The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1877-11-23
farMlers' Column.
Speed the PIOsU.o
Farming in the Olden Times.

Bob lngersoll, in recent speech in Hi
nols, took occasion to tell his hearers
what he knew about farming in the olden
time. We annex an extract from his re-
marks:
when | was a farmer, in the olden
time, in Illinois, they used to fence 100
acres of land with two dogs. When was
a farmer they used to haul wheat 200 miles
in wagon and sell it for 80 cents q bush.
ell, and bring back about 300 feet of lum-
ber two punches of shingles, a barrel of
salt and cook stove that never would
draw. When was farmer they feasted
on corn and bacon, and didn't know yery
we'll how to cook even that. We had
poor houses and no barns. The horses
were put in straw sheds, and long before
spring most of the straw would be eaten
away; and it took all the oats and all the
corn we could stuff into those horses to
| keep them from actual starvation. In those
days most farmers thought the best place
for pig pen was Immediately in front of
the house, and the woodpie, as a general
thing, consisted of one log upon which an
axe or two had been worn out in the fruit-
less effort to make kindling
an the olden times, when was farmer.
not tree was set out once in ten wears
not grapevine was planted and about the
house, not flower could be seen. When
you went to their houses you were not met
by flowers and trees loaded with fruit. but
by yellow dogs that came bounding over
the worm fence like wild beasts. There is
no sense and no profit in such life. 1t is
not living; it is hardly existing. l ask
the farmers in Illinois to beautify their
homes, surround their houses with flowers,
to make everything beautiful and attract
i've. You don't live up to your privileges.
In every farmers house there should be
bathroom. You have no idea of the civ
ilizing influences of the bath. When YOU
come from the field, tired, covered with
dust, nothing can be SO refreshing as bath.
Keep clean. | am not one of those who
think that in order to raise hogs you must
be one. Put ON clean clothes, take seat
in the yard under the trees and amidst the
perfume of flowers, surrounded by your fam
lily and you will know what it is to feel like
gentleman.
ut is not necessary in this age of the
world for the farmer to rise in the middle
of the night and begin his work. This
getting up so early in the morning is a rel
ic of barbarism 1t has made hundreds of
men curse the business The farmer who
persists in doing it and persists in dragging
his wife and children from their beds,
ought to be visited by missionary. 1t is
time enough to rise after the sun has set the
example. For what purpose do you get
up3 To feed the cattle Why not feed
them the more the night before 1t isa
waste ofllfe. In the old times they used to
get up about three o'clock in the morning
and go to work long before the sun had
risen with healing upon his wings, and as
just punishment they all had the ague,
and they ought to have it now. The man
who cannot get living upon Illinois soil
without rising before day light ought to
starve. Eight hours a day is enough for
any farmer to work except in harvest
time.
"The laboring people should unite and
protect themselves against all idlers You
can divide mankind into two casses-the
laborers and the idlers, the supporters and
the supported, the honest and the dishon-
est. Every man is dishonest who lives
upon the unpaid labor of others, no matter
whether he occupies throne or lives in
poor house. All laborers should be BROTH
ers. The laborers should haye equal rights
before the world and before the law. And
l want every farmer to consider every man
who labors, either with hand or brain, as a
brother. Until genius and labor formed a
partnership, there was no such thing as
among men. Every reaper and
mower, every agricultural implement, has
elevated the work Of the farmer, and his
vocation grows grander with every inven-
ton. In the olden time the agriculturist
was ignorant He knew nothing of ma
chinery. He was the slave of superstition.
Through machinery, through the science of
agriculture, the farmer has been elevated.
He should not forget the debt he owes to
the mechanic. He should remember that
all laborers belong to the same great fami-
ly"