St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-08-25
AGRICULTURAL LIFE.
some of the Reasons Why Boys Are In
clined to Leave Farms for Towns.


boys have left their farm homes during
the past winter and present spring t.
seek employment in towns, or to en-
! gage in the business of transportation
Oh mining. Many speak of this discon
tent OF farmers sons as alarming. Some
refer 80 it as a calamity. A Vermont
paper de clares that most of the farms
in that Sta tie will be worked by French
Canadians tie present season. 1t states
that not one boy in ten who were raised
on farms intend to remain on them.
| They form their plans to leave before
| they have put on long pants. A Maine
paper presents worse condition OF al
fairs. 1t states that hundreds of good
turing towns are offered for sale at
about the cost Of the buildings on Them
They find no purchasers even at these
prices, as there is no inclination on the
part of young men to engage in farm
ing.
In the West there is certainly a strong
desire on the part of both young and
old men to obtain farming land for
nothing. They are willing to comply
with the letter if not with the spirit of
the homestead, presumption or timber
culture acts in order to acquire a title
to a tract of farming land. How many
OF them will remain on the land to
which they acquire a title remains to
hC Iat Of
have any more than a nominal resi-
dence on the land to which they set up
claim seems certain. 1t is also certain
that men of means show little DISPOSE
ton to engage in farming as business.
They are convinced that it does not pay
like other pursuits to which persons de-
vote time and money. Many state that
money invested in farm mortgages pays
much better than that invested in
farms. A very large number of wealthy
farmers in all parts of the country have
come to the conclusion that it is to their
advantage to lease their places and
to live on the rents obtained from
tenants. They find it pleasanter as we'll
as easier to live in town.
That boys under these circumstances
should think it is to their advantage to
find some more promising occupation
than farming is not surprising. They
are only following the example set by
their forefathers. All the conversation
they hear is discouraging. In many
cases they see the best farmers in the
town leaving their places and going to
a village to live. Their farms are oc-
cupied by tenants, who are generally
foreigners They do not find them to
be companionable, and they desire
pleasant and intelligent associates. The
desire for pleasure as we'll as the hope
of lettering their financial condition
causes them to look for some other oc-
cupation than farming. Boys are not
likely to be very enthusiastic about en-
gaging in a business that is spoken
lightly of by those who have been bred
in it. Farmers boys are not likely to
know that there are discouragements in
other pursuits. They look at the dark
side of farming and the bright side of
every thing else. They see the country
at its worst and the city at its best.
They are unacquainted with the confne-
ment and miseries of the latter.
Other things have exerted an infu-
ence in causing boys to desire to leave
farms. The demand for laborers has
been reduced by the Introduction OF
machinery. The raising of field crops
has, in many sections, given place to
dairying and meat productions, which
requires smaller number of men. Per-
sons who own large farms study how to
dispense with human labor as far as
possible. AS far as they can they sub
stitute horses and machines for men,
and then try and use wind and steam
power in the place of draft animals. A
longer encourage his boys to remain on
the old homestead by offering to divide
it among them. They all know that in
most parts of the country small farm
ing does not pay as well as large farm
ing. The smaller the farm the larger
must be the relative amount expended
in buildings and fences. A small farm
requires about as many machines as
arge one, and they can be employed
out small portion of the time. OBJ
,ervation shows that small farms are
;axed higher than large ones in proper
ion to their size.
Then it must be remembered that the
lesire to engage in farming, stock
dairying and meat production
5 generally less strong with the young
han with those of mature age. Youth
likes the excitement of the city, but old
lge seeks the quiet of the country At
me period in the history of this country
md England nearly every man who had
in business in large town
IT by following the sea- had an
to own a farm and occupy it.
70 be country gentleman, with all the
implied, was the browning
lope of life. Since the period of the
ivil war the desire to spend the later
ears of life in the country has been less
trong for many reasons. No depart
nent of husbandry, except breeding