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

Bryan, and appears IN the january NUMBER OF the
Cosmopolitan Magazine as one of its series of ar
ticles making A Chaice of a Profession" 1t
will pay anybody to read it, but we especially
commend it to our young men who have an itch
ing to get away from the farm.
1t is with exceeding pleasure that the following
suggestions are presented in regard to the desira-
bility of farming as a life occupation.
1. 1t is an independent way of living, com
pared with work in the city. The farmer can
supply his table with meat, vegetables, bread,
milk, butter and eggs, and he is less affected than
the residents of the city by fluctuations in the
price of these commodities. The clothing ac-
count, too, is less for those who live upon the farm
than for those who live in town, so that it is much
easier and much less embarrassing to practice
economy. Not only in dress, but in living, the
farmer and his family avoid the rivalry that leads
to extravaganza, false pretense and the enervating
vices.
2. 1t requires less capital to begin work upon a
farm than to enter any other sort of Independent
business, and one can usually obtain farm land
on the shares, whereas for any mercantile pursuit
it is necessary to pay rent, often in advance. IF
one has not the means to buy horses, and plows
and other agricultural implements, he can usually
find a small piece of ground near a town or city
where he can raise vegetables, and thus make a
start that will enable him to equip himself for
larger farming.
8. All the members of the family can assist
In farming, and that, too, without hardship. The
wife can, without sacrifice of dignity or a great
amount of ~drudgery, look after the milk, make
the butter and look after the chickens. The girls,
as they grow up, can assist the mother, and the
boys, before the vacation, can help with the chores
and with the farming. Their work is not only of
rao,piorv vaI,a +o tho household hn+ II ho
rendered in such a way as not to interfere with
their schooling, and is of much more value to
them in the way of exercise than any sort of sport
in which they can indulge.
4. Life upon the farm is healthful. One has
outdoor air and exercise, both of which are
strengthening to the body. The vigorous consti-
tuition developed upon the farm enables the farm
er's boy to outstrip the city-grown boys in the test
of endurance that comes later in life.
5. The habits of industry and application ac-
quired upon the farm are valuable capital, no
matter to what occupation or profession the
mind is turned. The patience, perseverance and
energy which are developed in rural life are the
foundations upon which one may build in every
honorable vocation.
6. Farm life c%ultivates hospitality and gener-
osity, and, without entirely removing temptation,
gives parental influence a chance to strengthen
the child before the seeds of disobedience are i'm
planted by evil associations. People who live miles
apart in the country are better acquainted with
each other and more attached to each other than
the neighbors who are huddled together in the
same house, and the children who grow up on the
farm can be more careful in their company, and
are less apt to contract bad habits, than boys in
town.
r IL - bor ~ 1i++1o ponTa1 labor for the
boy to do, and to keep him from associating with
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