Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1872-05-31

The time was when every woman Wth her
own hands clothed her family. The lax grew
near the door. the convenient brook ssrvei for
domestic chemical works and with distati and
wheel shc srrayei her sons IN fine linen. The
"ProyerbS Womsn." who stands next 70 ''the
Preacher" was 81 excellent person and in
dustrilus. but t0-lsy she Is triha on1l.efe
Her daughters no longer read that chapter with
eiihcAtiou. neither 10 they toll sfter her msuucr
They reap not neither DO they spin, yet Sl.1-
man in sl HE glory was not arrayei Ike one Of
these machine-clal d,mses Of today.
With the advent q the ,pinaing jenny. AMI
the introduction Of t'esm-p1wer, the making of
the where wi:E-7li-to-he-ci1thei was taken from
the house mother. 20 her great gain. No doubt
il was eminen,ly picturesque 10 make your own
clothes; hut who can afford il now i vast
deal Of mistaken sentiment has been was cd over
this Proverbisl Woman. She is gone, and there
is no recalling her. Il sl right. Good cloth
Is cheaper to-day than when each fsJnily m1ie
its owe, ami il the h0use-m1ther is less skilled
in things pastoral and ionczti,. she is more o. :
woman. and better companion to her husband
sul children. Machinery Is not destructive %
domestic virtues and accomplishments, tut their
greatest aid, by freeing the tJilipg hands thst
the head and hosr; msy hsve chance in the
world. However much We msy reEre: the
charming domestic idol. We cannot recAl Il, fJr
the race moves on. S1i steam Is freeing the
hands tia. the head may rule anl the heart
grow.
Jut; uov we are approaching similar trans
it;5n rcrioi in smother 6eli Of Industry. ..rhe
sturdy ve5r1su. the noble tiIler Of the toil the
farmer OF the story books. is in imminent ian
GER We should not be surprised TO wake uo
some morning to fni hat he had been run over
nv = steam p'ox. Something l.eslfll Is going
IN bsppen. lie will not Grclar- To resd the
s,ri,uitursl rspe-s. one would think he aireaiv
bsi one foot in the crave: e.. farming don't psy.
arms are .oli for a song. and everybody is 60
inc ,u- of the business the son, leave The faro
IN ssel- fhqir f,rtYnes the ola man cannot man
sre the nI,ca. md The Homestead is in the usr-
h., snd So on and 81 on-,no.r If which is
mere rnbbish
As as New EnriAai is concerned. it is in
one sense true The oli-f.sbionei mixel farm
inc is disarpesring rsrilIy. sud fora most ex-
cellent reason Ii don't paw. Il fe ms hard
thing to ssy that if thing don't pay il is OF 10
vsue. For all that, i, is the only test. thing
that does not pay fails 10 meet humSn want,
and what humanity does not want Is vslueless
aud not worth the doing Some people think
music does not psy; but the lo7e Of music is
-diyine instinct, human want, and 60 muse
does pay. Fifty or hundred years ago the
farm produced nearly all its occupants required.
Boston markets we're supplied from the country
in its immediate neghborhood The farmer ted
the people, and bis WAS the one esseltis business
sll things depended uuou We looked to him for
everything, and he wss man Of independence
and position
Now all s changed. Railroads hsve over
turned the whole business of food producing in
New England. The steamers bring potatoes
from the south, and four, corn and bacon Ioll in
from the west Ofcourse it does not pay to Ia'se
-four in Massachusetts. We may as vel accept
the situation gracefully, and admit the tru b.
Mixed farming does not and never will pay east
of the Hudson. The fine old farmer Of other
dsys s dead. Well. what shall we do shout it ?
Initiate the weak sentiment OF some of the rural
paper,, and shed cheap tears over the deserted
farms, or shall we get free Of the poetry and
take wide outlook At the question from high
er point Of view Let US look at the race, and
forget the class
Ttba. besp s.id that if ooe cIass sptf.,s oil s,f
for II rn.v be true. and it m,v .Iso he trne
,b,. the old.f,sbiopei fsrmipg 6.s had dread
fnI downf,lI in the last 6ffv ve,rs We, we
,b;nk , very slicbt examination viii show thai
al cl.s.es and trades have nrosperei exceeding
Iv in that time Though the groTing Of nork
corn and eour hiss ceased TO be pro6t.ble have
the reonle. or even the produoers tbemselvs, he
co-rs the noorer7 Not A. all Real estate has
riser enormopslv. the farmers, sons b.ve made
more in a decade than their fathers earned in a
Tfe time and the old farm has been rold for
boy,e Iot, or turned into market g,rien o.
ssntimentsl Grounds il NAV b. verv ,,d 10 think
tb,t the old farmer is dead. vet on humanitarian
Grounds ue csn feel Quite serene When the
Son,a-r,otber's sninninc wheel wss u,ed for
lindIinc wood. the poetiups of the d,v tore their
b.;r .n1 sid many 6ne ibinos ,nnronri.te n
the osc,,ion; but who cares now7 So ;s il with