Work and Wages. G2o 



that something ought to be done to elevate the standard of 

 intelligence, and morality, too, of the farm laborers ? And 

 it is no consolation to us farmers, either, that the mechan- 

 ics, professional men, men of commerce and trade, and the 

 men in office and places of trust, are as much in need of 

 Sabbath school instruction as the men who work on farms. 

 If the farm hand does his work well and behaves well, why 

 isn't he deserving of as much consideration and honor as 

 the man who sells dry goods or groceries ? or the man who 

 dextrously uses the forceps or lancet ? If a man's work is 

 coarse and heavy, he may yet be very expert at it. Men 

 may be, and sometimes are very clumsy at fine work which 

 they claim to understand. We sometimes hear about skilled 

 and unskilled labor, and we hear about experts in arts, sci- 

 ences and the trades. Now what is the reason we haven't 

 expert choppers, and reapers, and mowers ? I udll not take 

 time to use any arguments to convince you that it requires 

 as much skill to swing an ax at arm's length, and with full 

 strength, so that the blows shall come within a hair's 

 breadth of the point aimed at, as it does to keep on the 

 right side of the line between a successful and disastrous 

 surgical operation. But I wish to say that among the men 

 of my acquaintance who can chop four cords of wood in a 

 day and follow it, there are no fools. They are not only 

 men of well trained muscle, but they are also bright men. 

 I believe, in all kinds of farm work where strength is 

 required, it is better to have men who can apply their 

 strength intelligently. 



Take a man of intelligence and good health, who weighs 

 about one hundred and seventy pounds, and who has had 



