Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-04-06
How to Keep the Boy. on tn. Farm.

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The writer has been active in urging
the adoption OF improvements in
American farming tor many years
and has had good opportunities fol
studying the needs of American ag
ricul,ure. Familiarity with the lif.
and work Of European farmers
where 1t is usual for those who cult
waite the soil to live in villages, sug
gcs,cd to him the idea that the con
dition of our own agricultural popula
ton could be much more amelioraied
| by Il similar concentration into com
Inunliies where the material and
moral benefits of better social rel;l
,inns could be secured.
The paper considers the way in
which land may be divided $, as t.
secure the end in view with the least
mcon> eiience to the men who have
to till the fields, and with the lcas,
drawback to the business Of the
farmer. Two cases are considered;
|. When it Is Il question of the set
tlemeht of new lands. 2. Where
farm-houses are already scattered
over the country, each on its 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
convenience and comfort of the wo,
men, and to ,rovide the best advan-
tagcs for the younger members OF
the community. These two schemes
are illustrated by sufficient diagrams,
which Indicate the way in which the
farming land and the village tract
should be divided.
Suggestions are also given as to
the laying out of the village green,
the care Of roads, paths, grass ground
and other open spaces, SO tar rs such
suggestions are appropriate i'll this
connection.
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 t. be demonstrated-whilc it
is admitted that in immediate money
making there may be some slight
diSadvan,aye-tlat on the whole
and in the long run the general pros
perity of our agriculture would be
advanced by the change.
Considerable space is given to the
comparative effect of the life of the
isolated farmhouse and OF the more
sociable life of the village on the
character of the farmer aud his f,mi-
lv, and. therefore, Oh the future farm
ing people of the country. The fol
owing quotations Indicate the line
of arguments:
sit may seem Il strange doctrine
to he advanced by Il somewhat en-
thu>ia>tic farmer, but it is doctrine
that has been slowly accepted after
many years observation,-a convic-
ton that has taken possession OF an
unwilling mine, that the young
man who takes his young wife to an
isolated farmhouse dooms her and
himself and their children to an
unwholesome, unsatisfactory and va
cant eXistcncc,--;in existence marked
by the absence of those more salts
tying aud more cultivating influences
which the best development of char
actcr and intelliy ence demand. 1t is
4 common experience of farmers
wives to pass week after week with
out exchanging Il word or Il look
with single person outside of their
own family circles.
"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 stu
uation; and the necessities of their
own situation bring them sooner or
later within its bounds. During the
first few years they adhere to their
resolution and 90 regularly to church,
To the lecture and To the social gath
crnos of their friends; but home
duties increase with time, and the
eagerncss for society grows dull
with neglect, and those who have
started out with the tirincs, ,lctcrnl.
nation To avoid the rock on which
their fathers have >pIiI, give up the
struggle Il, last and settle down to Il
hu,n,lrum, uninteresliny and uminler-
cstcd performance of daily tasks.
Sin SAYING all this-;lnd | speak
from experience, for | have led the
dismal lite nysrlf-il is hardly nee.
e>slry to ,liScllim the least want of
appreciation o, the sterling qualities
which have developed in the Amcri
can farm household.
"It ncrican agriculture has an
uns;lli>fcd need, it is surely tn.
need for more intelligence ana more
rpriseiny interest on the part of
its working men and women. From
one end of the land to the other, t.
crying Lefccl-recoynized by all-is
that its best blnol-or, in other
words, its best brains and its hes,
energy-is leaving to seek other
fields of labor. The influences
which lead these best OF the farmers
SONS to other occupations is not SO
much the desire to make more mon
cy, or to find less laborious occnpl
ton, AS it is the desire to lead Il more
satisfactory life.-a lite where that
part Of MS has been developed by the
bt tier education and better civiliza
ton for which in this century we
have worked SO hard and SO well,
may find responsive companionship
and encouraging intercourse with
others. =
"The social benefits and the tacili.
ties for frequent, neighborly and in.
formal intercourse are obvious. To
say nothing OF the comprehensive
and tie nlimacies among the young
people, their fathers and mothers
would be kept from growing old and
glum by the constant friction of their
kind; and in SO tar rs more satisfact.
ory social relations with ones fellow.
men gives cheertulness and the rich
ness of :. wider human interest, in
that proportion would the village
life have wholesome, mellowing eff.
feet that is not to be found i'll the re