Article February 23, 1899 Issue

Charm of Farm Life

Farmer's Voice

No one pretends that farmers are making money rapidly; they have their vexations and discouragements as do others, but they have several things to be very thankful for. They have good homes in nearly every case, plenty of wholesome food, and decent clothes. They are not under the eye of the task-master, nor working under great nervous strain, with every minute lost from work counted against them when pay-day comes. They need not, in the language of the shops, "be afraid of their jobs;" they are working for themselves, and are sure of their pay even if it is not so large as they might wish it to be.

The man who looks upon his farm as a machine from which dollars only are to be made, and does not value any other of the numberless blessings it gives him, will never cease to talk about hard times. It is not alone for the money it will produce that the farm should be prized. It should be valued because it brings men and women near to nature's heart and their children grow up strong and stalwart, ready to meet the trials of life with bodies strong enough to perform every task. The farm is pre-eminently the stronghold of the home; it is the place where home ties are strongest and where life is at its best.

The average farmer and his family live better in every way, have better food, better clothes, and better social surroundings than does the family of the man who lives in a city on a salary of one thousand dollars a year. The progressive farmer of to-day lives in a style that is not equaled by the city man who earns two thousand dollars a year. The farmer of to-day has frequent mails, an abundance of literature, good facilities for travel, and is able to enjoy more of the comforts of life than the man in any other calling in life. If he looks at his farm from this point of view he will value his farm at its true worth, and be contented, and contentment is better than great riches. If farmers would remember that they see but the darker side, very few of them would be willing to exchange with the city man. The educated farmer of to-day is the social peer of any man, while money is almost the sole criterion of social worth in the city. As between the two, the farmer holds every vantage point.—Farmer's Voice.

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