The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-06-12

e trials and the means by winch
her burdens may be Eghtened are
receiving much of the attention
which they deserve. They r dis
cussed at farmers meetings, and it
is hoped that practical good may ulti-
mateIy be accomplished. Recently
two papers papers on the subject
have been read by women. One was
by Mrs. Lucy Cleaver McElroy of
Lebanon, KY. She was talking to
the men. She described the visions
of the wedding day, with it's glamor
and brightness, and then said:
DAY after day, year after year,
nothing but toll, toll, hurry, worry,
rush that is the strange thing about
1.-THE eternal rush. Amid the
peace and quiet of the country why
not go on peacefully and quietly
doing ones duty as it comes? There
is but one solution to the problem,
and that is, her work exceeds her
time, and she is constantly trying
to establish some sort of equilibrium.
What does the hard, barren exis-
tence yield in return for all her
efforts? Not happiness n look in
the face of the farm wOman of the
dark side tells no. Not money GER
tainly not. Though she is the hard
est worker on the place, this farmr's
wife has no bank account of her
own. 1 will tell you what she gets
her 'vittles and clothes ; that is all,
though in nearly every case her hus-
band is well able to grant her rea-
sonable wishes, and the poor creature
never has unreasonable ones.
"But, thank heaven, all farmers
wives do not live like this; there is
a bright side to this, as to all
pictures. Life on a farm ought to
be to a woman the happiest, most
care-free of ~existences. What with
poultry and beees, with flowers and
vegetables, she gets outdoor exer-
else sufficient to keep her young a
long time, and her labOrs are all
health-giving and pleasant. Labor
is q necessity and a part of every
useful, happy life. Woman should
share mans toll and hardships in
the same proportion in which she
shares his joy and ease, and she
usually does it cheerfully. On a
Il farm it has been a woman's share
of the duties to do the homework
and rear the children ever since
Eve gathered fig leaves for clothes
and raised Cain in the Garden of
Eden. Certainly work must be done,
but let it be done cheerfully and
braVely do not make life adrudgery.
I'm contrast to the farm slave as
we have just een her, let US have
the farm mistress, the queen of the
beautiful realm called home, one
whom the Maker God, may look
upon, as He did at the first, and say,
it Is very good Let US learn to
have farmhOuses homes, where
comfort and good cheer abound,
where labor is evenly distributed to I
all and made a burden to none, where
there are books and magazines,
where time is hadfor reading, music,
prayer and all proper effort for
higher, better things of life, so that
we may grow morally and intellec-
tually, es well as physically. These
things attained, and the much vexed
question of how to keep the boys on
the farm will be answered once for
all"
Another paper was by Mrs. Arthur
Grabowskii before the Richmond
County Agricultural Society at Au-
gusta, Ga, who said:
THE bride, wooed with the ar
dor of youthful affection, too often
becomes the household drudge, the
higher servant, bearing most of the
burdens of the domestic economy
and sharing scantily in the results
OF the FARMS business. A pathetic
little incident illustrating this came
lately to my notice through the me-
dunn of one of u city papers. The
editor, present at a bank on business,
saw a farmer coming in, his hands
full of the bills paid to him for part
of the years cotton crop just sold.