SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 913 



THE RETIRED FARMER. 



The following was a paper read before a Farmers' Institute in east- 

 ern Iowa by a gentleman who was himself a retired farmer, but who is 

 now actively engaged in business. We give it, not only for the philos- 

 ophy of the argument but for its literary merit: 



A bank note retired is a dollar redeemed; a farmer retired is a man 

 forever lost. Leaving the farm results usually from one or two causes 

 a weariness of the flesh, or an inability to secure from others, the neces- 

 sary labor and thought to keep things moving. 



As a rule the head of the family overestimates his own importance 

 in the operations of the farm and has persuaded himself that his pres- 

 ence is actually necessary to every detail. Now, as a matter of fact, the 

 world will go on when he is only remembered in marble; and his return 

 after an absence of years would be attended with more surprise than 

 delight. 



rsow my brother farmer, if you can conclude to quit the farm, live in 

 town and rest and recreate all the time, why not commence now, while 

 in possession of physical vigor and full manhood, and rest and recreate 

 n part of the time? The Infirmaties of age, decrepitude and a general 

 impairment of the faculties Is a very poor equipment for getting dividends 

 out of leisure, or happy returns from a retired life. The history of the 

 retired farmer as a rule is an obituary; an immediate death with the 

 obsequies and burial deferred. 



Smith, having disposed of his farm and the accumulations of a life- 

 time will be ready to move to town as soon as the assessment has been 

 taken, for he has learned that taxes are high in town and he wants to 

 escape the first year. Being comfortably settled in his new home, he 

 dons a well brushed suit and walks down town to spend an hour with the 

 merchant who has cultivated and caressed him during his many years oa 

 the farm. Before the end of the month he remarks to his wife that the 

 merchant has lost his amiability and there is a chilliness in the greet- 

 ings he receives from the busy men of the town. He discovers that 

 his successor on the farm is now a favorite with the merchant. Smith is 

 a squeezed lemon and has joined the ranks of retired farmers — a force 

 in the town that stays well in the breeching but never lays into the col- 

 lar. Smith complains that his wufe is devoting more time to the W. C. 

 T. U. than her home. His son has developed some luxurious habits and 

 his daughter's wardrobe has gained a lap on his interest coupons. 



He enters tiie second year with regret and closes it without hope. 

 The machine that was making dollars for a lifetime is now melting them. 

 The stimulent of sunshine, work and farm interest no longer sustain him. 

 The worries of life, real and imaginary, envelop him and the critical 

 period has arrived. The lawyer and banker have indicated their willing- 

 ness to settle his estate and close his earthly career. Smith, in anguisn 

 of soul, tells the doctor "he wishes he could die," and that accomplished 

 gentleman assures him he is doing all he can, which is doubtless- true. 

 And thus the once energetic factor of the farm quits life a loser. The 

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