The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1873-01-30
For The Je1ersonIan.
HOME IN THE COUNTRY?

are left alone. The problem is not a difficult
one and should command the serious and
thoughtful attention of all those who are
engaged in tilling the soil. Now a days, as
a matter of course, a boy, as soon as he ar
rives at an age in which he may be useful on
a store as book-keepcr or clerk, or perchance
engages in one of the liberal professions.
As a nutural consequence, we find these
places 6lled-overfowing with applicants.
Where does the fault lie who is to blame?
The farmer, ifhe has any boys, will natural
ly say, sit certainly is not my fault. Ever
since my boys were old enough to do any
work, I've always made it a point to make
them useful and profitable, but after all my
pains and trouble TO make good farmers out
of them, they have left home and engaged
in other pursuits" Yes, no doubt, as soon
as they were large enough to pick stones or
hoe corn, you kept them busy from morning
till night. If after several days of constant
labor at loading stones, and the end or their
fingers were worn through, you may have
given them this sweet consolation, they'll
get used to it in time" or after hoeing corn
until they assumed the shape ola seniccrcle,
you may have comforted them by saying, sit
will increase your muscle and make you
robust" After growing older you may have
allowed them the privilege of following the
plow all day for weeks to cut brush and
make stone-fence by the month. In the
evening you may have granted them the
pleasure of sitting in the kitchen by the
cooking stove with a tallow candle to throw
Eight on the subject" After doing all this
have you failed in your plan? Well it does
seem like a rather intricate problem after
looking it square in the face" Perhaps
your knowledge of human natuae is some
what limited. Man is a curious mechanism.
with his appetites and passions, his desires
and wants and all these must be met and to
a certain extent gratiied. The boy on the
farm developes physically by the food he eats
and the exercise he receives. But how about
his mental, moral and religious growth? Do
they receive the proper nourishment they
require? Here is where the great secret lies,
why young men leave the farm. Labor is
honorable, noble and elevating, and he, who
despises it or frowns on the hard laboring
man, m u be devoid Of common sense. Its
not the hard work that drives them from
home, but it is the enjoyment, pleasure and
society which they seek and do not find that
makes them dislike farm-life.
If we look into the condition Of young
men learning trades or engaged in business,
we generally find hat their evenings, or at
least, some of them are left to them disposal.
They have books, magazines and papers with
which they can satisfy the craving demand
of their intellectual wants. They have an
opportunity of meeting each other and those
of the ''fair sex" in society. Man was not
constituted a solitary being; his nature re-
volts against it.
If homes in the country were made more
attractive and less uninviting than they are
land they can be at a very trailing cost we
would realize a great change in the minds,
habits and customs of farm boys. For in
stance, if they were permitted after a hard
days work to enjoy the use of a room in
which the family could retire and amuse
themselves by reading books, papers or
engaging in conversation, instead of inhaling
the odor of sour-crout, onions, parsnips or
ONE other vegetables that are all very good
and agreeable as long as they are satisfying
the wants of the inner man, but after that
/ moro rNrafaral la a = a i,.fopaa E,.,,o- -
a class, generally have substantial and roomy
dwellings neatly and comfortably furnished.
But the over-careful and economical mother,
in order to keep the carpets from fading and
the furniture from getting out of place, bolts
the doors and fastens the shutters, so that
the bright rays of the sun and the fresh air
never penetrate within these sacred precincts.
Certainly the cob-webs are swept from the
ceiling once a mOnthand the furniture placed
again in the exact position. The family oc-
cupy the kitchen unless there is an out
kitchen in which they can huddle together.
The parlor or sitting room is aerer used unless
its a very extraordinary occasion. At such
times, before the visitors are out of sight.
the doors are bolted again, the shutters closed,
and the whole family travel to the uninyiting
and perhaps smoky kitchen.
Do you not believe that parents are the
cause of this Indifference and hatred, in their
sons for farming? Then why not open your
houses, let in the bright sunlight and pure
air, which is so ~abundantly supplied for our
wants. Give your children access to the
whole house, supply them with books, sub
scribe for a few papers, purchase an organ,
make your house a home instead of place to
stay and you will find that spending a few dol
lars in this way will have the desired effect.
You need no greater inducements than those
which we have mentioned to turn the bal