Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1882-10-31

Daily life upon the farm begins early
In the active parts of the year the break
fast is taken at S, half.past or possibly
o'clock. Dinner comes at IL, and
supper at 6 or I. Before breakfast the
women are busy in preparing it, and the
men in preparing for the field, feeding
and watering the horses and stock, put
ting missing stitch into the harness,
repairing a broken implement and the
like. After supper yet other odds and
ends require attention.
This is the life.. Hard work through
long days for about eight months of the
year. Except on rainy days there is no
time for reading. At night even if the
boys and girls were not too tired for
reading, the light is insufficient. The
rain that forbids work also creates a mud
that forbids travel. 1t is not question
of a run over to a neighbors half a mile
away. but of dismal ride of four or six
miles and back. In winter there is time
to read but nothing invites. The habit
of reading is absent The house is too
small for study. The living room is too
much occupied, and the garrett if there is
one is too cold So the younger children
90 to school. The grown-up boys and
girls occupy themselves in various ways.
Study is however the exception.
Out Of Just such surroundings as these
young men and women rise to dignity
and usefulness. One Of the daughters
educated in the school-housc cheaply
described, has graduated at the State
Normal School, and is proftably engaged
in teaching. That they should rise at
all is a fact to be recognized with graft
tude. The odds were dreadfally against
them.
The intellectual stimulus Of the life
here described is Of feeble character.
there is nothing grand in the scenery,
nothing tender or beautiful. The absence
of trees hill and brooks, deprives the land
scape of its local Municipalities. One
place is pretty much the same as another.
There are no roads, no hedges, no shade
no streams. The old-time theological
stimulus which made men of so many
New England farm boys, Is wanting
here. We live in a Peacable age. Inc
problems Of "fate, forc-knowledge and
free WILL" have shifted their ground, ana
no longer serve as gymnastics for amateur
,heologues. The war and the slavery
issue are traditions. Prohibition IS not
an issue on the prairie where no groe
Sd up could thrive, so sparse is the popu-
lation.
There is nothing in the air to awaken
one. Even the wind storm and lorna
do but serve to discourage the farm
e,s' en.erpr;se. OF what use are good
buildings, pleasant surroundings ana
the comforts Of home If attained at
all, they can only be at much expense
and sacrifice, and they may be swept
away in a single half hour. This is not
fire against which insurance can be
carried, but total destruction by the
hand of God" which leaves not so much
as one stick upon another: the groves
the buildings, stock and even the precious
human lives, are blotted out by the iu-
rious onslaught of the cloud that arises
in the West mo larger than mans
hand"
This is the dark side of farm life.
What is needed is an elevation in the
standard of living, especially in certain
/ respects which would not add materially
tc the expense. A larger house costs
but little more to live in than a small
one. aid when once built lasts for gen.
GRAFTON, accidents excepted. The great
eed of the prairie is some methed OF con-
s1:ructing roads and walks free from mud
v;bo.ver can con. trive some inexpensive
material. or supply the lacking ingredient
for harden ing the prairie soil' will put
the farmers under lasting Obligations
With ,ood roa,' = about the farm house
larger and more n, 'merons rooms, n0o'
crate amount Of dec ,rstion. and, above
all, cleanliness, farm liz : becomes respect
! able.
Especially the farmer needs to icve'
in reading matter. An inexpensive dai,
| " paper like the Herald; and illustrated
weekly paper, such as Haper's and at
least the two illustrated magazines, Hdr-
per's and the Century, afford a picture
of the age, such as in great degree
would compensate the farmers sons and
daughters for the meageness of theil
surroundings. The expense would az
erepate but $40 year, and by clubbing
with the county paper could be reduced
to SIS. The amount is wholly dispro'
| - 1o xo,a;,.aJ NJ