Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-05-29
The Farmer so Years Ago.

The Lancaster New Era III attempt
ing to explain the decadence of farm
ing and the poverty of farmers, saws:
There are n few causes, however.
which most of those interested over
look Do farmers work at the pres
ent time as they did fifty years ago
Then very considerable share of the
farm work was done bv the farmers
own family. Hired men were not
the rule. At that time work did not
begin at six sharp IN the morning,
neither was the fork thrown down nj
SIX sharp III the evening. Farmers
and their families did their visiting
on horseback chiefly. 1t was not
deemned necessary that every son
should own a buggy or other vehicle
and every daughter II piano or organ,
nor were the daughters sent to fash
Ionable boarding schools. All these
things cost money and good deal
( OF It, often enough To swallow up all
the meager profits OF the farm. The
reality OF this picture cannot be
challenged. The farmers OF, the pres
ent generations almost universally
maintain q style OF living never
dreamed Of by their grandfathers, or
even their fathers IN a great proper
tlon of cases. They have abandoned
the simple tastes and habits of their
fOre-fathers, and have become more
like town folks" in their WAYS of do
ing things In order to keep this up
they do just as many men in other
fields of business do-they live be
vond their means.
/ THE FARMER NOW.
! The Huntingdon Globe replies
to the Lancaster New Era on the
subject of the farmer of fiftv
years ago by saying 1T would be
hard to crowd more rot and bosh in
tn the same space. In the first place
farmers do not have to hire as many
men as they did thirty or fifty years
ago, and, in point of fact. do not. In
harvest time they used to be obliged
10 employ five men where they en-
: ploy one now They used TO thrcsh
their grain with fail or tread 1t ont
with horses. Now three men and a
boy with the aid of horse Will
thresh as much III day as they
formerly would III n week. or with a
stream thresher less than one TWEEN.
: tieth of the labor formerly expended
VIII perform the same work He Us
Ell To shell his corn on the edge of a
spade now he can get a machine for
twenty-five dollars that viii shell n
Thousand bushels III dav. and IN
stead # having to haul it thirty or
, fJrty miles TO market, consuming two
or three days on each trip, he can
dispose of his crop for spot cash two
: OF three miles from home. The re.
suit Is that he needs To- employ less
held and can dispense with many OF
the horses that used to be necessary
, and keen cows or other cattle IN their
, stead. 1t NAV be true thst by rea.
son Of the introduction of machinery
e farmers do not have TO exercise their
J mt scles as much rs formerly, but
that they work harder earlier and
later than any other class Of people
under the sun there cannot be the
least doubt III the mind OF any one
who knows anything about the rou,
tine of the farm But suppose they
did not, and were justly open 10 the
charge which the rigid critic of the
New Era makes of working only ~
hours q day. Isn't that long enough
in all conscience The talk about the
oXtravaSunce of pianos and organs,
and bugsies and fashionable board
in. --tnul~ / TidiCulntlS enough h.