The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1905-05-06
THE FARMERS PRIVILEGE AS SEEN
BY A CITY MAN.

Mr.. George r. Smith writes as follows to the
Country Gentleman: A business man of the city
said to me, las soon as can save enough
money, intend to buy the old farm and live
there the remainder of my days." Here was
symptom. 1t represents quite universal feel
ing. The fact is we town people look toward
the farm with longing and admiring eyes. We
see in it the ideal of human existence. We
chafe beneath our cramped and artificial modes
of living, and long for the free and full life of
the open country.
The farmer, on the other hand, is likely to
look upon the man OF the town as possessing
monopoly of the good things of life. He too
gets restless and feels that his life is one of BAN
ishment from society, of unceasing toll with
small reward. Let him not be deceived. AS we
see him, he is in daily touch with nature in all
her Astounding wealth. What of this earth is
more to be desired? Who is not lover of ma
ture? It is not mere sentimental is instinct.
1t is not childishness-it is true manliness. We
all love nature in her varied FORMS so it is not
strange that the man of the town feels that his
life is unnatural, abnormal, and that only the
man in the country truly lives. What is there
in the town that can compare with the farm
home in May or June-with apple blossoms, hum
of bees song of birds, the universal leaping into
life of thousand forms in the great world of
nature? Lowell's rare, perfect day in June can
be realized only in the open country; the city is
we'll cooked and very imperfect at such time.
The other day a farmer drove into town and
stopped to speak with me moment. He sat
behind a pair of the most beautiful seal-smooth
bays. 1 felt almost hurt as looked at those
sleek, gentle animals and realized how far above
my privileges that farmer was living. wonder
HOY 0Fn for RI frl1a
and rich is the privilege of possessing and rear
ing and loving large stock of the common do
nestle animals. What pleasure in a beautiful,
well-bred horse, herd of royal blood. a flock
that would have made David sick with envyI
Longfellow's line describing Evangeline has
strength as well as poetry in it:
'.Sweet was her breath as the breath of kline that
feed in the meadow"
As we see the farmer, he is in the midst of
abundance to eat and drink and to wear. 1t is
worth trip to the country just to get one look
and one smell into prosperous farmers we'll
filed cellar. He gets accustomed to it, and for
gets to appreciate it. To the prisoner of the
town, such a sight gives thrill of delight
like a field of blossoming clover to heard of
famished cattle. Not that we do not get enough
to eat in the town-we are usually pretty well
fed but the freshness of it in the farmers eel
lar, the abundance of 1.-THE Astounding rich
ness of the aromal He is a king in comparison.
His feed is not dealt out to him in small rations
at a grocery counter-he is the original posses
sor, the producer himself, the lord of the manor;
we all are at his mercy.
Such independence of life and subsistence
makes the farmer truly the first citizen of the
world. He stands at the fountain head, and we
drink at his will. We are at the rack-he may
feed us or not, but is sure to be well fed him
self. Such is real life so far as physical sur
roundings are able to make life real. The true
monarch is the man who walks over broad acres
that are his own, sits beneath his own vine and
fig tree, eats from his own bursting bins of
fruit and vegetables-lord of his own domain,
dependent on no man.
Such one we think ought to be the best
Christian in the world, too. Heis in close touch
with the mysterious workings of the laws Of his
Maker. He sees all about him the immediate
results of the movements of the divine finger, in
the springing of the seed. the bursting OF the
bud, the maturing of the fruit, and in all the
marvellous instincts Of the animal kingdom. He
not only has that ''little spark of celestial fire
conscience" in free, unfettered play, but he
has thousand evidences of the workings of the
Infinite Power every day. He feels the touch
of Gods hand in nature as few other men possi-
bly, can.
But we see, too, the demand that is made on
brain and muscle, temper and tact, patience
and perseverance-in fact. all the manly virtues
and capabilities. We see every capacity of the
full, true man brought into requisition. Thus
we recognize the largest opportunities for the
development of high, true manhood. AS we
seeit, therefore, the on the farm is distinct
ly in advance of the man in the town in very
many of the things that make life worth living
If the farmer sometimes looks toward the town
with desire to be rid of his daily round of toll
and care and perplexity, let him consider that
the urban dweller has his tolls, his perplexities,
his deep longing for the free, healthful, indie
pendent life Of the farm. Let him consider well
before he yields to the powerful temptation to
plunge into the great whirlpool of hustle and
strife and rush in the city. He may return
later to discover that his ''acres of diamonds"
are on the old farm home.