CHAPTER IX. 



SOCIAL FEATURES OF THE UNION. 



Another important feature of the Union which 

 renders it almost indispensable to the farmers, is the oppor- 

 tunity it offers themselves and families to cultivate the 

 social relations, and attain to a higher degree of civiliza- 

 tion. Few who have not been residents of the country 

 can rightly understand the monotony of the farmer's life. 



Day after day he and his family pursue the same ap- 

 pointed round of toil. There is no change, save the 

 regular recurrence of the Sabbath, and attendance upon 

 religious services, when such privileges are accessible. 

 During the busy season, constant toil leaves but little 

 leisure on the hands of any member of the household; 

 but when the long winters set in, and several months 

 of comparative 'inactivity is forced upon them, the 

 monotony is hard to bear. It is always felt, even by 

 the dullest. Visiting is rare, and as a rule is not encour- 

 aged. Strange to say, the majority of our farmers do not 

 value social intercourse, yet no one needs it more. He 

 usually lives a lonely and secluded life, rarely going beyond 

 the limits of his farm, except to town, the country store 

 or post-office on business. Occasionally a circus, or some 

 traveling show draws the farmer and his family out of 

 their seclusion, but with this exception the monotony is 

 unbroken. No wonder, then, that with constant toil 

 and unbroken solitude as his only companions, the farmer 

 should be a careworn, prematurely old man. No human 



