Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1865-04-13

try life. well worthy Of the attention Of
farmers and agricultunlists generally.
from which we select the following:
Another misfortune of country life Il
the excess Of oxygen. This statement viii
certainly excite surprise But it will hear
investigation. | believe then. il
such thing as having oxygen in excess
and that life spent too largely in the
open air tends to produce an oxvd of nm.
mainly, not the finest specimen Of the ar.
lticae
The English boast of their robust heal,h
and out door habits, but thew show the ten
denotes OF those habits when carried too
iar The fox-hunting squire is strong and
nearly, fine animal rather than cult
vated man. He follows the hounds in
more senses than one. His wife walks ten
or nftecn miles day, and develops into
powerful physique, suggestive Of steaks
and sifioins, quite outgrowing the finer
graces Of oursylptlike women. Both are
slow Of thought. obtuse Of perception, en-.
dowed with solidity Of muscle and stolid
ity Of mind.
But we need not go abroad tsowitness
similar CAUSES tending to similar results.
| The hunter, the lumber man, the stage
driver. whoever spends his life in battling
with the elements, is apt to loose his keen
sense Of the refinemenfs of life as well as
of fatigue and exposure His sensibilities
are buntcd, not only to pain but to some
of tn. eubiler sources of pleasure So too
of the farmer to a certain extent lie goes
through har .cnng process whose results
are excellent within certain limit ifthey
go hey ond that limit they are productive
I teir
| illustrate the idea. Farmer Bargs has
clear brain and kind heart, but a very
| United education. His father first trained
him to the manual duties Of his vocation.
and then kept him ut work in them like a
mere moving or reaping machine. BY the
| time he had reached his majority his hab-
its were formed and he steadily kept on
in them, without once inquiring for a
"rnore excellent way He gained money
slowly but steadily, by working many
hours of every day, and laying by US much
as possible of what he earned. He in
dnlged in nothing which cost money and
did not produce it, though it might yield
rich harvest of fine thoughts and delight
full emotions All such growth was non
sense he preferred the tangibes, turnips
and potatoes. His wife cooked, scrubbed
and stitched, tended the cradle and the
dairy, tried out tallow and cleaned tripe,
which was all very we'll if she set out
rose bush he dug it up and replaced it by
an apple-trce, only tocrating sunflowers
because the seeds are good for poultry. |
Her love of flowers found stinted food in
beds of sage and sweet marjoram, which
were spared to flavor sausages for the win |
tcr's breakfasts.
AZ Ia, /, III In Gel,
richer but poorer for every new conner |
from the babyland. He speaks of them
habitually as 50 many mouths to fill, for !
getting his own lean heart with its fam
ishcd mouth which these little ones might |
fill, 1.-The would let them. with loves deli
cinus food. He likes to multiply horses
and cows, though they have too many
mouths to fill, but then he can realize mon
ey from them, and about the children he is
not so sure. He does his best, however,
The first lesson he teaches them is that
this is an expensive world, and that
though they did not come into it volunta-
rliy, they are running up a bill for board |
and clothing which they must pay rs soon
as they are able. With the boys he is tol
crabl, successful. At ten they earn their |
bread; at twenty they have Handsomely |
returned all earlier outlys, down to the |
long clothes OF cheap calico and the rntins
OF maie,na milk. But daughters are poor
property any Way. Besides lac iping their |
mother, twhc, il he bad no children, |
would need no help,) they can drop corn
and rake hay it is true, hut it don't amount
to much, after all 50, rs soon rs they are
eightcen years of agc. he max them feel !
that they are sIilperuous; they must either
leave home at once or pay their b ard II
they remain Therefore they are wanderers
upon the earth. II they are sick or ser-
row full, they have no house Of refuge to |
which they can flee, no assured welcome
awaiting them in the pa'e,nai nest 1t |
never occurs to- him that tAcse daughters |,
NIGH, have been the ornaments OF his life. /
He does not think his life needs |
any ornament; he prefers the use
full. bv which he means what car |
be turned to money If any Body shodil ask
What is the Use of n' ncy. lie would he
b wild,red t,y the ab,utllity If the ques
ton. Money is e oil for its own SAX.
While wife ami cnIldr,n are rot If any
on should suggest To him that on OF the
best uses of money is IT, INK home taste
iul ana inviting AID wifc AMI children II
tel .oent ana agreeable he would stare III
ply titled SURPRISE lie c tn't Aiford such
| nonsense. Besides, Ii IS not saving lor
himself VI II II lac di,~. M widow wiii
lavc her "thlld>" ami his chiidi. II the r.
ma nd,r; ia Tact, lie i, nov NO king for
them and not they for him. He does not
| reflect that they may die before him, or
that if they survive, it may be with natures
50 dwared and narrowed for lack of the
culture he has withheld that their lives
may prove rather a burden than blessing
As it is, his children are the scIawnie>t
stock he turns of, and his wife's condition
| is such that, were she a quadruped instead
OF bipcd, he would almost question in
The fall whether she were worth wintoring
| his, as have said. is an extreme case,
but not the worst that might be found.-
Farmer Bangs has good natured endow
ments of mind and heart; he is never I'M
just or unkind The best in him is unde
veloped; he has no idea how much he has
missed. Ills nature is so dwaried by over
worked muscles and an under worked
brain that he has no perception of its
needs lie loves his wife and children as
well as himself, and starves their finer III
stin,ts as he has his own, simply because he
sees no better way. The source of the
strange torpor that has crept over his man
hood is to be found in early habit. the habit
-.
and labor in the open air ! do not assert
that cut door work was the sole cause of
his blunted sensihlities. but it was one
cause and had more to do with the result
than would at first appear, If he had been
a shoemaker or tailor, if he had followed
any calling that kept him chiefly indoors,
his feelings would have been quicker, his
perceptions keener, and his mental powers
more active than they are at present. And
this not because fresh air lisa bad thing to-
breathe, nor because farm-life favors stu
pdity when rightly followed. Pure a r is
a blessing beyond praise, it is the very
elixir of life; tilling the soil is not only
the earliest but one Of the purest, most
healihful and enrolling of occupations, il
it be only conducted wisely and we'll. But
we may easily have too much Of good
thing the finest ideas; the most attractive
pursuits, may in practice be carried tncx
cess, and ", can better avoid pleasant
h.x- <x ri inf