The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1885-05-16
THE FARMERS AND THEIR HOBBY.

1t is prevailing idea among farm
ers that nobody but themselves know
how to farm, or are competent to
point out the mistakes of farmers.
We deny this proposition Aatfooted.
on the principle that the man in the
hollow of . tree can not see q coon
in the tree top as plainly as the man
standing q short distance away.
Thus with the looker-on palpable
mistakes are more apparent than to
the man engaged.
We are led to this comment from
the criticisms of our planting friends,
some of whom appear to have taken
umbrage at our article two weeks
ago, headed snake Farm Life At
tractive," and particularly to the fret
item of rule No l. which was ''Take
more sleep and do less work" Such
advice to class who are frequently
accused Of downright laziness and
sluggishness, we know may sound
out Of place to the superficial thinker.
But we have no charge of laziness to
make against our farmers. As q
class they are the hardest working
and most persistently industrious
people on earth. It is this hard ,oork,
this persistent industry, that we OBJ
ject to. Our farmers and their wives
and children need rest. They grow
old and peevish from sheer exhaus-
ton of the nervous system. The
boys and girls are old aud jaded and
want to leave home.
This is ali wrong, and there is no
necessity for such q state of affairs.
A little forethought and planning
will give an occasional holiday to
relieve the monotony, aud systematic
work and order win reduce fully one
fourth the time now spent in labor on
the farm. Eight hours for work,
eight hours for sleep, and eight hours
for eating, feeding the stock. resting,
and recreation, is the true division of
time for q farmer. Not q particle of
need in the world to rise an hour OF
two before daylight, except in rare
instances OF some unusual emergency
No man who habitually rises before
the night is over is either healthy or
good natured, nor does he accom-
plish any more than the man who
rises at daylight. The writer of this
article for ten years of his life, while
working on city newspapers, seldom
went to bed before 3 o'clock in the
morning, and be has made it point
to observe the effect of loss of sleep
upon men engaged in the various
avocations that require them to work
while others sleep. We reach the
conclusion that those who loose the
FIRST half of the night are healthier
and happier than those who loose the
last half, and that in proportion to
the hours of sleep lost between mid
night and day. just in that proportion
is the effect upon the nervous system
developed.
So, with due Difference to the opin-
ions of the farming friends who OBJ
ject to our advice, we must repeat:
Take more sleep and do less work. :"
As q kind of compromise. however.
we will qualify the sentence by add
ing that the kind of ,oork we refer to
is that persistent. slavish labor that
sometimes prevails with persons who
imagine that because they get up in
the night and are eternally engaged,
and keep wife and children dragging
themselves around at some kind OF
drudgery, itl,etokens industry. Never
was the mark wider missed.
And now, as we have offered
kind of compromise to our friends
we feel at liberty to lay before them
some more good rules for farmers.
Remember. any fool can give advice,
but it takes a wise man to profit
thereby. Read the fifteen rules be-
low, and if yon fellow them your
success as a farmer is certain:
!. Never purchase land on credit, I'M
less 1t be In q new country where il is
certain to enhance In value rapidly.
2 Keep no more live stock than you
can keep in good condition.