The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1874-10-12
Farmers Holidays.

rarmcTS nOiuayS.
Many weighty reasons have been given for
the existing lack of interest in agricultural
pursuits. for the prevailing Discrimination
among farmers sons to follow the vocation of
their fathers, and for the manifest reluctance
with which educated young men enter into
the pursuits of the husbandman. This re-
missness on the part of the latter class, which
appears so inexcusablc to farmers generally,
has been quite largely exhibited by the gradu-
ates from agricultural colleges; and on this
account alone the strongest prejudices against
these institutions, and the most dissatisfac.
ton with their results thus far, may be found
among those who should be their staunchest
supporters-the actual cultivators of the soil.
Without specifying any of the reasons to
which we have referred. many of them
worthy of the highest consideration as con-
tanning within themselves remedial sugges-
tons, we merely propose to refer to a single
sin of omission, of which farmers as class
are guilty, the neglect to give themselves,
their wives and children, their man servants
and maid servants, frequenL and fixed days
for Observation-Disclosures. This is the forbid
ding element in the farmers life, and to his
own thougbtlessness and forgetfulness, rath-
er than any studied or innate design, may be
attributed much Of the aversion to this life
which he himself has innocently and ignor-
antly implanted in the youthful mind. Many
an aged pair have seen their children one by
one come to mature years, and then fit away
from the old nest in search of new homes; or
amid their falling tears have been compelled
to leave the desolate and decaying homestead
simply because they neglected to crafty the
natural and reasonable longing which the
young especially have, for an occasional re-
lease from labor, and for some positive en-
joyment.
There is altogether too much prose in the
average farmers life, and the occasional
chances there are for illustrating it with bits
ofpoetic adornment, ought most carefully to
be improved. Blot out the sugaring, the
husking party, the apple-bee, and other OK
quisite merry-makings, and you destroy
some of those sources from which New Eng
land rural life extracts its. richest favors and
perfumes. The farmer can bind his sons
and daughters to himself, and his fircside by
silken bands, he can enliven the hard and
dusty way by an occasional flower, and it is
within his power to attract multitudes to an
agricultural life, by presenting its actual en-
joyments.
Foreigners criticise and condemn the
American pursuit of wealth, and untiring de-
votion to business and whether considered
as cause, or result, they remark unfavorably
upon our national lack of holidays. From
Jewish history, from classic lore, as we'll as
from familiarity with much Of the peasant
life of Europe, and the slave life of this
country we may learn instructive lessons.
The different seasons of the year afford to
the farmer appropriate opportunities for
recreation; we especially desire to commend
the autumnal season with its fairs and festiv-
tiles, as on the whole the most convenient
and the most suitable. Then the pressure
of labor, which spring and summer bring
is over, the ingathering Of the harvest
comes slowly and quietly along, and without
haste and with rest, the husbandman winds
up the round of his busy life. We are more
and more convinced that the cattle show and
fair, the exhibition of agricultural and me-
chanical industries, is worth more to the far
mer as school of instruction, than the les
sons he learns ordinarily from the daily life of
the farm. In addition to this we desire
most earnestly, that he would give these oc-
casions the appreciation they deserve as OPP
portunitics for hearty and healthful enjoyment
for himself and every member of his family.
The contemplation of the bountiful fruits of
the earth with which Providence has blessed
the labors of man; the glmpses afforded of
the great realm which ingenuity and inven-
ton has only partially explored; the oppor-
tunities for informal and unrestrained social
intercourse; aside from the MISUNDERSTOOD
practical aspect of such gatherings, may not
only serve in the development of higher and
nober manhood, but also strengthen the far
mer's attachment to his chosen vocation.
We trust that the managers of these agri-
cultural and mechanical exhibitions, will not
hesitate to graft upon their usual programme
all such amusements as are heathfu and ra-
tional and not Objectionable to refined tastes.
We favor the revival of all the wholesome Eng
lsh games and sports ofour ancestors; and we
doubt not that the floral procession, and the
harvest home,' would flourish finely on our
New England soil. 1t is even quite probable
that we may yet see commingling Of the
ancient Feast of the Tabernacles, and the
modern Camp Meeting, in the service of ag-
riculture, and find it the most pleasant and
profitable assembly of the year.