Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1882-09-06
THE FARM Err.

Bob InQerso Pictures the Old Time Farm Scene
and its DiscomfoFts and Tell How Farmer
Should Live.
In late speech to the farmers, Col.
Ingersoll, speaking of the old style of
farming III the west and south, says:
Everything was done III the wrong
way. 1t was all work and waste, weari-
ness and want. They used to fence 100
acres of land with couple of dogs.
Everything was left to the protection of
chance, accident and mischance. When
/ was farmer they used to haul wheat
200 miles in wagons and sell it for thirty
five cents a bushel. They would bring
home about three hundred feet of lum-
Der, two punches of shingles, barrel of
salt and cook stove that never would
draw and never would bake. In those
blessed days the people lived on corn
and bacon. Cooking was an unknown
art. Eating was a necessity, not
pleasure. It was hard work for the cook
to keep on terms even with hunger.
Referring more directly to the states
of the northwest, he goes on to say:
"We had poor houses. The rain held
the roof in perfect contempt, and the
snow drifted joyfully on the floors and
were kept III raiI-pens and surrounded
with straw. Long before spring the
sides would be eaten away, and nothing
but roots would be left. Food was fuel.
When the cattle were exposed to all the
blasts of the winter it took all the corn
and oats that could be stuffed into them
to prevent actual starvation. In those
days farmers thought the best place for
the pig-pen was Immediately in front of
the house. There is nothing like socia-
bility. Women were supposed to know
the art of making fire without fuel. The
woodpile consisted, as a general thing,
of one log, upon which an ak or two had
been worn out In vain. There was moth
ing to kindle fire with. Pickets were
pulled out of the garden fence, clap
boards taken from the house, and every
stray plank was seized upon for kind
ling. Everything was worked in the
hardest way. Everything about the
farm was disagreebIe. Nothing was
kept In order. Nothing was preserved.
The wagons stood in the sun and rain,
and the plough rusted IN the fields.
There was no leisure, no feeling that the
work was done. 1t was all labor and
WEAKNESS and vexation of spirit. The
crops were destroyed by wandering
herds, or they were put in too late or too
early, or they were blown down or caught
by the frost, or de7oured by bugs, or
stung by flies, or eaten by worms, or
carried away by birds, or dug up by
gophers, or washed away by floods, or
drled up by the sun, or rotted in the
stack, or heated in the crib, or they all
run into vines, or tops, or straw, or
smut, or cObs. And when, in spite of
all these accidents that lie In wait be-
tween the plough and the grain cradle,
they did succeed in raising a good crop,
and a high price was offered, then the
roads would be impossible. And when
the roads got good then the prices went
down. Everything worked together for
evil Nearly every farmer boy took an
oath that he would never cultivate the
soil. The moment they arrived at the
age of q they left the desolate and
dreary farms and rushed to the towns
and cities. They wanted to be book
sepers, doctors, merchants, railroad
men, insurance agents, lawyers, even
preachers-anything to avoid the drudg-
cry of the farm. Nearly every boy ac-
qua1nted with the three R's-reading,
'riting, and 'rithmetic-imagined he had
altogether more education than ought to
be wasted In raising potatoes and corn.
They made haste to get into some other
business. Those who staid upon the
farm envied those who went away.
GA few years ago the times were pros
porous and the young men went to the
cities to enjoy the fortunes that were
waiting for them. They wanted to en-
gage in something that promised quick
returns. They built railways, estab-
Gshed banks and insurance companies.
They speculated in stocks in Wall Street
and gambled in grain in Chicago. They
became rich. They lived in palaces.
They pitied their poor brothers on the
farms and the poor brothers envied
them. But time has wrought its re-
venge. The farmer has seen the railroad
president bankrupt and the road in the
hands of a receiver. They have seen the
bank president abscond and the insur-
ance company wrecked and ruined
fraud. The only solvent people, as a
class, the only independent people, are
the filters of the soil. The comforts of
the town must be added to the beauty
of the fields. The sociability IN the city
must be rendered possible In the conn
try. Farming has been made repulsiVe.
The farmers have been unsociable, and
their homes have been lonely. They
have been wasteful and careless. They
have not been proud of their business.