The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-12-01

OF your pOSlClOn! An, no, raJnGf nOnOr
it. PlOw boys tOiling on the summers
heat, in the winters cold, thou wilt get
your reward! Perhaps, the dawn of
manhood may be yours no more; per
haps, the glory of it's nOOn-tide is now
upon your life, but still it must come,
The spire Of a temple, that rearS its
golden head far up into the blue ether,
only reflects the strength and beauty
of its pillars. So | demand an honor
able station for the noble plow- boys of
North Carolina. From dewy morn
till starry eve" they tOil-tOil like
heroes in a mighty cause-toil for God
and home and native land. Your song
IS yet unsung; your speech is yet unde-
hvcred; but ah me, the time is here
when your rights call for representa-
| tiOn. From some lonely farm house
there will vet come Il voice to plead
| your cause From some half-plOwed
! furrOw there will YET rise a blast Of
| elOQuence that will tell tales that many
! know not Of-tales unTewarded efforts,
| unpublished merits. The voice of honest
| toll cries for its reward. From many
a sOrrOwing heart there goes out on
| the night AIR a sigh for relief, Capital
! laughs in scOrn at the plow boys rough
| hands ruddy checks aud manly hearts.
, 4
us corn, wheat and corn, and we'll
speculate with it, Wen sit back on
our dOwny cOuches till you have
sOwed and reaped; then well take
charge of it. Wen give you what we
| think you can live upon. Perhaps
! your meals viii be SCamty at times, but
then we must sport and be gentlemen,
YOU know Diamonds fast horses and
! opera tickets come high. but we must
have them.
Plow boys Of North Carolina, what
| think We of this? No wonder that
| every moment, almost, marks some
| pillow boys last row. They are going
to the cities-gOing like the winds of
| Narch-gOinS like the waves Of the sea.
Day by day the farm is losing it's
pride-its crowning glory. And why?
| Because young men want to keep pace
with the onward march Of civilization,
and they think-and falsely, too that
this can't be done upon the farm. Mind
| is master In this country. You have
the time you have the talent to be any
thing, almost. Ii every plow. boy
would improve each idle moment, this
land would have more statesmen and
orators than the oceans beach has
sand, or the heavens have stars.
Tie only reason city boys. as Il rule,
are smarter than country boys, is be
cause they h3v" improved their Opp0r-
tunities better.
Be wise; learn art and science a1,d
literature There IS no reason in The
world why North Carolina cannot have
a thousand poets TO sing her own songs.
a thousand historians to pen her own
deeds on fameIs eternal scroll You,
plow-boys, have the time, the opPor-
tunity-a:l you need is the energy to
DO SO. As the san sinks behind the
western horizon. you 90 tOyOur study.
oh" you say. we don feel like 1t
after & days work All, that's not
the question. Can you do 1t. Be am
bilious, pIOw-boys Of North Carolina; !;
| feel the Importance Of your life It Is
not such a great thing to be great, any
| way, | don't believe. Sometimes very
insignificant persons, by simply doing
the deeds that lie before them, walk
into the fields Of fame and fortune.
Shakespeare and Milton only wrote
the image Of their minds. Do likewise
and you'll be as great as they If you
do it we'll Make art look like nature,
and glory is yours. [ will not argue
that man can do whatever he wishes
to dO-there are things every person
cannot perform; but he can do enough
as to leave :" foot prints upon the sands
of time when he is gone.
The twentieth century says to you,
Hail, plow- boys OF North Carolina! {!
[ shall usher you into the grandest age
Il world has ever seen. Grander
than Greece and Rome and Sparta ever
beheld. And shall you be able to stand
like men amid this great eTa|
| believe they will. Education is
4111 Il I,
| believe that graduates of Princeton,
or Yale, or the University will yet
accept your position as a profession
The time is past when genius is needed
only in the arts aud sciences. Its
greatest field Of conquest is by your
side. 1t was the plow-boys who fought
our battles, gained our victories in the
by gone days. At Appomattox. at
Gettysburg, amid the bravery Of those
war scenes, no one played a more
heroic part than You. When there is
! wrong TO right when there is needy to
help, when manhood is required, you
must always go to the plOw for there
stands the heroes Of a nations great
ness. And, now, when the pen is our
battIeaX. and the stump our artillery
and the plOw our livelihood, let us fight
greater battles and win greater vic
tories, for peace hath her victories,
not less reno wned than war" A plOw-
boys life is encircled in a mist Of
golden opportunities path way is
grander than kings.
Lite Is measured not by days and
years, but by thoughts and deeds.
Alexander. Cesar, Milton, Webster,
Washington, are not renowned because
they were so many years of age, but
because of what was accomplished in
those years. ItcOst about 500 for every
slave freed in the late war. Now even