IV 



THE BORN-ON-THE-FARM MYTH 



IT is a very common custom, especially with those 

 who seek political favors, to impress upon the elec- 

 tors the importance of the fact that the particular can- 

 didate in question was born on a farm. It certainly 

 is no disgrace to have been born upon a farm, nor is 

 there any excuse for boasting of it. In so far as the 

 child is concerned, the birthplace is peculiarly acci- 

 dental. Important as heredity is, the child has no 

 choice in the matter, he cannot choose either his father 

 or his mother. Important as environment is, the new 

 born child is equally the creature of fate, he cannot 

 choose whether he shall be born in a hovel or a palace. 

 This pleasing fiction, which is so sweet under the 

 tongue of the politician, is a mute tribute to the im- 

 portance of rural birth. As a means of political pre- 

 ferment it is harmless, and at most creates only a smile 

 in informed auditors. In some respects, however, being 

 born on a farm is a positive disadvantage. As a rule, 

 this is the case with the man who wants to be a farmer, 

 especially in his mature years. Old-fashioned farming 

 in this country has not much to boast of from a scien- 

 tific point of view. There was plenty of hard work, 

 quite enough getting up at four o'clock in the winter 

 morning to milk the cows, exposed during the night to 

 the inclemency of the season, quite enough of the un- 

 scientific methods of feeding the farm animals, which 



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