The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1883-06-13
The Farmers Wife.

The Farmers Wife.
1t is a good deal more pleasant to
read the poets dreams about purline
brooks, lowing kline, the scene ofnew
mown hay, and the milk-maid sing
ing blythe than the language OF Josh
Billings, "cradle oats down hill in
the dry days with both gallus
buttons broke" Thepoetry and real
ity of farmers life are two different
things. AS the farmer himself is,
morally;and intellectually, so will his
wife be. The path of neither is one
of primrose and violets.
The character of household work
on the farm and its associations and
isolations are wearisome, long con-
tinued and necessarily monotonous.
All this breaks ambition and leaves
little time or inclination for self i'm
provement. The average can be in
dependant and is, but he acquires
it by continuous and careful labor
and his wife is ike unto him. All
this is largely true, ond therefore
one is not surprised to hear now and
then complaints from farmers wives
that their lot is not a happy one. In
Tuesdays New York Sun is commu-
nication from q farmers better half
bewailing her condition and among
other things says:
Il am not thinking lightly on this
topic, nor solely for myself; yet in
my own case / cannot see where we
have been in fault. | am 45 and
gray haired. / have strived for
years with all my nerve and strength
and so has my good husband. We
have practiced economy, self denial
and frugality, along with our hard
labor, to a painful extent. We have
done the very best we could, and our
toll has not been adequately repaid.
What we have to sell brings too little
for what we buy.
can bear ordinary privations, if
not with cheerful at least with pa
tient submission, out when | see no
hope of anything but the merest ru-
diments ofan education for the bright
brains the Lord has given me,
without sacrificing the home itself,
I feel that it is too cruel Provi
dence, if it be not mans injustice.
The farmer is not properly paid or
there would not be thousands of
mothers similarly situated"
When we read this complaint We
are inclined to think at first that it
represents the common condition of
ali farmers wives, and that this un-
happy condition is peculiar alone to
farmers lives. Evidently this wife
has yearning for the socalled refine
ment of life; fashionable education
for her children and the association
of cultured society. The only advaD-
tage other class of the community.
the artisan and tradesman, have over
the farmer, is in the culture of close
accociatlon.
The majority of men and women
have to work for a living, and when
wages are measured by endeavor, the
farmers wife gets as much for her
churning as the seamstress for max
ing a shirt. When we look at the
work in general way, we find that
no special class has an advantage.
The wife of the artisan, the trades
man, and even of the professional
class, is just as bad off as the farm
er's wife. in fact worse; she works
hard for the scheming to keep the
larder full, clothe the little ones, and
make both ends meet, requires the
expenditure of more nervous force
than is called from the farmers wife.
On an average the lawyers of this
town are not making $1,000 a year;
many tradesmen no more, and all
workingmen scarcely half. From
one end of the world to the other,
living is but from hand to mouth and
no time is allowed for much higher
culture or more agreeable way of liv-
ing.
OF course we are speaking generally.
The riches which give luxury are
the exceptions in this world, not the
rule. And so taking all in all the
farmer and his wife have it in their
power to be more solidly happy than
those who liveupon the fluctuations
of trade or the demand of labor from
the artisan. Very much of our con-
dition depends upon ourselves. If
we have brains, we can live in the
world of culture in spite of circum-
stances. The wife who has the incli-
nation to study and reflect, can in
still the same love of learning into
daughter or son. Lack of time is al
wavs the excuse of the indolent or
incompetent. As general thing,
farmers do not care for association.
Clubs, etc, are not common. His
library is the family newspaper and
a few patent office reports sent him
by his Congressman. His parlor is
opened on state occasions and his
children live in the kitchen. There
is no ease in this life and there is
no royal road 10 learning. The cit
uation of the farmers wife is as
good as that of any other woman,
save the actually rich. The trouble
is work is made the end of life, and
sufficient time is not spared for i'm
provement, even, which is rare, if
there is inclination. There are no
artificial ways to better existence.
This depends upon ourselves, and if
farmers wives resolve to do nothing
but churn and bake, in season and
out of season, they need not COM
plain if they do not have the grace
and culture of those who spare the
time for self improvement
NEUTRALIZED.