The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-05-08
(St. Louis Globe Democrat

(St. Louis Globe Democrat
When Virgil wrote so blithely of the
JOYS of the farmers life he had little con
ception of the real thing. He knew moth
ing of the comforts that have come in
these latter days to ameliorate the lot of
the dWeller in country ways, or or the
many appliances that were after his day
to give relief from the cares and burdens
which his countrymen so well realized.
There is more poetry IL ~ sickle than in
a reaping machine, and in fail than in
the full panoplied threShing machine, but
for convenience and utility there IS no
comparison-and that is the object that
the farmer considers. 1t is doubtful II
the farmer of today realizes how lmmeas-
urably superior is his lot TO that Oh the
farmer of the middle ages or even OF
century ago Indeed, it is not necessary
to go back so far as that, for just before
the war will do very well. Then the
reaper was unknown to the majority OF
the agniculturists; the riding pillow was
unheard of and the self -binder was afar
off. These are familiar examples, but
they are held to include the principal
changes in the farmers life. Indeed, 1T
Is not unusual to find those who think
that there is nothing being done now TO
make the farmers life easier. They hold
that all the good has been done, and that
the future holds nothing that will be OF
vllue. Yet it is doubtful if in any field
tlere is more progress going on in the
rection of improvement in the lot OF the
people than in agriculture and Its art
The farmer is, perhaps because OF his
prominence in the elections, an object OF
much solicitude to the inventor and the
politician. Anything that tends to make
bhe farmer less dissatisfied will make the
plans of the politician safer; anything
That will be of general benefit to the
farmer will make the inventor fortune,
tor there is no class that reaches out more
eagerly after these things than the agrl-
eulturist.
A study Of the catalogues of the hard
ware and implement dealers is a reyela-
ton to the uninformed. He will find that
there are every year added to the list OF
machines many that are for purposes Of
which in his boyhood he never knew.
Then on the old implements are such I'M
provements as to make them seem almost
like pleasure carriages, and to reduce the
toll Of team and man to the lowest posi-
BILE limit. In seeding, cultivating and
harvesting times the farmer finds that
his wants have been anticipated and there
are machines for every available use.
The wheat can be put in with or without
blowing; the corn can be planted on
plowed ground or with lister that does
away with the trouble; the hay can be
spread, scattered, raked and loaded all
without the touch of human hand to
rake or fork handle. Yes, more than
that-it can be unloaded from the wagons
and placed in the big hay NOW or on the
stack by machinery. All the man has to
do is to furnish the brains and boss the
work The blacksmith has seen no such
improvement. He still stands at his
forge or kneels over the horses hoofs as
did the one who shod the charger of
Washington. The cooper still drives the
hoops, and the cobb1er is still at the last,
although the latter instead of being
helped by the progress of affairs has been,
to great extent, driven out of business
by the machinery of the shops.
There are other ways in which the
farmer has advanced. Out on the plains
is a number of farmers who are pro-
gressive and believe in utilizing all the
good things of this life. They have just
completed, after three years Of expert
ment and testing, a complete telephone
system that connects the farms and
ranches of a neighborhood. The line
starts from the depot of a little station on
the railroad and runs to the farm houses
over the barbed wire fences that inclose
the ranches: 1t was at first feared that
the electricity would leak down the posts,
but by carefully welding the ends of the
wires there is no trouble at all The
wires are carried over the tops of the
winGmills and across the roads over high
poles, and there is no break on the cir
cult. The ladies of the households sit at
the phone and have long visits with one
another every morning. The men have
stock and grain to sell, and they can talk
TO the operator and find out what Is the
market in the city without taking a half
day to drive to town. The women can
ask for the correct time If the clock stops,
and have the late news talked to them
every morning before doing up the dishes.
Here is q chance for the farmer to make
long step in advance. The bane of the
farm for the women is the lonesomeness.
But for that there would be fewer cases
of insanity among the settlers wives on
the prairies. The man goes to town and
sees his fellows. The wife stays in the
house and bakes and washes until she is
wild to escape it, If she can go to the
sitting room and talk to the friend over
on the other side of the hill for a time, or
can call up the village dressmaker and
see how that new hat is being trimmed.
she will be happier. 1t will add one more
feature Of happiness to the lot of the farm
and will make the work lighter. 1t is
not impracticable. 1t can be used in
many of the sections of the West without
any change and little expense; in others
it will be necessary to buy the wire.
Inc delivery OF the mail TO the Iafnn
houses is but a matter of time. The ex-
periments carried on by the authorities
under the late administration were all
very successful and there was a wide
spread delight in the section where it was
used that will make it very popular. The
farmer suffers more from solitude than
from any other source. He is alone too
much, and his family is a sufferer more
than he. His wife, who has shared the
burdens of the struggle and is standing
by his side in the frightening shadows.
is entitled to the best there is. She will
be helped by the delivery of the mail
more than in any other one thing, and
1t is coming Here is one place where
the farmer is not so benighted as his
predecessor He has less of the solitude
which, though enough and too much now,
was then intolerable.
Time was when only the great and pow
erful had the enjoyment of carriage, but
now there are few farmers who can not
go to church or to the county seat in Il
spring wagon OF buggy. The farmers
boys have their side bars, and the country
correspondent of the local paper duly
chronicles it and warns the girls to look
out and see if they can not get a ride.
The farmer takes ali these things as n
natural right, and is not yet happy. be-
cause he does not realize what he has
avoided hTlt only secs what he has NOT