Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1897-04-14
farn1 ana fireside.
RlYS ON THE FARM.

mostly are farmers sons and we may
add that the most successful men, the
brainiest men in many avocations are
also the SONS of farmers. When boys
read in the newspapers of Chauncey
IDepew's inclinations to be farmer
and how his father cured him of the
notion by giving him three days to
confirm his choice, and by setting him
at the hardest work alongside of q
hired man, and how Chauncey yielded
to his fathers desire and became q
lawyer, and since then the superinten.
dent of great railway system, and
the great orator and after dinner
speaker, no wonder they wish to quit
the farm.
His career is certainly remarkable
one, and an ambitious boy might well
attempt to initiate him, or others who
have been successful in other branches
of industry. But how many men car
you mention who attain such distinc.
ton? In all the United States you
cannot find as many as you have fin
gers on your two hands.
"But," says boy, ~ mean to be
merchant, and there are more that get
rich and have large stores and fine
houses, and maybe team of 'goers
and coachman."
Yes, out of 100 who start out or
that track, 90 are utter failures, five
attain a competency and one gets rich
And at what cost? Are riches the
only desirable aim? Is luxury so very
precious? Do fetes, theaters, dances
and high living give lasting satisfac-
ton? Do they not create an insatla
BILE, longing for more and always
more?
When hear the whistle of a far
mer's boy at his task, or the song which
he sings while plowing or driving
stock, I reason that he is heart whole
and pleased with his condition. When
he sits down to plain and simple
meal made of wholesome and fresh
material, if it be only bowl of rich
milk and mush, or to his pumpkin pie
and Thanksgiving turkey, it is rea
luxury to notice his zest, his appetite
and also his capacity. Of him it can
be said: "The sleep of the laboring
man is sweet whether he eats much OF
little"
No one ever hears a man sing over
his ledger or accounts. The merchant,
the banker, the broker have no song
Sometimes they have music, but it is
by proxy, hired quartet or soloist
or, may be, they give nickle to the
man with the monkey and the hand
organ! =.
ooh" says one, "even that would
be better than the everlasting drudgery
of the farm" I answer that there
is work or labor on the farm and thai
it has to be done every day is true
hut it amounts to drudgery necessarily
/ deny.
The successful farmer drives his
work and never allows his work te
drive him. From the beginning o.
the spring work in the fields or garden
he is ever one or two days ahead with
his sowing or planting. A farmer is a
man of faith. He sows his seed at the
proper time regardless of blowing
winds or threatening clouds. When
the harvest approaches his mower and
reaper are in working order, and so
are all the other necessary implements
He does not have to 20 to the store to
buy or shop for repairs. He does
not hurry, but at. the day when mead
ow or field is just right he puts in his
sickle. Should rain or storm intervene
he does not fret. He houses his ma.
chinery, takes off his belts, oils up the
gearing and as soon as the sun peeps
out from the clouds he is at it again.
Such man has no difficulty in hir.
ing all the help he needs. He can
pay every evening if need be. He is
abundantly able to set a good table,
and he does it, and best of all, he new
er scolds or frets or rushes work, be.
cause he has taken time by the fore.
lock and his work is we'll up. He
chants or sings with his men or tells a
good story, and that old saw, "Short
stories in harvest" which is often and
so tersely quoted, does not affect either
him or his men, or, least of all, his
sons. He has time to finish his yarn,
as the sailors say.
The ingenuity Of Lewis Miller or
a Mccormick or other inventors ol
laborsaving machinery have given the
farmers more time, and the drudgery
of former years is past. The days
and weeks of weary labor, necessary in
hauling the grain to market over bad
roads and in foul weather or fair, are
reduced to the minimum by the rail
ways which cross and recross almost
every county in state. All these
things combine to give more time and
leisure to the farmer of today.
Schoolhouses, academies, colleges
and all the opportunities of acquiring
an education are open to the farmers
sons and daughters. Periodicals
books and newspapers cost so little
that the center table in every farmers
sitting room or parlor ought to be, and
can be, covered with them. The old
tallow candle and pine knots have
given place to the "student" or astral
lamp; the CRATE for coal or the "base
burner" give warmth with much less
labor than the old fashioned wood
pile, hence I am rather sorry that the
cosey, companionable and comfortable
open fire place has been relegated to the
rear. Pardon me if here I say that
that particular luxury is one thing
banker after and always shall. Even
the base burners cannot quite compen'
safe for the open fire, with its backlog
n L j l. s...-c.