The central record. (Lancaster, Ky.) 18??-current, 1915-07-15
RETIRED FARMERS.

RETIRED FARMERS.
Of all the mental misery that comes
to mOrtals, ! know nothing quite 50
tragic as that of the retired farmer and
the people who have to live with him.
Get enough retired farmers in town
and they will start a melancholia hot
bed and produce economic boll-weevi..
A prosperous farming community seems
bound to produce few of these mai
contents. The very beauty and fertility
OF the soil makes it possible for man
to save up Nttle money. move to town
and live life of gossip and Growl.
A farmer woo farms is fine. but
retired farmer is fierce. The town to
avoid is the town made up of retired
farmers. In years agone ! used to hear
men say, Il intend to make my pile
| and retire from business and enjoy my
self. ] am glad to know that any one
today who makes this remark is re-
garded as booked for the bughouse.
The man who does not enjoy himself in
his business will never know what hap
piness is. The limit Of rest is verv
soon reached, and then misery follows
fast. Well did Iago wall: my oc-
cupation! My occupations gonew
When your occupation is gone YOU had
better throw YOUR cosmic gripsack
overheard and jump overheard after it..
Lack of OccupAt ton is rot rest; mind
quite idle is mind distressed. We
must arrange our work 50 as to get a
little rest every day. But too much
rest is almost as bad as too much food
IL was born Of the old idea that work
was curse Its parents were master
and slave. Adam and Eve were punish
ed by being compelled to go to work.
And We have even punished children by
compelling them to 90 to work.
Retired farmers are blot and a
blight on the civic prospects of any
town. There is one State in the Union
that is gradually going into creeping
paralysis thru the number Of farmers
who have retired from business and
moved TO town in order to enjoy
themselves. The farmer works hard
until he is fifty, rifty-tve or sixty. He
has few thousand dollars in the bank.
The mortgage has been cleared off. He
has an opportunity to rent his place. or
his children will manage II for him.
He buys house in town, turns the
farm over to the boys or to renters,
and looks forward to a long life of
leisurely enjoyment. His habit of life
/ is to be up at i've o'clock in the morn
Ing, feeding hcrses. pigs, cattle and
chickens, doing mis- chores, looking after
great number of details that have to
have his personal attention. Tired
and worn with this multiplicity of things
to look after, he decides to throw up
the whole job, and he does. Now he
can get up any time that he wishes
He can lie abed until noon. There are
no chores, no responsibilities. no horse
unfed. no cattle mooing for him to
come and minister 10 them.
His occupation is gone. HIS soll be-
comes corroded with discomfort. He
wanders around from the grocery to
the post-otiice, then to the blacksmith
shop. He stops and masticates the
textiles. But the joy has gone out of
his life. and his existence becomes one
gradual, growing growl he is miser-
able AT hoEe. He makes life miserable
/ for every one else. He is the eternal
critic of every enterprise. He is at
war with progress and is fighting every
Improvement. He sees graft and sell
I fishness on every hand. Luckily fer
/ the world, such do not last long. The
man who lasts is the man who sticks
/ To his job.
There is no business in the world so
delightful as farming when you do not
get too much OF it. Leisure on the farm
is a Joy. To walk out over the broad
acres and watch the growing things,
be they animal or vegetable, is always
pleasing. The overworked farmer
thinks he wants divorce. when all he
needs is a vacation. The city man
looks longingly forward to the time
when he can move to the 'old farm >
and make il his home. The city man
who buys farm and moves TO the
country seldom makes a mistake. But
for the farmer TO move TO town in the
, hope Of finding rest is an illusion
! tragic and terrible, not only for th'
, man himself, but for his family, the
farm and for the community.