The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-10-13
THE CURSE OF ARELRss FARM.
oiG.

Is going to fail. We must study, plan
and experiment; we must keep up with
the times; attend the farmers institutes,
and read the papers, thus keeping thor
Oughly informed. But what shall we
say about the careless farmer-the
farmer who loses where some would
gain, and who attributes his hard
luck" and successive failures to the
times" or the seas2n, or adverse Cir
cumstances brought about by his mis-
management, carelessness and ign0-
rance9 He goes to feed his pigs some
| times and some times be does not; he
! leaves the gates unlatch6d; he never
thinks of putting a new rail in a crack
80 as to exclude pigs, and he leaves un
done a multitude of other things, which
he could have done conveniently. So
it goes with the careless farmer.
In order to explain the subject, I will
tell about one Of my nejghboTs, who
| fills the bill precisely. He lives near
me, and hence l can give a true &C
count OF him.
First, must tell how his household
is managed. His wife, a slouchy,
elovenly woman, and five young girls,
his daughters, attend to his housework,
such as carry ing out slop, bringing in
cook wood, feeding the pigs from his
kitchen window, and scrubbing the
floor. We see there are enough hands
60 do all the housawork, but have
| been there when the beds were not
made, the dishes from dinner had not
been washed, the baby was not dressed,
the floor was covered with pieces of
paper, etc. They seemed to work hard
enough, all of them, but did not take
hold at the same end of the rope; that
is, some pulled one way and some an
other, thereby counteracting the theirs
work, even if that had been done prop
erly.
I believe to--call the man Of whom I
speak ''slouch" would not do him an
injustice. Right outside his door,
kitchen door, to the left is pig pen in
which there are several of the unclean
brutes; to the right is a chicken coop,
and a few yards frcm this door is a
cistern, around which are several mud
puddles and duck and goose har oors.
His srceen doors and windows are lef5
open half the time. The flies warm
in, Of course, and ruin the ceiling and
furniture; he blames the children and
passes on, when at the same time he
has done the same thing thousands of
times. the screens are patched up
with pisces of mosquito net which i'm
parts to them lovely appearance, you
know. Into the Notwithstanding here
and there are driven huge wire nails on
which are hung dish rage, oil rags, etc.
Such mess!
From this description one might
think that the man Of whom l speak is
very poor and hard run; but he is not,
he has some means, makes fair Iiv
ing, etc. But he is such a don't care
sort Of farmerI Hle horses ard COWS
look like the rear end Of hard times
During the exceedingly dry season,
which has recently been broken by q
splendid rain, he drove his stock to the
river for water. He had not prepared
for dry weather previous to its arrival !;
consequently he had no water III his
ponds. l passed his house not long
since, and, glanciDg over the fence, I
saw him on the corn crib showering
down corn to the swine. He was bare
headed, one shoe unbuckled, shirt open
in front and sleeves unbuttOnod. Some
OF the hogs were III the road, some in
another mans field and sCm9 III his
own yard. The old adage, Save at
the spigot and lose at the burg" is ap
plicable to this fellow. He makes some
money, of course, but he would not if
he were in debt. So much for the
slouchy farmer. Now for remedial
system.
The farmers in these parts are salts
fied with the Cd methods and customs
are backward about trying new ma
chinery, and l don't know now many
other foolish ideas they have. For
tunately, however, there are few IN
our midst who keep up with the times.
These are the men who make show
ing. no matter how hard the times may
be. But our rear army of cowGrdly q
call them towards because they are
afraid of a good thiDg) farmers won't
follow the cd examples set by the
more enlightened class. The day has