Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-09-09
The Farmers Health.

No ONE familiar with the country can
be ignorant of the fact that the farmer
who works day after day in the field dis
penses almost always with the precau-
tons which commonly govern other
people. He is not rs warmly clad; he
invariably lays aside his coat-some-
times coat and vest Observation-Disclosures
the air. is warm or cold. He takes off
his coat in winter frequently, because it
hampers his movements, and not be-
cause it is really SO uncomfortable as the
spectator might be led to suppose. He
rides with it off after doing heavy work,
and lets the wind blow through Ills
clothes, which are wet with perspira-
ton; he even rides without it in winter,
on occasions. He sits on the ground,
or vets his feet in the morning without
ever drying them, or thinking further
about it. If he comes from the bayfield,
with his blood heated through and
through, he will drink from the cold
spring or we'll as freely as if nothing had
happened. If the temperature of the
air drop suddenly twenty degrees or
more by the thermometer, as it often
does in our climate, he is apparently OBJ
liviOus of it. In fact, he has become so
that he trusts himself almost unreserv-
edly in their hands, and it is even won
derful that he does it so often with i'm
punity, or escapes with so little real
harm.
But it can not be denied that he does
receive in jury from these causes oftener
than he supposes. He is not quite
machine, though he acts so often as if
nerves and vital organs were not to be
considered; and he would do better in
thousands of cases to revolutionize these
habits, and not to imagine that, because
he is SO closely in league with Nature,
she is going to allot him a special dis
pensation over other mortals.; l think
it is true, too, that the farmer is more
subject to inducements and impulses
that lead to overwork than other man.
ual laborers are. The gathering of his
crops in catching weather." the haste
to get them in in the spring; the fire.
quent overlapping of diverse tasks which
press together, in spite of all his haste
and foresight, conspire to goad him on
to extraordinary efforts, and even make
it seem necessary that they should be
undertaken. Now, the carpenter, the
mason, the blacksmith, and other
artisans, if they have hard work. have
work that is more equal from day to
day. Work is not with them, as with
him, light for day or two, and then
extremely severe, prolonged and active.
Their toll is equable and steady, while
his is made more tedious and trying by
the elements of adventure and chance
which so largely enter it.
/ think the farmer who follows the
pillow and is atield every day should not
use the same dress which is worn by in
door workers. Instead of the coat and
vest, he might wear an arrangement of
blouse and flannel, nearly as warm, but
made endurable by the looseness, and
easy by its lack of constraint. 1t should
not be so heavy that any of it need be
taken off when at work but the change
should be rather, if one is to be made,
to something extra to put on, when the
weather cools suddenly, or when a dash
ing rain comes down. There is no par
ticular reason, as can see, why a farm
er should wear the same style of clothes
in the field that he does when he goes TO
make an evening call, or is presentin
some audience. The cheap rubber boots,
too, which are now so easily secured,
oughtto be a necessity with HIM, and are
HOI enough Ndltieu. ~ SOOu MANY IOuuu
out their usefulness, l confess; but they
ought TO be still more common than they
are. For work in swampy or wet places,
for use in muddy times, and especially
in deep SHOWS in winter, they might
well be considered indispensable. Such
precaution as they alone imply would
make great saving in health and of
doctors bills.
1t may be that the farmer has read
the Declaration of Independence will
not wish to put himself in any odd CO.'S
tune that seems to classify him. how
ever comfortable and rational it may
prove to be. If you tell him that out
door laborers in other countries do not
wear the citizens business suit or dress
suit when employed about their work, it
may be that some objector will think
that is the very reason why we should.
But in the long run, l think, common
sense prevails, and nowhere sooner than
among the agricultural class.-JoeI Ben
ton, in ". Y. sun.