St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-07-01

VILLAGE.
unbearable desolation of the plains; the
mother went crazy from desperate lone
iness.
They found her sitting on bags of
grain in the field. I'm guarding the
grain. It's as good as gold" she said.
simply. We've lived such awful lives
to get il. AL alone-all alone"
This is one of the conditions that fur
nish the arguments to advocates Of
communal life for farmers Man is .
gregarious animal. He has social M
ture that demands companionship. he
gets his greatest strength from concen-
tration of energy, and is stimulated by
a spirit Of emulation. Even the farmer
demands and gets little of this-not
50 much rs he needs: it is upon his
wife and family that the hardship of
isolation falls heaviest. Every boy who
leaves the farm testifies to that. and
every insane asylum in the land bears
out the charge. A good many people
arc all at once convinced of the fact
that the American system of cultivat-
ing large farms and living isolated lives
explains much of the distaste for farm
ing that exists in the United States.
Isolation has its peculiar evils just as
overcrowding in cities has. These are
diffusion of energy, lack of association
and cooperation, Instantaneous posi-
ton in competition with the organized
classes in town, the warping of the so
cial nature resulting in the rcstlessness
NJ tA hO SNf kA
hopelcssness of women and the neglect
of the children. The remedy proposed
for all this is farm villages.
Things are working toward an agri-
cultural millennium in Georgia and
Nebraska simultaneously: in the prac-
teal solution of the problem by Gov.
Northcn in the south. and of Mr.. Book
walter, the Ohio millionaire-one in
thickly settled Dooly county. Ca.
where boundaries are irregular and
titles c0mpHcoted, and with buildings
and improvements that have stood for
generations: A9d:the other where there
sunset but those of the government
survey on paper.
Thesf'sea IL the .same-the segrega-
lion ,oe into communities. such
villaGea-4o -ba..senfrally established
among the snEroanding farms, for their |
physical, mental, moral and social i'm |
provemcnt. Necessarily the methods |
Of carrying out this idea must differ |
widely under such opposite conditions.
Ii the old settled district are the people |
with habits and traditions much alike. |
in ~
l6bd and the value Of old improve
mSnts against the scheme. To the |
virgin land of Nebraska will come .
new people who will find it difficult to
hard 70 conquer new soil
under new conditions.
Mr.. Boolswaltcr's village with its out
lying farms will look as neat on . map
as q block Of our grandmother's mine
patch" quilt, the pieces run together
with barbed wire fences: while Gov.
which he hopes to establish
among his old ncighbors in Dolly coun-
ty, might best be compared to q crazy
patch with the fancy embroidery
stitches done in snake fences, hedges,
stone walls. bitches and farm buildings.
But they both look 70 the same end.
md these are the plans with which
Zach propose to accomplish the work:
Mr. BoOkwalter's is that of the pro.
prietary capitalist who permits tenants
70 pay for the land in a certain number
II years. he to put in the necessary inn
for starting the community.
10 COLOMBO the place-thcse will usually
be immigrant farmers, shopkeepers,
radesmcn and lahorerS. He buys .
.ract of unbroken land in Nebraska
lbout four and half miles square con-
aiming twelve thousand acres One
hundred and sixty acres in the center is
ct apart for the village. the rest is di-
,idcd into one hundred and fifty IA rms
nearly eighty acres each
With the gate of the most remote
arm less than two miles from the vii |
age green. in the town forty acres
ire given mp to an open public square
by such public buildings as
he school, churches. stores and shops.
)ue hundred and twenty acres remain
. be subdividcd into .40 lots averxg-
ng . half acre each. There will gather
INTO that community $50 farmers, with
PREACHERS, teachers, carpenters. black {
miths. dressmakers. milliners, tailors.
lardware, grocery and dry goods mer- Z
hants, druggists. laundrymen, bakers.
'arSers. doctors. dentists, stationers, I
nillers, hotel and restaurant keepers {
nd laborers to the number of 80 fami- Z
les, numbering 1900 souls. with IN av- :
rage Of ten acres of ground to support
sch pegson; manifestly = provision
hat s6o1ld secure comfort for all and
INJURIES for the greater number. The b
Of having 1900 people on 100 o
cres Of land in = material, social and y
atellectual sense, instead Of having p
hem scattered over 12.000 acres. rs is .
rue under present conditions, is OBJ
IouS The chances are that now there b
-ould be fewer than 1..00, because as G
lany merchants and tradesmen could
OF make living when the population q
=