The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-10-30
INDIANA FARMLAND WRITES
ABOUT COUNTRY LIFE

work which the Country Life Com
mission is carrying on. The president
has turned the letteS over to the
Country Life Commission and the
commission has asked the farmland
to write some more.
Il have been farmland just long
enough, says the president cor
respondent. ''to learn the cause Of
so many sons and daughters and we'll
meaning, reliable farmhands leaving
the beautiful farm and country and
going to the city. 4 lack of order
and system on the farm and too long
hours for day is what is driving the
best minds FROM the farm to the city
and shop. What can We expect of a
hand, OF the farmers wife and her
posterity, III the way of intellectual
development when they get out of
their beds at $50 in the morning and
work from that time until 8 or 9 p.
m.? And no attention paid to the
sanitary conditions of the home, and
necessary conveniences On the farm
for doing the farm work with the
least labor and time.'
This man has given the Country
Life Commission some very interest
ing first-hand information about rur-
al conditions and recommends! ms
based on a long experience in farm
work and farm life. He has worked
for all kinds Of farmers, good and
bad; he says, and he has always had
his eyes open to detect the causes Of
their success or failure. He has
drawn his own conclusions and set
them forth in down-rig straight
forward fashion. Education pays lii
farming, he says. The farmer who
plans out his work and carries it
through in a systematic, business
like manner, just as the city man
does, will be able to shorten the
hours Of labor. $50 many farmers
measure everything on the farm from
she standpoint Of muscle" he con-
ti1ues, "and are extreme in some
things and slack in others. decid-
ed several years ago that life is too
short to work for Peter Tumbledown
farmers
Nov, Mr.. President,'' he writes,
sEyou can take this for what it is
worth. I have not given you half Of
my experience. The Country Life
Commission has written him that his
suggestions are so useful that they
hope he will send more.
''Compel the farmer to be busi-
ness man," he says-"Go into the
homes Of some Of the farmers and
the so-called farmers and ascertain
how they live, and learn of their
methods Of doing the business in
which they are engaged. And you
will be surprised what variety you
will find. Ascertain what they read,
and what stress they put on the lit
erature that comes into their homes
(if any comes) bearing on the busi-
ness they are engaged in. See what
per cent study their business.
@'Give me the educated farmer as
a boss and the educated farmland
as hand. When I come in contact
with hand or farmer that studies
his business I find him advancing,
and it is a pleasure to work for such
men.
"The majority Of the farmers are
eight-hour men, that is, eight hours
in the forenoon and eight in the af-
'ternoon. Eight or ten hours on the
farm cannot we'll be adapted in all
eases, but it need not be from four
teen to sixteen hours. : If the family
arise every morning at 5 o'clock and
the wife and daughters attend to the
household duties, and the farmhands
and sons attend to the chores and go
TO the field at Z o'clock and work un-
til II or 1130 and 60. to the field
again at l and keep at it until 6
O'Clock, and 60 to the house and eat
the supper and then do the evening
chores, they have done a farm days
work Regular hours for work, and
regular hours for meals, and regular
hours for sleep, and regular hours
for rest and recreation with plenty Of
standard papers and books, includ-
ing the best agricultural papers and
books, and a full faith in God, and
good prnh Is wanted