Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1882-07-29
FARM LIFE As 1T MIGHT BE.
What a Lawyer has to Say About
the Home on the Farm.

1t is not necessary in this age of the
world for the farmer to rise in the mid
die of the night and begin his work.
This getting up so early in the morning
is relic of barbarism. 1t has made
hundreds of thousands of young men
curse the business. There is no need
of getting up at 3 or o'clock in the
winter morning. The farmer who per.
sists in dragging his wife and children
from their beds ought to be visited by a
missionary. 1t is time enough to rise
after the sun has set the example. In
the old times they used to get up about
3 O'Clock in the morning. and go to work
long before the sun had risen with
"healing upon his WINGS" and, as just
punishment, they all had the ague; and
they ought to have it now. When you
rise at and work till dark, what is life
worth |? OF what use is all the improved
machinery unless it tends to give the
farmer little more leisure What is
harvesting now compared with what il
was in the old time? Think of the DAYS
ofreaping, of grading, of raking and
binding and moving. Think of thresh-
ing with the fail and winnowing with
the wind. And now thiuk OF the reap
ers and mowers, the binders and thresh-
ing machines, and plows and cultlvators,
upon which the farmer rides protected
from the sun. If, with ali these advan-
tages, you cannot get living without
rising in the middle of the night, go
into some other business. You should
not rob your families of sleep. Sleep is
the best medicine in the world. There
is no such thing as health without sleep.
Sleep until you are thoroughly rested
and restored. When you work, work
ana when you get through take good,
long, and refreshing sleep.
a great many farmers seem to think
that they are the only laborers in the
world. This is a very foolish thing.
Farmers cannot get along without the
mechanic. You are not independent OF
the man of genius. Your prosperity
depends upon the inventor. The world
advances by the assistance of all labor.
ers, and all labor is under obligations tc
the inventions of genius. The inventor
does as much for agriculture as he who
tills the soil. Until genius and labor
formed partnership there was no such
thing as prosperity among men. Every
reaper and mower, every agricultural
implement, has elevated the work of the
farmer, and his vocation grows granGel
with every invention.
Above all, let every farmer treat his
wife and children with infinite kindness.
Give your sons and daughters every ad
vantage within your power. In the air
of kindness they Will grow about you
like flowers. They will fill your homes
with sunshine and all your years with
JOY. Do not try to rule by force.
blow from the parent leaves scar Oh
the soul. / should feel ashamed to die
surrounded by children had whipped.
Think of feeling upon your dying lips
the kiss OF child you had struck.
See to it that your wife has every con.
venience. Make her life worth living.
Never allow her to become servant.
Wives, weary and worn, mothers.
wrinkled and bent before there time,
fill homes with grief and shame. If you
are not able to hire help for your wives,
help them yourselves. See that they
have the best utensils to work with.
Women cannot create things by magic.
Have plenty of wood and coal-good
cellars and plenty in them. Have els
terms, so that you can have plenty oil
rain water for washing. Do not rely
on barrel and board. When the
rain comes the board viii be lost or the
hoops will be off the barrel.
Farmers should live like princes. Eat
the best things you raise and sell the
rest. Have good things to cook with
OF all people in our country, You should
live the best. Throw your miserabl,
little stoves out Of the window. &c
ranges, and have them so built tina
your wife need not burn her face off t.
get you a breakfast. Do not make he
cook il a kitchen hot as the orthodo,
perdition. The beef, not the cook
shonld be roasted. It is just aa easy t.
have things convenient and right as t,
have them any other way.
Cooking is one OF the fine arts. Civ,
your wives and daughters things /,
cook and things to cook with, and the,
VIII soon become most excellent cooks
Good cooking is the basis of civilization
The man whose arteries and veins arc
filled with rich blood made of good ant
well-cooked food has pluck, courage
endurance, and noble impulses.
In the good old days there would be
eleven children in the family aud only
one skillet. Everything was broken o.
cracked or loaned or lost.
There ought to be law making it {
crime, punishable by imprisonment. te
fry beefsteak. Broil it: it is inst a,
easy, and when broiled it il delicious
Fried beefsteak is not fit for a wilf
beast. You can broil even on stove
Shnt the front damper, open the bach
one. then take off griddle. There vii
be draught downward through thi.
opening. Put on your steak, using 9
wire broiler, and not particle of smoke
will touch it, for the reason that the
smoke goes down. If you try to broi
1t with the front damper open. the
smoke viii rise. For brolling, coal
even soft coal, makes better fire than
wood.
There is no reason why farmer:
should not have fresh meat all the yea,
around. There is certainly no sense in
stuffing yourself full of salt meat every
morning, aud making a we'll or CHS tern
ct your stomach for the rest of the dav
Every farmer should have an ice house
Upon or near every farm is some stream
from which plenty of ice can be OBJ
tanned, and the long summer DAYS made
delightful. DIR. Draper, one of the
worlds greatest scientists, says that ict
water is healthy, and that ii has don.