Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1877-07-25
Uncle JOe,s Talk With the BOYS.


Ihave n word to say to those boys who
have fully made up their minds that they
will not be farmers. You feel that you
are not fitted for it; many long to become
mechanics. You 60 to your daily labor
as the slave to his task, feeling that you
are compelled to do that which you have
no taste for, and which you are not well
suited to perform; or in other words. that
your life is hedged in on every side. If
you will stop to analytic those feelings
you will find that oftentimes they come up
because you feel Just little lazy. Hay
ing and harvesting is hard work at the
best. The mower and reaper have done
much for you, but the crops of grass and
grain cannot be harvested without much
sweaty, hard work. You work hard, Of
ten too hard one day, but don't feel like
doing anything the next, and as the work
mxst be pushed if it is good weather, it is
at such times that you will find yourself
saying, " hate farming
| have used the term lazy yet do
not mean it. l do not mean that YOU
lack energy, or ambition, for you are first
and foremost in every picnic or any dongs
that is going on in your neighborhood that
calls out the energies of the young people.
One reason why you feel so, is because
you are growing fast, and your muscles
have not yet become hardened SO that YOU
can endure long season of hard work.
If you take good care of yourself you
will get past this after while. No doubt
you eat too much, you give your stomach
more than it can do and do well. You
know how it is, if you are loading lay or
grain and the man on the ground passes it
to you faster than you can well take of it.,
your load don't look very well, and is
liable to turn over. You often use your
self just in that way.
What | have said about eating may be
applied to your drink; you drinktoo much
cold wafer. The kidneys cant do the
amount of work well that you give them
to do, so it happens that when the previous
day was very warm and you drank much
water, you feel a soreness in the back Just
above the hips, your head feels bad, and
you say you don't feel like work, and
don t like farming anyhow. This habit of
drinking so much cold water in the har-
vest-ield is a very bad thing. | say
habit" for it is nothing else; you will
notice the older people don't drink neul
as much as the boys; they have learned
better, and when you 90 to your dinner
you drink two or three glasses Of water Al
the table. And all this cold water ha.
been taken when you were very warm
Aow, you would not give your horses nj
| va Mt WI
you see, that you don't take as good car,
of yourself as you do of your team.
You all well know that it is Il good plan,
after your team has worked hard all dav
and sweat much, to clean them after sup
per, give them good bedding, and in TIN
morning they will come out bright an,
nice. Now, if you would do so with YOU
own body you would feel much better
You only want one pail Of water; tn
horse-barn is a good place; if you will
but put pail of water in the sun at nool
it will be just right when you use it.
sponge or cloth is all you want, and yor
will find that you can clean your body il
half the time you can horse. If yo
wish TO feel well, don't try 10 sleep in tn
shirt you have worked in, but after yo
have sponged your body put on night
shirt. And above all all things, don
sleep where the wind will blow on you.
have said this much TO remind you of
few things that many OF you know a
ready.
Now let us turn our attention to thos
who are fully determined 10 leave tn
farm and are anxious to become mechar
les. AS business is now, you will find
very difficult TO obtain a situation in an
good shop as an apprentice, where
would be TO your advantage, to say notl
ing of very low wages. But, while yo
are waiting for better times. there is cor
; siderable mechanical skill that you ca
acquire just as well on the farm us any
where. If you have laid 10y little none
You can buy a square, hand-saw, half-incI
inch and Northumberland chisels, Il braC
and set OF bits, Il try-square, and fC
: planes you will want Il jack-plane, shor
! jointer, and short smoothing plane. Nov
= with these tools you can do many thing
but | would counsel you to buy good one
You will have to pay more, but they Al
worth more. And then you must learn
+ take care Of them. You can learn that
+ well on the farm as anywhere, and yC
- may rest assured it will he about the fir
d thing the foreman of any good shop wi
e teach you, to take good care of the too
: and keep them in their proper place.
S 10 keep your saw in order will requ
e much practice; no directions can be GIVE
that will be of much benefit to you; but
o you are determined to learn and can fiji
b some good old man who can do SUI,
n things well, that will kindly show VI
IS how to hold the file and how to shape en-
V tooth, 1t will be of great service 10 yo
f. Whether you will ever learn to use toe
h or not depends on how well you like SUI
Q things and how much patience and pc
o severance you have. 1t is Il hard thing
e learn, and but lew comparatively can do
well. When you have learned to pla
e and joint board, frame gate, or even
+. pig-pen, and do it well, you have done
1t good thing. No matter what trade v
Is may learn you will never regret that V
e learned to use these tools. If YOU t
ID your best you will improve on every ic
d But you will remember that these are on
1, preliminary steps. Keep your eyes opt
l. and the first chance you have Cf you u
it leave the farm) 90 to some good shop a
&c stay at that shop until you have learn
lie your trade thoroughly, 1t looks bad
n, an apprentice to leave his boss. You S
<. many dark days, but remember the b
er dog, "When he getsa good hold heav
t; and earth can't make him let go."-Uu
If Joe, in the Tribune.