Norwich bulletin., 1915-02-20
ANOTHER VIEWPOINT FOR FARMERS

CWritten Specially for The Bul1etin.)
 It's easier to ind fault than to give thanks.
 Mules and men are much alike in one resepct; to wit, namely. that is to say, they both take naturally to kick ing.
 I'll wager that thers isn't farmer between East Thompson and East Portchester who can't tell you ten of his miSfOrtuneS In ten minutes Dy any town clock.
 I'll wager an equal amount, what ever 1t be, that the same man would hum and haw and begin to scratch his head, if you asked him to name over ten of his blessings, before he'd got to number six
 Net that ! mean to intimate that the farmer is any more pernickety than ether follzs-but we're bunch of farmers talking among ourselves, and we'll do more good cOmbtng our own hair than trying to barber up other crowds,
 if a fellow has sore ice or 8 jumping tooth ache. he thinks and talks and sQueals < good deal more about them than he does about the nine other toes that are perfectly comfortable, or the nineteen other teeth that are ditto. This is natural, anyway, and 1 don't know that it is wholly unreasonable. Certainly, one good lively tooth ache is calculated to Impress one's attention much more Gorctbly than even thirty-one sound pnachfng teeth. It takes up more room in his thoughts: 1t often seems to take up more in his mouth
 We're all liable to tooth ache and chilblains and corns: likewise to tu- -fr,et AlESv0 r1Ea II is neither natural nor sensible to deny the unden.abIe.
 BUT
 We're all, also, liable to months and months of aG!ieIess teeth and com fortahla toes and sound lungs and the most of us haven't been struck with sudden death, yet!
 lF we treated life and the world as well as life and the world treat us, perhaps we ought to carol and chtrp when things go well with us, as we regularly whimper and gTuTnble when they go wrong.
 That would be putting q tremendous strain on human nature, though, wouldn't it?
 # we should all hold private Thanksgiving services for every conn fort we enjoy. would they or wouldn't they OutnumbeT the Fast day lamen. ia lions rising from our woes?
 Let's leave that conundrElm for each one to answer for himself. You re- member, when Robinson Crusoe came to cast up in regular trial-balance form his material condition. he found that his blessings quite ouinuT>Sered his woes. l can't help think<g there are 8 good many Of us. r;ght here in New England, who are at least as well of az 9 castaWay sailor on an earth Quak-y island surrounded by canni- bals.
 Not long ago, the Department of Agriculture gave out, as the result of long and widely extended investiga- tions covering the entire country, the conclusion that the average income of the average United States farmer was only $640 Q. year.
 Whereupon We all of us,-tIlis par ticular John Farmer incIuded,-pro- ceeded to groan Q great big groan. Some of Us promptly figured out that 1t meant about $53 a month and that out of this must still come taxes and interest on investment Compared with city wages paid city workingTnen for less hours of less strenuous labor, the net result was IisgustingIy small.
 It gave us a mighty good chance to find fault: and we took noble advan- taze of it.
 But there are two sides eo every.