Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-10-06
Why Boys Leave the Farm.

This subject has engaged the atten-
ton of many thoughtful people,
especially those who look upon leaving
the farm to engage in some occupation
in Il large town with extreme regret or
consider it rs akin to crime. Recently
q gentleman in Indianapolis has been
investigating the matter. He talked
with a large number of city men, and
learned why they left the farm. He
also corresponded with a large number.
He learned that boys left the farm for a
great variety of reasons. Some We're
worked quite too hard. Some had no
means of enjoyment and few opportuni-
ties for increasing their stock Of knowl-
edge. Many complained that they
were obliged to do all the drudgery Of
the farm and about the house, while the
adults were engaged in more pleasur-
able pursuits. Some stated that they
were never allowed any spending
money and had no opportunities to
travel. Others complained that they
were not allowed the money they
earned in doing odd jobs, and were not
allowed to select the articles of clothing
they were to wear. Some stated that
they were sometimes presented with a
calf, colt, lamb, or pig, generally n
that had been deprived of maternal
care, and that they took pleasure in
raising it in anticipation of the money
it. would bring in the market when it
became mature. They found, however,
that at the end of a certain number Of
months or years another calf, colt, lamb,
or pig was given in exchange for the
mature cow, horse, sheep or hog. The
greater number, however, gave as a rea-
son for leaving the farm, that there was
a lack of refinement about it; that
there was no carriage to ride in; no
flowers in the yard, and no pictures and
nice furniture in the house. They
wanted all these, and so came to the
city where they might enjoy them to
their hearts content.
There is very much that is ridiculous
in most of these statements. Every OBJ
server has noticed that most of the
country boys who come to large towns
and cities leave good homes, where there
are many evidences of refinement. The
sons of the poor tenant farmers in New
England, of the renters of cotton and
tobacco patches in the Southern States,
of the "crackers" in the mountain re-
gions of Georgia and Arkansas, of the
herders in Texas and Colorado do not
flock to cities. They stay in their mis-
cradle homes that are utterly devoid of
all evidences of refinement, and con-
tain few of the means of public comfort.
They see no flowers except those that
grow wild among the rocks. They new
er ride in carriages. They have no pic
lures except those contained in medical
almanacs. They rarely read a book.
They have no money, and an opportu-
nifty seldom occurs in which they can
make any. They have no choice in the
garments they are to wear. They are
glad to get almost anything. They have
no opportunities to travel. They make
few acquaintances. Still such boys do
not leave the farm. They are not at
tracted to large towns and cities. There
is no occasion for spending money in
books, pictures, carriages, billiard-ta-
bles. croquet-sets, shrubbery and flower
seeds to induce them to stay. AS a rule
the boys most prone to leave farms are
those who have rifles, fishing-tackle,
books, pictures, billiard-tables and other
means of amasements, who read daily
papers and illustrated magazines, who
sleep on s%pring-beds, who ride in COW
cred carriages, who have money of their
own, who ear fine clothes of their own
selection, who attend parties, who have
stylish acquaintance, and who have
been about the world considerably.
These boys wish to live in the cities they
have visited. They desire to share the
companionship of the urbane acquaint-
ances they have formed. They leave
the farm.
1t is hardly likely that many boys
leave the farm and come to a city in
order to escape drudgery. If they do
leave with that intention they are
destined to be speedily the victims of
disappointment. The boy on the farm
has most of the drudgery to perform to
be sure. If he has attained sufficient
size to work in the field he is generally
expected to keep up with the hired man
in doing most kinds of labor, and in
addition to run all the errands. He
must do the chores for the people in
the house as we'll as for those in the
fields. Turning grindstone, churning
butter, and driving COWS to pasture,
are duties that devolve on boys. The
smaller the boy the poorer are the tools
given him to use. The blame for nearly
every accident is put upon the small
boy. In many respects his slot is not
a happy one" But his condition in re-
spect to performing drudgery and doing
chores is not improved by leaving a
farm and going to a city. Let him en-
ter an office, store, shop or manufac-
tory and he will find everyone above
him in age or position; in a large es-
Enlistment he will be ''ordered round"
by fifty persons instead of by three or four
on a farm. He will be required to come
early and leave late. His duties will
be numerous and his opportunities for
enjoyment every few His work will
be hard and his pay very small. Boys
do not, as a rule, leave the farm and
come to the city because they expect to
escape from drudgery or be free from
doing chores. Their motives are as va
rious as the disposition and tastes of
the boys. Some simply desire a change,
and when they have enjoyed it a lin
tied time they are glad to get back to
their old pursuits. The majority, how
ever, think they are better adapted to
some other pursuit than farming. II