farmers' boys. 309 



day when tliey should be legally free from parental control, and at liberty to 

 turn tbeir backs upon the old homestead and the monotonous drudgery of farm 

 life together and forever. 



This has been what thousands of farmers' sons and daughters have done, 

 and is what thousands more will do, till farmers as a class are willing to wel- 

 come improvement, to seek for light, and use it when they get it. They are 

 learning to do so gi'adually, individually. The good leaven thrust into the old 

 meal tubs by diligent and earnest thinkers is working and spreading. Men see 

 tliat only in the light of science can labor such as the fann requires be made 

 attractive and elevating. It is true, men and boys can dig and plough and sow 

 and reap in the old way, and make a living at it ; but the further behind the 

 times they are, the more frequent will be the desertions from their ranks of the 

 young and strong, who bend toward the excitement of change and improve- 

 ment as young plants bend toward the light of day. Changes, innovations, 

 improvements, are going on everywhere else ; why not in the fields and house- 

 hold of the farmer as well. 



Another way in which great wrong has been done the boys is through the 

 habit many parents and sisters have of treating them as inferiors. It is a 

 habit thoughtlessly acquired, and thoughtlessly practised ; but for all that, not 

 tlie less unjust and cruel in its results. It is a very common thing in farmers' 

 families to see great partiality shown the girls in regard to attentions bestowed 

 upon personal appearance, and time and opportunities allowed for the cultiva- 

 tion of those little accomplishments which give young people ease and confi- 

 dence in society and in themselves. It is not thought that the boys, great 

 rough fellows, with their big hands and rusty boots, have any need of accom- 

 plishments. What company fit to be admitted into the parlor would ever wish 

 to see them, or how could anybody expect that they could be made fit to be 

 seen in the parlor 1 Those boys with their coarse, dusty clothes and rough 

 air, no, indeed ; nice chairs and lounges and carpets were not made for such 

 as they. When company comes to spend the evening, the girls can brush their 

 hair, slip on a clean dress, and assist their parents in entertaining them ; but 

 the boys are seldom thought of as a part of the family on such occasions. 



A case in point was where the visitor at a wealthy farmer's house had with- 

 drawn, with the farmer and his wife and two daughters, to the parlor after sup- 

 per. They were social, pleasant people, and the girls exerted themselves to 

 make the evening pass cheerfully. One of them gave some passable music on 

 tlie melodeon, but remarked, looking wistfully at her mother, that her brother 

 George played and sung so much better than she it was a pity he could not 

 come in. She was met by the reply that if one of the boys came in all the 

 rest must follow, and they were so rough the kitchen was the only place they 

 were fit for. 



So the boys stayed in the kitchen with the hired man, not because they 

 were not as smart and intelligent as their sisters, but because, as they were only 

 boys, the parlor was too nice for them. They were particularly noticed the 

 next day, and as far as fine forms moved by active limbs, and good features 

 lighted up by bright eyes could go to make sons to be proud of, there was cer- 

 tainly cause for parental pride in them ; but they were shy of being spoken 

 to, awkward and ungainly in manner, and ate their meals and went about 

 their work in a sort of dogged, care-for-nothing way, as if that were all they 

 new, and all they expected to know. 



Another thing was noticed. The house being a large and new one, the 

 owner was not a little proud of it, and desired his daughters to show the com- 

 pany through all the rooms from cellar to garret. Comfort and convenience 

 seemed to reign everywhere, with but two exceptions — in the parlor and in the 

 boys' chamber. There was too much furniture and formality in the former, and 

 far too little in the latter. The girls had a beautiful, light, airy room, nicely 



