West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-01-15
GERMAN FARMERS.
what an American Az .iculturist saw
Among the Peasants Of Germany How
They Live aud Work.


with their quaint Buildings ande1tcIfes
illcd with pictures enc. Oh hbSh often
gives interest 10 an ,bouss study. aud
much as one finds y omuse him i'm
watching characters and modes OF do
inc things IN the street, yet found iAy-
self homcsiCk for the country and a
sight Of a farmhouse with the familiar
surroundings; il had been so long since
had seen nice sward i'm front Of a
coy home, . we'll stOckod gardtn. a
neat barnyard with proud Leghoms or
Black Spanish strutting about disput-
ing rights with the golden bronze turk
cYs, and barn, at this season BURSTING
with riches, that ! said TO myself: II
viii take a trip around i'm this Garden
spot OF Germany and feast nv ewes ON
the riches an old civilization can rive. "
know what a farm is at home but we
are young people; we sacrifice every
thing TO the IA mighty dollar here.
with thousand years of civilization.
shall find IN perfection what We have
in embryo. SO. with anticipation
whcttcd by long deprivation. | planned
pedestrian tour, avoiding the railway
routes, that l might have the real coun-
try flavor.
As we got away from the city could
not cease praiSing the soil, and a. there
are no fences here, il was ,ingularly
like one Of our rolling praircs hardly
stone TO be seen. rich lOHmv soil.
Winter grain was all coming up with a
good start; mile after mile Of beets
or chiccOrv, all the roots averaging a
foot in length / should say. tremendous
crops; women by the hundred ON thcii
hands and knees, generally having an
old piece of sacking to creep on. some
with spadc-handlcd spuds digging uI
the roots, arms and backs like AmaIonS;
Others with cleaver knives creeping
after the diggcrs, and deXtrOusly chop
ping the tops of, then piling the roots
one side; turnips, some ready Go die.
and in other fields Just coming up ev-
identity no early freezing here Inn
mcnsc factories To grind the sugar
beets and chiccory every few miles:
teams, almost continuous. going to and
fro, loaded with roots. over roads like
q floor so splendidlv macadamiZcd: vet
in the fields, following the dggcrs.
were plows at work, showing abundant
help and teams. Potatoes now BEING
dug howP Always by women. on
their knees, with short-handlcd rnkcs.
and with their hands; their heads Il, d
mp in red cotton kcrChi,fs. thcir dress
the universal blue calico that graccs all
German women. As they turned to
look at us, their faces seemed cast i'm
one mold hard. rcd. wrinklcd, their
dress only distinguishing the scX: 9TH
erwisc, they were rs coarse, rough, UNI
calmly. as the men.
But NIL this time not farmhouse.
4 a. L.. 4 4.
buildings, that seemed iammed to-
gether in this prairie; evidently here
was the home OF this multitude owning
the rich soil had passed with curious
eyes. AS ! came nearer and nearer,
the picture | had madc'of the homes in
America came up in bold relief Good
Heavens! is this the way farmers i'm the
richest section of Germany live? On
one side of some houses were living
rooms, on the other the stables: the
''best to do" had their houses separated
from the stables only by yard; all
reeking with manure; not spire of
grass, not a flower growing out of
doors; here and there was vine grow
ing up the side of the house: but so
sordid was the appearance OF every
thing, ! fear the vines were cultivated
but for the money value of the grapes
they might yield. The children gencr-
ally were running wild being those too
young to work with filth.
In front of many houses were
threc-inch pipes, bringing the
liquid manure TO proper height for
the big cask that carried it to tho
fields. 1t was common SIGHT TO see
the crop of beets banked up not ten
feet from the front doors of the dwell
ings. In fact, there were enough dis
gushing sights and smells in that first
village to call an indignation meeting
in any American town. [ looked in
vain for the prcttily located church,
surrounded by the green. and the
connections sheds for the carriages; or
the village school, nesting under the
spreading oaks; or the inviting inn,
with broad approach, and the comfort
able stables; in fact, everything that
makes an American village or farm
house attractive was wanting here The
least rcpulsivc house was the bcer-sa-
loon, with a riddlCd target over the
door
We went through half dozen such
villages, differing. the one from the
other in the degree of filth and re-
pulsivcness.
But is it to be wondered atP Can a
stream rise higher than its sOurceP
Whore women are treated az beasts.
can homes be better than kcnnclsP
Where all the ablc-bodied men are in
the army. what can women do but
work IN their place HaRoUer (Gcr-
mdny) Cor country gentleman.