Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1893-02-07
TOWN VS.. COUNTRY.
rmx BRIGIur AMBITIOUS Bor SEEKS
THE TOWN As IT GIVES HIN MORE
OPPORTUNITIES.

The tendency shown by our young
men to desert the farm for other calllngs
has been q subject OF frequent comment
by the press. Our boys and young men
do not take kindly to rural pursuits.
The isolation Of farm life, Its lack OF
social privileges, and Its general power
ty and dullness are generally given as
causes. The work, too, Il hard and
exacting; the hours on the average farm
are much too long; the gains are too
slow and too uncertain. Farmers as a
rule take little palms to make their
homes bright and attractive. Outside,
too often, the landscape Is bare and un-
inviting. Inside there Is little to make
the rooms home-llke In the way OF
books, music, pictures, newspapers and
magazines. Having worked hard and
found little opportunity for cultivating
aesthetic tastes themselves, q good many
farmers see no reason why they should
encourage such tastes In their children.
Such farmers forget or choose to ig-
more the fact that the world is progress
ing, that we are living under new dis
pensatiou. They forget that steam and
electricity have brought town and coun-
try into Intimate association.
There Is philosophy In this social In
terchange between town aud country
that has been strangely overlooked.
What we call society here In the United
States IL not fixture. The elements OF
which Il Is composed do not remain sta
tionary, the tendency being towards a
gradual rise In the social scale. The
Influx from what is called the lower to
the higher Is constant and II is becom-
Ing more noticeable every year.
Popular education by stimulating
thought aud inspiring higher aims and
purposes has much TO do with this. Our
boys and girls In the high school while
learnisg algebra and chemistry, also get
a taste Of Virgil and Telemsque. Their
minds are fed upon the best In English
literature. To some extent they get
their eyes open to the possibilities that
lie before them. They get glimpses of
social life that is far brighter than
the ordlpsrx home life ON the farm.
They see that there are callings that
seem less repulsive and uncongenial than
farming, and that offer better induce
ments. What wonder then that after
four years at the high school they are
unwilling to go back to the ill-paid
drudgery and the social isolation OF the
farmy
As things are noW constituted, In so
far as we educate our boys and girls
beyond the "three RS" We educate
them away from the farm. OF course
they who have but limited capacity for
learning and only moderate ambition
NAV he able to content themselves with
farm life. But as u rule the bright,
capable, ambitious boys will seek other
employment.
Unwilling as some Of US may be to
admit Il, there are few calllngs so bar
rem of culture, and lacking In what are
called the social graces as ordinary
farming. This need not be so. IL is
not true now of the best and most pro-
gressiye farming In New England. The
time Il coming when u will not be true
Of farming I'm general. There are forces
already at work that, In time, are sure
To bring about the social aud intellectu-
al regeneration Of our rural cOummuni-
ties. Among these may be mentioned
the grange, the farm-club, the news
paper, the magazine, and the public
library.
Cooperation, also, by enabling farm
ers' to use power and the best sgricultur-
al machinery economically, and to avail
Of the best executive ability
In the cultivation Of the soil, and the
best business talent In the sale OF their
products is likely to prove an import
ant factor.
When the farmers of this country get
their eyes open to the fact that farming
Il a business, and should be conducted
like any other business upon business
there will be some induce
ment for our bright, capable boys to
stay Mt home. Until such time we can
not blame them for seeking more con-
genial employment.-New England
Farmer.