Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 February 1899 — THE FARMER AND THE FARM. [ARTICLE]

THE FARMER AND THE FARM.

[Address by Lee E. Gluebrook before foe Jasper County Farmers’ Institute.] It is well for us Occasionally at these, meetings to stop and con* eider who we are that the state is so mindful jof us. Excepting teachers ours is the only profession that receives instruction at the public’s expense. Are we worthy of this recognition? Do we give adequate returns to society and to the state for the time and money that is spent in onr behalf, and do we properly avail ourselves of these* opportunities of instruction that are so gratuitously offered us? To answer these questions we have taken for our subject “The Farmer and the Farm,” or,’more properly, the farmer and his work. Now, if there be qne calling in life more honorable, more useful than others it is the pursuit of the farmer. In placing him first in the long list of useful callings in civilized life, we do it not because we hold an humble position in the ranks of this numerous and worthy class, but we thus place him because he by nature and the works of his own hands actually stands first.

Man in his primitive and perfect state was a tiller of the soil, a farmer; to dress and to keep the garden was his first work. From the fall to this very day the farmer has ever been active in good works. Turn where e’er we may, and upon every side our eyes with gladness behold the many and the mighty changes his busy hands have wrought. To him more than to all others is this earth indebted for its cultivated fields, its beautiful meadows, its orchards and gardens, fruits and flowers, its many grains and grasses; indeed almost every good and useful thing the earth sends forth at the touch of human toil comes to us from the hands of the farmer. Aside from being the greatest producer of the necessaries of life he stands first as a citizen. Among the farmers we find less violations of law, considering their numbers than in any other class. Such a thing as riot, the farmers’ armed resistance to regular Constituted authority, or the farmers’ trust or combine in unlawlul restraint of trade are things yet to be heard of in this country. The nnture of the farmer's calling is such that he of necessity must lead a quiet, secluded life. Thus living, he, of course, has not the time nor the opportunity to make of himself a fomenter of strifes, a busy- ; body, a disturber of the peace. So 1 the state finds itself at but little exi petise in keeping him obedient to its laws or in supporting him in i its penal and benevolent institutions.

Again the farmer, feeding and I clothing the world, feeds and ! clothes himself, thus he is a bur den to no one, lives at the expense |of no one. While in other pursuits i men are living upon the misfortunes of their fellows, upon their brothers’ strifes, upon the ignorance of their kind; while others may lie planning to mislead, striving to get something for nothing, drawing pay for pretended service, peddling useless wares, dealing in futures, living by mean tricks and turns; the sturdy patient farmer plows and sows, reaps and garners, bears heat and cold, wet and dry, labors on and on, year in and year out giving value received for all he has and making better every Eiece of work his toil-scarred ands do touch. Agriculture, we find, has ever been a peacifying, civilizing pursuit, a calling that always makes the most desirable of citizens, therefore a pursuit that by all honest endeavors should be encouraged. In times of peace the fdimer more than all others contributes to the content, prosperity and happiness of the people; in times of war he has ever been our nation’s main stay. Not only in times of peace by his manual labor and general good behavior as a citizen, and in times of war by his bravery and general usefulness as a soldier, does the farmer prove his worth, but in the councils of the nation, in the various departments of the goyernmeut he has been called to fill, he has ever shown that honesty, industry,rand capability which he exhibits in every day life upon the farm.

< From the farm came Washington. Jefferson, Webal •*, Oaf, i Lincoln and many others of like I worth and fame, but these few imI mortal names are enough to show | that farm life and farm training do not untit men for makers and executors of their country’s laws, but, on the contrary, are really conducive to their fitness for these important places. Now, a calling so useful, so honorable, we have said, should be encouraged. It should, if possible, be made the most attractive, the most remunerative of all pursuits. The opposite of this we too often think is true. With all the mod-

em improvements in agricultural machinery, with so much of the heavy work of the farm made light, it does seem as if we should be better satisfied with onr calling than onr fathers were. Bat are we? While comforts and con-, veniences have mnltiplied in farm life they have also increased in other pursuits, increased faster and to a greater extent than in our own, we think, so, in comparing our lot with theirs, we are too apt to think more of their life and labor arid less of our own . We are sorry ■to say farm life does not furnish that opportunity for getting up and along in the world that it really once dith The road to wealth and fame does not lead by the cornfield, across the meadow and through the woodland so much as we would like to have it, so mnch as we think it justly should. No, the farmer does not command the attention and respect that men of many other callings less honorable and less useful often command. Known to be forbearing, quiet and peaceable the farmer is often put upon, neglected and abused for these very virtues.

Now, while farmers should not give up their good habits, too much neglect their farm affairs, too much busy themselves in other yet it might be well for them if they would be a little .less forbearing and quiet. It would be well if they, would look a little more into some matters that are not directly connected with their farm work and learn'how it is that others with lesls means, less ability and much less labor often manage to live so easier and better than they. •

With all the boast of the farmer’s independence, with all the pretty stories of his flocks and herds, his fruits and grains, his happy, healthful, quiet home, yet he lives n life of toil, trials and many defeats. He seems to be the servant of all. He is at the mercy of countless ills. The price of his products is set by the buyer, the cost of his purchases is what the seller chooses to charge. The wind and the rain, the frost and drouth, insects and blights, things seen and unseen, known and unknown, prey upon his crops. ,His stock sicken and die, his soil washes and wears, his improvements decay, noxious weeds invade his fields, everything that he has demands his constant care. No work in which he ever engages Comes to.an ultimate and complete end, for his work, like woman’s work, is never done. With all the improvements in farm machinery, with centuries of experience in farm work much of it still has to be done by “main strength and awkwardness.” Much of it is still dirty, tiresomfc and distasteful to even the strongest and most industrious.

! - A calling engaging so much of i human toil and care, a pursuit regulated so much by climate and soft, governed so much by physical conditions, and dependent so much | upon human knowledge and skill should lie one thst- engages the tiumght and interests.of our wisest ami best men. How to make lighter the burdens of life for the farmer, how to increase his knowledge and profits, how to make him better acquainted and better satisfied .with his work is a subject worthy of the attention of us all. The farmer’s lot can and will be made better, he as well as others will year by year add to his knowledge and profit by his experience. The world is moving and the farmer, though a little slower than we like, is going along with it. In the great march of civilization the various callings of men advance upon parallel roads. Not all even and abreast, however. Some are far in the van, some move along briskly up near the head, while others from checks, hinderances and unequal chances are held far in the rear. To this class belongs the farmer. It is for us to. increase our knowledge by every means in our power, maintain our rights and interests wherever and whenever assailed. JButnn guarding our interests and in opposing our foes we should not forget that our own shortcomings often work us countless ills. f We, as a class, it is §pid by some are noted for our grumbling, famous for our stupidity and distinguished for our gullibility. There is really more truth in this than we like to acknowledge. Many of the things of which we complain we ourselves may be the authors of; many of the-traps-in which we are frequently caught are partly of our own setting. We rely too much on pur muscle and too little bn our brains. We do not bring to our calling that knowledge, training, close mental application and searching study that fit men for many other pursuits. Men are supposed to be bom farmers—anybody can follow the plow, handle the hoe or feed the pigs.. Any one can manages farm.

These are mistaken ideas. In this great day the fanner should be the most variously informed man in the land. He is, or should be, an artisan, a merchant, a veternarian, a naturalist, a chemist, a lawyer, a statesman and a philosopher. The success of his business is more or less dependent upon every branch of human learning, more so than any other calling in life perhaps. Now, while we, as farmers, may have much of which to justly complain, yet we find our greatest enemies in our own ignorance, prejudice and self-conceit. We can* if we will, know more. If not too conceited, we can gather knowledge from the experience of others. We can learn more of our own work by learning more of the works of others. Books, papers and lectures upon farm work and farm products are upon every hand. Colleges for the education of farmers within ensy reach of all. We have but to take advantage of the means of education that are all about us and our condition as a class*will be greatly improved. Farmers must learn to get closer togethqp, act more together, learn to think more of their calling, | more of themselves and more of each other. But to do this they need not turn enemies of every other laudable pursuit, for this world is wide and needy. Here we have room for all, need of all and work for all who honestly toil with either baud or brain.