Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1906-07-17
Comforts and Luxuries on Farms.

Comforts and Luxuries on Farms.
The question, Is the New England
farmer as we'll off as in the olden times?
is very easily answered by the state
ment that he is much better of, on the
whole.
By "the olden times'' assume that a
period of at least 100 years ago is meant.
1t is a somewhat popular theme to dis
course upon ''the good old times" but
on examination they will not be found
to stand close comparison with the
present.
In the first place, the condition OF the
modern farm itself is far superior to
what it was 100 years ago. 1t is true
that the virgin soil of those days has
been somewhat exhausted, and a much
greater use of fertilizer is required, but
the average old New England farm was
covered, and it's soil filled, with rocks,
and a large portion of the farmers time
was occupied in clearing his land and
building stone walls, while to-day there
is little of such work to be done.
The farmer of the olden time hoed his
crops and pitched his hay with rude
hoes and forks, hammered out by hand
by the village blacksmith, and cut his
hay and his wood with scythes and axes
of the same rude kind.
The modern farmer has his up-tO- date,
machine-made tools for everything, and
he cuts his hay and plows and cultivates
his land seated at ease upon the seat OF
his moving machine, sulky plow, cul-
tivator, horse rake, planter, or some
other particular machine exactly calcu-
lated to do the most work in the short
est time and with the least expenditure
of physical labor.
In his home aud social relations also
the modern farmer enjoys, as matter
of course, comforts and luxuries OF
which his fOrefathers never dreamed.
Household furnishings and equipments
are as far superior to those of old as are
the implement he uses in his outdoor
work on the farm. The cook stove has
replaced the open fireplace, the faucet,
with running water, the old we'll sweep
or wooden pump. Bath rooms are no
longer an unheard-Of luxury, and the
farmhouse without its musical instru-
ment of some kind is the exception.
The telephone has brought him into
close touch with his neighbor and the
whole world, and the rural free delivery
brings his mail and the daily paper to
his door, while in his grange he has
opportunities for social and intellectual
development far beyond anything imag-
ined even by his ancestors.
Electric roads spreading in every d.
rection from the cities give him easy and
cheap communication with centers OF
trade, and he is no longer an isolated
being, but is becoming more and more
an active factor in the business and
political life of the state and nation.
The growth of the cities gives him
greater markets near at hand, and the
government crop and market reports
keep him posted upon prices and condi-
tions everywhere.
He has the benefit of the government
experiment stations, with their almost
marvellous achievements in the develop
ment of scientific cultivation of the soil,
and the knowledge and skill OF the
whole world are his almost for tue ask.
ing. =.
Space forbids further enumeration OF
the many advantages enjoyed by the
modern husbandman which his fore
fathers knew not, but the foregoing,
while far short of the total catalogue OF
them, will suffice to show my reasons
for my answer to the question asked
E. Fl. Libby, in Boston Globe.