1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARISIER. 



447 



For the Neie England Farmer. 

 ^WOMEINT AND FARMING. 



Messrs. Editors : — I notice that one or two 

 farmers' wives have made an etibrt at being heard 

 through the columns of your paper, and if you will 

 allow a farmer's daughter a similar honor, she will 

 be much pleased. It is a well established fact, 

 though not often discussed, that farmers' wives 

 are the most hard-working class of ladies in exis- 

 tence, for the reason that they are actually com- 

 pelled to be thus. We would ask if farming can- 

 not be made sufficiently profitable to relieve every 

 housewife of that amount of extra care and labor 

 which she endures beyond what her physical 

 strength is really capable of enduring ? if not, 

 young ladies have a reasonable excuse for not 

 choosing farmers for husbands. Not that we 

 would in the least depreciate so noble an employ- 

 ment, but would awaken the sympathy of the 

 "lords of creation" for those wives and mothers 

 who are compelled to bear up so bravely under 

 ceaseless toil ; whose vigils are disturbed only by 

 the sonorous slumber of their husbands or the 

 care of infancy ; whose knowledge is rarely in- 

 creased by time for reading and study, and whose 

 ideas of human nature and the world are lim- 

 ited to their own native village. 



I would refer to a young lady, a farmer's daugh- 

 ter, whose nature seems averse to the life she leads. 

 She possesses more than an ordinary thirst for 

 education, but alas, the profits of the farm are not 

 sufficient to furnish means to expand the bright 

 germs of intellect. She is excessively fond of mu- 

 sic too, and can say, 



"Music, 0, how faint, how weal£, 



Limgiiage fades before thy spell ; 

 Why shoulJ feeling ever speak, 



When thou canst breathe her soul so well?" 



Yet when she suggests the propriety of a piano, 

 father says, "The washboard must be your piano, 

 for I have not the means." It may be said the 

 shrewd can have means, but 'tis not always true 

 of the farmer, and I would ask, should this young 

 lady marry a farmer, or not ? 



Permit the farmer's wife to labor reasonably, 

 provide her with books, pictures, music, and such 

 things as accord with her taste and nature, and I 

 venture to say she will be the most happy and 

 honored among women, and truly adapted to her 

 station, as mother and teacher. She can under- 

 stand the teachings of nature, she can appi-eciate 

 the loveliness of Spring, the fragrance of Summer, 

 the rich harvest of Autumn, and the sublimity of 

 Winter's storm. And with the farmer's wife thus 

 educated, could we not hope for the elevation of 

 a future generation ? Why will not mankind see 

 to it, and if possible render farming profitable as 

 well as pleasant, and the farmer's wife educated 

 and useful. No class of ladies can be better sit- 

 uated to embrace life truly, or develop refinement 

 and genius, than the farmer's wife, if she can be 

 allowed sufficient time and means. 



A Farmer's Daughter. 



Etifield Centre, N. H., 1860. 



Remarks. — If "A Farmer's Daughter" who 

 writes us, has been a mechanic's wife, or has lived 

 for a series of years in the family of a mechanic, 

 we will confess that she is qualified to judge 



whether "farmers' wives are the most hard-working 

 class of ladies in existence," or not. We think 

 she is in an error, while we think at the same 

 time, that the wives of most farmers do work too 

 hard. The piano and* pictures, and many other 

 articles of taste and luxury, are already on a good 

 many farms, and are still finding their way there 

 every day. 



Does no mechanic ever say to his daughter, — 

 "the wash-board must be your piano, for I have 

 no means" to furnish any other ? And are all 

 professional men exempt from the necessity of 

 such a reply — the clergyman, lawyer, physician, 

 judge, artist and literary man ? 



It would be scarcely gallant for us to pronounce 

 upon the fate of the young lady you introduce. We 

 can only say that if she were our daughter, or sis- 

 ter, we should prefer her marriage to a farmer, 

 rather than to a fourth-rate lawyer, or a doctor 

 starving in his circuit of thirty or forty miles per 

 day. 



It is an evidence of intellect and power to rise 

 above what are called adverse circumstances, to 

 put them under our feet, and acquire those posi- 

 tions or things which we desire by a well-directed 

 and indomitable will. All will not succeed, but 

 many will. 



IMPORTANT DATES. 



The following will refresh the minds of our 

 readers as to the dates of the most important in- 

 ventions, discoveries and improvements, the ad- 

 vantages of which we now enjoy : 



Violins invented, 1477. 



Pumps invented, 1425. 



Paper first made of rags, 1417. 



Almanacs first published, 1470. 



Spinning wheels invented, 1330. 



Spinning jenny invented, 1759. 



Camera Obscura invented, 1515. 



Printing invented by Faust, 1441. 



Engraving on wood invented, 1460. 



Roses first planted in England, 1505. 



English shilling first coined, 1505. 



Diamonds Cut and polished, 1489. 



Punctuation first used in literature, 1520. 



Gun locks invented at Nuremberg, 1517. 



Watches first made at Nuremburg, 1504. 



Soap first made at London and Bristol, 1504. 



Theatrical exhibitions first given in England, 

 1378. 



Muskets invented and first used in England, 

 1421. 



Post offices established in England, 1464. 



Printing introduced into England by Caxton, 

 1474. 



Maps and charts first brought to England, 

 1489. 



Fortifications built in the present style, 1500. 



Sugar refining first practiced by the Venitians, 

 1503. — Wisconsin Farmer. 



He that would know what life is must have its 

 trials as well as its joys. 



