10 



to live and work in it. A house is not a home ; and when it becomes the lo- 

 cation of a home, not less than one half of it properly belongs to the wife. 

 First, let a man find his other half, and then with her counsel and knowledge 

 he may wisely build or arrange the house. That is the place where the greater 

 part, at least, of the life of wife and mother must be spent. She must be there 

 in the early morning to prepare the breakfast so that the men may begin their 

 work in good season. Immediately after — if not before even — there is the 

 milk to be cared for, dishes, pails, pans, etc., to be washed, scoured and dried 

 ready for use soon, the sleeping rooms to be aired and arranged, some poultry 

 to be looked after, (and a wonder if the pigs and calves are not left in the hur- 

 ry to get afield, for the "women" to feed,) and when it is done it is time the 

 dinner must be preparing. An hour or two in the afternoon may be given to 

 a brief rest. But the chances are that the children will come in for something, 

 or a little mending rnust be done, and then supper with its after work finishes 

 the day. Day by day, month by month the same routine must be gone over, 

 with scarcely any change except some additional care or demand upon time, 

 strength and patience. It is scarcely to be wondered at that one such hard 

 working woman said, " Betsey Jane ! come, fly around now, here it is 'most ten 

 o'clock, dinner's to be got, to-morrow is ironing, next day is baking, then 

 Thursday's right on hand, and after that Friday, then the week is most gone, 

 and the clothes ain't out yet." Remember that the sphere of her labors is the 

 house and its immediate surroundings, while the husband in the course of his 

 business finds a constant change, and more or less society. The means and 

 appliances for doing the work of the house are often of quite a primitive char- 

 acter and require a great expenditure of time and strength, and this some- 

 times where the mowing machine and other labor saving implements are found 

 on the farm. I go into farm houses now where I calculate that a woman 

 walks not less than one mile to make a batch of pumpkin pies, to say nothing 

 of the amount of time and patience required. And I know of more than one 

 place where the woman will travel not less than 30 miles, and carry not less 

 than 230 tons, in a life of 25 years, in order to get the water for family use, ex- 

 clusive of that needed for washing. These are not, perhaps, very interesting 

 details, but they are some of the facts that go to make up the life of the aver- 

 age farmer's wife's life. 



When the boy comes into manhood, sees how his mother has and does 

 work, and thinks that such must be the general lot of farmer's wives, is it any 

 wonder that he thinks that he will never be a party to creating such a lot for 

 the girl on whom his young heart is fixed ? And when the girl contrasts such 

 a life, and the house ornaments, (or the lack of them,) with those of others 

 who may have no more wealth, but use what they have with a better cultiva- 

 ted taste, is it strange that she don't want to be a farmer's wife ? Many of 

 these features which are now found existing, are not the necessary, inevita- 

 ble accompaniments of farming pursuits. And in a good degree some of these 

 features are becoming things of the past. No one can have visited the wo- 

 man's building at the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, without being convinced 

 that woman's inventive genius, and executive ability are fully equal to her 



