The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1877-03-29
'"FARM VILLAGES.0

tains a paper by the well-known agricutl-
ural author, Col. George B. Warning, of
Newport, on EARN Villages" Famil-
iarity with the life and work of European
farmers, where it is usual for those who
cultivate the soil to live in villages, sug-
gested to him the idea that the condition
of our own agricultural population could
be much ameilorated by a similar con-
centration into communities, where the
material and moral benefits of better So
cial relations could be secured.
The paper considers the way in which
land may be divided SO as to secure the
end in view with the least inconvenience
to the men who have to till the fields,
and with the least drawback to the bust
ness of the farmer. Two cases are con-
sidered First, when it is a question of
the settlement of new lands; second,
where farm houses are already scattered
over the country, each on it's own farm.
In both cases it is attempted to show how
the details Of the plan may be regulated
SO as to cause the least annoyance and
loss of time to the men, to compass the
greatest comfort and convenience of the
women, and to provide the best advan-
tages for the younger members OF the
community. These two schemes are IL
Illustrated by sufficient diagrams, which
indicate the way in which the farming
land and the village tract should be di-
vided.
The way in which the proposed change
would affect the work of the farmer, his
wife, his hired men, and his teams is
fully considered, and it seems to be de-
onstrated-while it is admitted that in
immediate moneymaking there may be
some slight disadvantage on the
whole, and in the long run, the general
prosperity of our agriculture would be
advanced by the change.
Considerable space is given to the
comparative effect of the life of the iso-
lated farm house and of the more sociable
life of the village on the character of the
farmer and his family, and, therefore,
on the future farming people of the
country. The following quotations in
dictate the line of argument:
" 1t may seem q strange doctrine to be
advanced by a somewhat enthusiastic
farmer, but it is o doctrine that has been
slowly accepted after many years obser-
vation-a conviction that has taken pos
session OF an unwilling mind-that the
young man who takes his young wife to
al isolated farmhouse dOoms her and
himself and their children to an unwhole-
some, unsatisfactory, and vacant exist
ence-an existence marked by the alb
sence OF those more satisfying and more
cultivating influences which the best de-
81 ahor ,,,Lo
demand. 1t is q common experience of
farmers wives to pass weed after week
without exchanging work or look with
a single person outside of their own
family circle
"The young couple start bravely, and
with determination to struggle against
the habit of isolation which marks their
class but this habit has grown from the
necessity of the situation and the neces-
stiles of their own situation bring them
sooner or later within it's bonds. Dur
ing the first few years they adhere to
their resolution and go regularly to
church, to the lecture, and to the social
gatherings Of their friends but home
duties increase with time, and the eager
ness of society grows dull with neglect,
and those who have started out with the
firmest determination to avoid the rock
on which their fathers have split give
up the struggle at last and settle down
to humdrum, uninteresting and unin-
terested performance of daily tasks.
elm saying all this-and [ speak
from experience for [ have led the dis
NAL life mysef-it is hardly necessary to
d;ooloi,,, 40 1ooc+ ,,,or+ ~ o,,,oro,,;o To-,
of the sterling qualities which have been
developed in the American farm house
hold.
eff American agriculture has an I'M
satisfied need, it is surely the need for
more intelligence and more enterprising
interest Oh the part Of it's working men
and women. From one end of the land
to the other, it's crying defect recognized
by alI-is that it's best blood or, in
i'll other words, it's best brains and it's
best energy-is leaving it to seek other
fields of labor. The influences which
lead these best of the farmers sons to
other occupations is not so much the de-
sire to make more money, or to find
less laboriOus occupation, as it is the de-
sire to lead more satisfactory life-a life
where that part OF us which has been de-
veloped by the better education and bet
ter civilization for which in this century
we have worked so hard and so well, may
find responsive companionship and en-
couraging intercourse with others.
"The social benefits and the facilities
for frequent, neighborly, and informal
intercourse are obvious. To say nothing
of the companionships and intimacies
among the young people, their fathers
and mothers would be kept from grow
ing old and glum by the constant friction
of their kind; and in so far as more
satisfactory social relation with ones fell
low-men gives cheerfulness and the rich
ness Of wider human interest, in that
proportion would the village life have
wholesome, mellowing effect that is not
to be found in the remote farm house,
nor even i'll the sort of neighborhood we
sometimes find in the country, where