Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1913-05-23
TWO TYPES OF COUNTRY LIFE
Easy Matter to Distinguish Between
Real Man and the Drone-5oth
Had Equal Chances.

To the officers and members Of the
union:
A farmer driving to the city with
load of cotton, produce or on some
errand is struck by the general neat
ness Of some cottage, probably the
home of a workingman. Flowers
bloom In the yard, well-kept grass
grows on the lawn, the fences are neat
and painted, and there is an air OF
distinction about the place. You say,
"A sober honest, industrious man
must live there" Next door Is a
dirty, unkempt place, cans and trash
in the yard. fence falling down. and
general atmosphere Of unkemptness.
You say. "a shiftless, drinking. no &C
count chap lives there"
But how much more noticeable
these things are out in the broad, open
country, where the air Is sweet, the
sunshine free of smoke and the stencil
and filth Of great city.
You drive along a country road,
and come to a farm. Distinction
marks 1t In a hundred little ways.
The fences are all up, and no rotung
or tumbling rails are seen; the fence
corners are free of bushes, briers and
weeds; the bitches are clean-cut, with
no wide hedge Of rank weeds grow
ing along either side, and the land
cultivated close up; the stumps and
rocks are out Of the fields. Even the
rows and appearance Of the helds
themselves show the thrifty care OF
intelligent application.
Presently you come to the house.
Flowers grow In the yards, which are
clean and well-kept, with q neatly
graveled walk leading up to the front
porch. Barns and out-houses are In
good repair. and no rusting farm tools
or machinery clutter yards or barn
lot.
And you know without G question
that here a real man lives, man
that will do to trust, business man;
he pays his obligations, and, moreover,
is a real neighbor and a helpful one.
You will generally find, too. that he is
thoughtful of his wife, daughters and
sons, that the boys want to stick to
the farm because dad Is all right and
he made a good living out Of it.
So you drive on, and directly get
a shock. You come to a place with
the fences down, corners growing up
in weds; land washed for lack Of prop
er drainage; stunted, weedy stun
struggling to survive In the fields No
paling surround the house, no flowers
grow in 1t, but litter Of every sort
of thing encumbers it. The roof OF
the stable and barn are leaky, the
doors propped up, rusting farm tools
and machinery stand about corroding
In the weather. Four or Eve lazy
hounds sleep about the door or yard,
and everything about Is desolate and
depressing. You will find without
query that a shiftless, indolent, pur-
poseless, dont-care man lives there.
He couldn't get cent Of credit from
anybody without security. His wife
is a hopeless drudge, with just energy
enough to crawl about; his daughters
run away and marry at the first oppor-
tunity, and his boys go to town or
away from home as soon as they are
big enough to know enough to leave.
Up and down this nation / have
travelled, and ! have seen both types
everywhere, and l have never made
inquiries yet that l did not confirm
my views between the two-the hust-
Ter and the drone. And often, too.
both men have equal chance In 30 far
a. productivity of the land goes.
/ see In my travels something In
this connection that makes me hope
full The frst-named class is getting
more numerous, and the lastnamed
fewer and fewer. OF course, we will
probably always have the don't-care
farmer, but his class Is vanishing al
a gratifying rate, to be replaced by
alert, Woodworking farmers who
realize that farming Is q profession
calling for high intelligence and com
mon sense.
And as the profession Of farming be
comes higher and better, you will see
a powerful and a contented nation.
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