Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1898-11-30
CONDENSATION OF rAnm Lrrs.
Henry Stivers WAKES Eloquene ON the
Theme-Horace Greeley Outdone,

CONFIRMATION OF FARM LIFE.
Henry Stivers WAKES Eloquens on the
Theme-HoraceG Greeley Outdone.
1T must have been a pessimist or q
victim of dyspepsia who suggested
this topic for discussion, for it seemed
to me the question classed farm life
along with sick beds, dungeons and
all sorts of dire calamities. If some
one should ask what are the compen-
saitions for a life Of invalidism, or
what are hte compensations for life
imprisonment, or what are the COM
pensations for being cast away ON
lone island, or what are the compen-
sa'tfons of a life of denial, of absti-
nence, OF poverty; all these would call
forth discussion upon the possibility
OF being happy under adverse cir
cumstances. conditions under which
even Mark TaPley might claim credit
for keeping jolly; but the compensa-
tlons OF farm lme-Lord bless us, they
are 50 profuse, spontaneous and
abundant that we almost wander in a
wilderness ia attempting to recount
them. Farm life is NO calamity into
which we must probe and search for
compensatory virtues. 1t is the ideal
hfe. 1t is the one great, broad, free
and generous ayocation of man, sane
toned by the Creator and accounted
honorably since the foundations of
society were laid. True farm life
contains about all there is of good,
and there is eliminated from it about
all there is of evil in this world. Let
me attempt to mention and illustrate
some of the compensations of farm
life as they occur at this moment. In
the rst place intelligent farming and
stock raising is the most profitable
business I'M Iowa. From an invest
ment of less than twenty-five dollars
made In weal-se1ected pigs only four
years ago, / ann now selling about
one thousand dollars worth per year
OF fat hogs from my farm. Two years
ago l bought a yearling heifer of
good grade for fifteen dollars. I now
have the original heifer, second calf
by her side, the pair easily worth
nifty dollars, and last week sold her
nrst calf, "a yearling steer, for thirty
dollars. Not every heifer does this
well, but 1 fully believe that, with
watchful care, out of "a herd of one
hundred heifers, 80 per cent of them
Will do fully as we'll, and the other 20
per cent wild s'tih make a prof table
showing. Garden, orchard, poultry
and milch cows yield more than
enough to meet al 1.-THE family wants
and expenses. The American love of
thrift makes it q condition precedent
to contentment and happiness in any
calling with as little variableness and
uncertainty as in any pursuit of men.
Another compensation of farm life
is its freedom from the care and anx-
| ETY. which attended ordinary business
| life in town. I know whereof speak,
for l went from active business life
to the farm after I was old enough
to be relieved from the annual duty
OF road work. On the farm there are
no sleepless nights, nor care-cum-
bered and anxious days. You are not
| compelled to be ever on the alert for
fear of being overreached Or outdone
by some tireless competitor. While
all around you are in the same bust
ness, all are your supporters in bust
ness rather than your competitors.
A friendly rivalry to excel exists, but
none of that bitter opposition which
would detract or destroy. While
strife, competition and antagonism
are business conditions in town, tram.
guilty reigns on the farm, and I
| want to tell you how delightful this
| appears to a man after he has spent
years on a rough business sea try
| ing ito dodge the rocks and shoals.
| for here he finds harbor and an
| anchorage strong and firm. And
there are other compensat tons. Do
you love your family? Here you are
all together. and what a world of
your own do you establish around
you. In all the world there is no
| place like the farm for a perfect
home, and delightful and always to
be remembered hearthstone. Here
home gatherings are sweetest. hos
pitality the most genuine and gener-
Gus. Do you love nature? Here the
choirs OF the earth are sounding
melodies for your ear, and the earth
is taking on beauty in every varied
form for your delectation. The devel-
ment and growth and maturing OF
crops and of vegetable and plant life
are sources of interest, and even OF
exhiliration, while the prolific animal
life upon the farm affords oppor-
|
and even companionship. Do you
want society of the best and highest
order? Here You can gather about
the great literary lights of all times
from Moses and Job and Herodotus
down to Hall Canine. Ian McUaren
and james Whitcomb Riley. You can
enjoy their company under conditions
the purest, and share with them their
best thoughts and happiest moods
In Europe and in the older parts OF
our own country the hope and ambi
ton of nearly all men and families is
20 reach a time when they may obtain
an estate in the country and retire to
it, for they know and the world
knows that all The exalted compensa.
tions of the earth are found in rural
life.-Henry Stivers in the lowe
Homestead.
An Ardent Lover of Chess.