The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1904-01-26

all things. The farmer lives amid miracles and
feels each year his dependence upon the unseen
Hand that directs the seasons and sends the re-
~freshing showers. Reverence teaches response
bility, and a sense of responsibility is a wholesome
restraint upon conduct.
Z. The farmer learns early in life the true basis
OF rewards. By having to give a dollars worth
of labor for a dollars worth of product, he is
taught that service, to be fair, must be reciprocal.
He never falls into the demoralizing habit of ex-
pecting something for nothing. He teaches by
example that labor is honorable, and has that
sense of proprietorship in his handiwork which
only those have who feel that they have honestly
earned all that they receive. His ideas of life
are, therefore, apt to be high, and he imparts to
others the stimulus which his occupation and en-
vironments excite in him.
s. The husbandman is also the most reliable
political factor in the, nation. He is the best
informed and the most independent of all who
take part in political life. While he is conserva-
tive and not subject to frequent change, while
he has convictions and is usually a strong parti-
Fan, yet his opinions are his own, and, as a rule,
he can neither be bought nor driven to cast his
vote contrary to his judgment.
In enumerating the advantages of farm life,
it is not necessary to say that the farmer enjoys
all the benefits that are now within his reach.
There is probably no field in which there is great
er room for improvement. But if the farm, as it
is, has been the nursery of merchants and minis
tiers, orators, statesmen, the farm, as it may be, and
should be, is still living more inviting. The
introduction of a~cetylene and other kinds of gas,
and the perfection of electrical apparatus, will
enable multitudes of farmers to substitute a mod
ern light for the dim candle and the smoking
lamp. The windmill and the supply-tank are not
only saving the muscle of the man, but are con-
tributing to the convenience of the husewife. With
water running through the house and supplying
both the kitchen and the bathroom, the lot of the
farmers wife will be very much improved.
Another invention is likely to have a marked
influence upon farm life, namely, the telephone.
No one who has not lived remote from a physi-
clan can appreciate the anxiety which a mother
feels in case of accident or sickness in the fam
lily. The telephone reduces by one-half the time
between injury and relief, and in addition to this
makes it possible for the farmer to communicate
with his neighbours, receive and send kilograms,
and be in constant touch with the outside world.
The writer's attention has been recently called to
the telephone as a time-saver among farmers,
and one now wonders how people could have done
without it so long.
The electric car line has already begun to link
city with city and to supply the farmers along
the line with cheap and rapid transportation for
themselves and their products. 1t will be sur
prising if the electric lines and the telephones do
not result in the next few years in a large in
crease in the value of suburban property.
In this connection, the good roads" movement
cannot be overlooked. The value of a permanent
and at all times passable road is beginning to be
appreciated, and the farmer is likely to demand
that this consideration be shown to his material,
intellectual and moral welfare. The mud embargo
is an expensive one to the farmers purse, and not