The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1914-08-13
Reversing the Farmer Joke"

Fifteen years ago farmer was con.
sidered a joke. The alleged funny pa.
pers relegated him to the same class
as the tramp and the stage Irishman
Every little town of 1000 SOULS made
merry at the expense of the family iso.
lated on its paternal acres. One reason
for this-probably the main reason
was that it was generally understood
that the farmers were not making mon
ey, and, at that time. we were quite
generally reservsng our respect for those
who were.
The change that has swept over us in
our attitude toward farm life is por-
tentous. We arc not ridiculing the man
who tills his own acres; we are more
likely envying him. The country is rap
idly being civilized" according to urban
standards-the farmhouse has running
water, electric lights, telephone, and
motor car. Its former isolation is
now largely a matter of choice. The
deadly monotony and unremitting drudg-
cry which drove the young people into
the cities are being relieved by a new
type of community life which tends to
content them and bind them to their
neighborhoods.
Meanwhile, in the city, you may re-
wise the proverb Scratch Russian
and you find Tartar" to Scratch a
store clerk and you find a would-be
farmer A few acres and liberty are
his dream, and his patronizing air to-
wards farmers are likely to have dis
The number OF people of all
grades who are nursing the idea of re-
firing TO farm as a refuge from the
OF their present employ
ments is amazing 1t includes such d.
verse trades as the mechanic, the arch
iteet, the bookkesper, the motorman, the
insurance salesman, the teamsters, the
and the merchant 1t is
an instructive appeal from the
hazards OF modern industry with its high
OF failure and its sensitive
ness TO injury from forces wholly beyond |
the control of its managers. The feel. !
ng is that on the land. for the willing |
less to work it, man and his family |
5 fairly certain of his three meals.a- |
lay -and- plaee-to- sleep.
No one any longer denies that the /
teady renewing OF the cities with the |
resh blood of the country is as detri- /
mental TO the country as ii is beneficial
O the city, and country is used here in
he sense of nation. Nor does anyone
eny that in aeceleration OF this return
o the land is the remedy for many of
he ills that beset us. The first tendency
f it is to reduce the cost of foodstuffs,
nd the second is to improve the quality
T the race, which is stunted and warped
v factory life. The obstacle is the
hruptness of the che nge. The comic
apers have made a convention out OF
he idea of farmers bewilderment in
great town. IL is as nothing compared
D city mans bewilderment on farm.
nd to suppose that a city business
ian of high or low degree can trans
liant himself abruptly into farm life
nd grow sturdily at once, is as prepos-
srOus as to suppose that a fortune is
} be had for the willingness to work
nd sacrifice for il by every farmer boy
no seeks a city career-though, let IL
? confessed. those BOYS received abund-
Mt assurances that this was so. III
What is needed is halfway stations in
ne Journey Of population places where
le rudiments Of agriculture may be
armed before the city earthquakes
I'VE been forsaken. The agricultural |
hool which is &c be established in Bos-
N this coming winter in the form OF /
nurses Of lectures given by instructors
ON the Amherst Agricultural college /
an outpost on this frontier. II viii I 4
ve practical teaching and enable people 4
Intemplstiug the shift TO weigh the
anoes and count their resources.-Bos-
n Transcript