The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1883-04-26

whose occupations bring many men
into close association. The seductiOns
of the dram-shop and of fast society do
not appeal to hfm~as they do to the
townsman. He can choose his asso-
ciates instead of having them forced
upon him. He is not compelled to lis
ten to the idle story or the profitless
gossip if he does not choose to hear it.
Statistics show that farmers live longer
than men in any other pursuit-except
Westinghouse s body-servants. The farm
er can look forward to an earthly ex-
istence longer by several years than
that of the blacksmith, the carpenter.
the machinist, the mason, the printer,
or any other artisan, and as long as
that of the average professional man.
Third, the farmer has the means Of
obtaining mental culture if he has the
will. The dissatisfaction with which
many farmers and farmers boys look
upon their lot in life comes from their
having too much hard work and too
little spare time. They have not yet
learned to adapt themselves to the mod
ern ten-hour law of labor. They toll
fourteen or sixteen hours day, and
come home from their work utterly ex-
hausted and fit for nothing but supper
and bed. They feel discouraged and
disheartened at such a prospect through
life Overwork is the thief that steals
the farmers happiness. But it ought
not to be so A farm can be made
to pay on the ten-hour plan. have in
mind farmer who makes his farm
pay good dividend, takes an active
.,.t a. a IL Co..,
library, keeps abreast of the thought of
the age, spends his evenings in reading
and writing, is teaching his sons the
value of study and work combined, and
does all this on ten hours daily work.
1t is not the amount of labor that we
put into a thing that determines the re-
suit, it is the intelligence. The King
of Spain, you have no doubt read, spent
a day in trying to stand an egg on end;
Columbus did it for him in a second.
An hour spent in thinking out new
way will often accomplish more than
fifteen spent in working in the
old way. Farming requires enter
prise and thought quite as much as any
other business; and fresh plans cannot
come from weary brain. Ten hours
spent in work and two hours spent in
study, with mind quickened by mod
crate physical exercise instead of eX-
hausted by oyer-exertion, will achieve
vastly more than twelve hours of un-
ceasing manual labor. Make no mis-
take. When a farm is managed in this
way the farmer can devote his evenings
to study and to rational enjoyment far
more effectively than the mechanic, for
he is isolated from the distractions
which usually surround the latter Much
of the farmers work, too, does not re-
quire the constant straining of the atten-
ton which many mechanical pursuits
demand, and he has opportunity for re-
Election while promoting his business in
terests.
So, my boy, if you wish to be manly,
self-reliant and independent; if you wish
to be your own employer and your own
master; if you wish to make fair liv-
ing independently of another's caprice;
if you wish to lay solid foundation of
health on which to build your career;
if you wish to avoid the temptations
into which so many artisans sink year
after year; if you wish to elevate your
mind, broaden your sympathies, and
deepen your understanding by study,
reflection and association with those
who will help, not hinder, you in these
things; in word, if you wish to be
Healthy, wealthy and wise,"
my advice to you is, Stick to the farm.
H. III. ~, IN Christian Union.