2-26 



XEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



M.VY 



in all our industrial and especially our agricul- 

 tural f)ursuits. 



I will .statu one cause of the evil, not sug- 

 gestc-(l by N. S. T. and which I do not rt'col- 

 lect to Lave seen in print : — the withdrawal of 

 capital by farmers from their business and in- 

 vestinij; it elsewhere. This o])erates to increase 

 migration in two wa}'S. First, indirectly, by 

 conveyin<r the idea to those cognizant of the 

 fact lliat farming does not pay as well as other 

 pursuits. If it did the farmer would not thus 

 withdraw his means, but when he had a sur- 

 plus he would increase his business corres- 

 pondingly, the same as manufacturers do. 

 Secondly, directly, by preventing him from 

 giving employment to as many jiersons as he 

 might were all his resources invested in agri- 

 culture. 



Many farmers make it a point to invest a 

 certain sum every year in bank stock, govern- 

 ment bonds, railroad securities, or in some 

 way entirely separate and independent of their 

 regular calling as farmers. This prevents 

 them from making improvements on their 

 farms, wdnch would give employment to many 

 pairs of hands. 



But sa) s one, wages are so high that we 

 must hire as little as possible, and invest our 

 money where it will pay better. Thus men 

 will toil early and late, through heat and cold, 

 sunshine and storm, robbing the poor earth of 

 everything they can, and making the least pos- 

 sible return ; hiring only when they cannot 

 possibly avoid it, and then getting out of the 

 poor laborer's sinews the largest possible 

 amount of work. 



No wonder that the young, wide awake, in- 

 telligent Yankee, who feels that something 

 besides such a life of constant drudgery is 

 possible for him, seeks some new field for the 

 exercise of his powers, and the enjoyment of 

 life. 



And then, does the course taken by these 

 men have a tendency to make wages lower ? 

 On the contrary, does it not serve to raise the 

 pri(M; of labor by driving a large j)ortion — and 

 that of the better class of laborers — from 

 the country, and thus giving the few wIkj re- 

 main, an ojjportunity to take advantage of the 

 farmer's necessities, and demand exorbitant 

 prices ? 



Then, again, these men have to pay much 

 more for the amount of labor they hire per- 

 formed, than they would if they employed help 

 for a longer period. For instance a man will 

 pay $;).00 and sometimes more per day for 

 help to secure his hay crop, but does not 

 think of doing anything to improve his fields, 

 who might, by hiring for a longer time, with 

 the same money he pays a few men in a f(;w 

 days, hire one man long eiujugh at a greatly 

 reduced ])rici', to do with the aid of macliini^ry, 

 the same work that these men do, and make 

 some nuicli needed improvements besides. 



N. S. T.'s third suggestion to prevent mi- 

 gration, that "for farmers who employ help 



throughout the year or a greater part of it,* 

 to erect neat, comfortable, but inexpensive 

 houses upon their farms, and hire more mar- 

 ried men,'' is the most practicable of any I 

 have heard mentioned. Indeed the failure of 

 farmers to do this in jtast }-ears, has operated 

 to drive this class of pe()[)le to the west more, 

 perhaps, than one would be willing to admit, 

 who had never investigated nor had any expe- 

 rience in the matter. 



Spending the first twenty years of my life 

 on a farm, in one of the best agricultural sec- 

 tions of New England, and the last twenty in a 

 manufacturing district, I can speak from ex- 

 perience on this point. 



Marrying young, and being obliged to labor 

 after marriage to support a family and obtain 

 means to commence V)usiness for myself. I 

 found that I could not do this by laboring for 

 a farmer, as my inclinations led me to do ; for I 

 could not obtain a tenement for my family, in 

 which they would feel respectable and be re- 

 spected. Hence I must either change my oc- 

 cupation, or shift for some other (piarter. 



And my experience is not a solitary one. 

 Thousands of men have left the service of 

 farmers in New England for this very reason. 

 In farming neighborhoods the Yankee girl 

 may consent to work in the family of neigh- 

 boring farmers, but after marriage she is not 

 willing to do so. The farmer may say that it 

 is no worse for her to "work out" after mar- 

 riage than it is for her husband to do so ; — no 

 worse for her to work than it is for the wife of 

 the farmer. True, in one sense. She is willing 

 to work, exjiects to work, and glories in her 

 strength and ability to l^bor. But for what and 

 for whom ? For a home of her own, and for 

 the man who has won her love. And few 

 Y'ankee men are willing to place their wives 

 at service, or in some old tumble-down tene- 

 ment fit only for bats and owls. But if a 

 suitable home can be ]ivovIded, not expensive, 

 but tidj' and comfortable, with a chance to 

 cultivate a few flowers and perhaps feed a 

 few chickens, she irill labor to make that 

 home pleasant and joyous, and her husband 

 contented and happy. Most men so situated, 

 will have no desire to change their situation, 

 but will be willing to work for a reasonable 

 price, provided they can have steady employ- 

 ment, year after year, being able to save a 

 portion of their earnings every year, until they 

 have obtained a sum sufficient to secure a 

 home of their own ; and then they will resign 

 their position, and, with many sweet remem- 

 brances of the past, they and their family will 

 bid adieu to their ])leasant home, soon to be 

 occupied by another, ready and anxious to 

 secure the situation, — to go, where? To the 

 West? I answer. No! I believe that a 

 small part of families, aftej' having been in the 

 emjoyment of such circumstances and sur- 

 roundings for a series of years, will be willing 

 to bid a final farewell to their native hills, and 

 break away from all the hallowed associations. 



