering q period Of
eighty years, it appears that agrjealtursts
live to the average age of G29 % years; while
olacksmiths live onIy3tol'Ao average are Of
81 A., and ahoemakers to that OF 43.l2,
which stands lowest in the scale Of mechanic
al employments. Taking the whole Of these
cmployments, and the average age to which
they attain is only 4G years This gives to
the farmer an advantage OF seventeen years
over the average OF mechanical employ
montS and pursuits carried on in close
rooms
These results, we think give farming a
greater ADVANTAGE over other pursuits than is
commonly supDosed. Yowo men, espocial.
", who are decidjnr unon their business for
life, do not consider that in turning away
from the farm, thew are yirtuaIIv decilinr
to throw away seventeen wears from the
most ENJOYABLE and useful part Of liGo--a hale
old ace.
Yet the LONGEVITY of life upou the farm is
what any competeat physioloaist would pre-
dict, knowing the circumstances Of farmers
and those who follow other pursuits, Farm
ers, take them as class, have better stock
of health to begin with than those who follow
sedentary life, The son is selected to fill
his fathers place, and occupy the homestead,
who is physically able 10 endure tho toll of
the field. If there is a weak one amonr the
flock, he is, quite likely, kept at school
steadily in boybood, and in the greenness of
his youth sent to cclleae to become a teach
err, or to enter one of the learned professions
If there be lame one or otherwise dcfor~,
ed, he becomes tailor q shoemaker, .whd
the organs of locomoton are less cs
The Scripture. proyerb, So hi@ -
shall it be giyon,' is fulfilled in farm lit0:-S'
The stout and able bodied sou IS selected lor
that pursuit Inch IS best calculated to dlscl'
pine the physical powers and keep them III
normal condition. GOOD health and long
lie are IN some measure dependent upon
constitutional Ylgor. In this respect farm
ers are a picked class OF men, ana 1t IS not
strange that a selection Tor this calling
based upon this principle Tor a succession
OF generations should result IN hrmer
health ana longer lie, than we ind IN other
callngs'
When the lie that they lead Is calculate
to make the most OF this advantage, all the
organs OF the bod are called INTO frequent
and varied exercise, so that every part IS
symmetrlcaIly developed This exercise is
mainly taken IN the open ar, so that he has
the tull benefit OF plenty oil oxygen for his
lungs, and sunlight for his skin, upon which
animal health is quite as dependent as ycge-
table Their 1000 is mere SIMPLE and nutri-
tlous, and generally taken into the system III
treSheF condition. ana their sleep is more
seasonabIe and refreshing; earl J hours being
everywhere prevalent IN the rural districts.