588 
Vht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 22, 1922 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
I notice this Hope Form man says lie 
has no desire to live any life except that 
of a fairly prosperous fanner. To me 
that indicates a lack of ambition or a lack 
of yood taste. There are so many lines of 
life richer and fuller than that of a fanner 
that 1 am surprised to hare an evidently 
intelligent man make such a statement. 
It will hare a had effect upon oar am¬ 
bitious young people. Where mould our 
great leaders of tomorrow come from if 
all were satisfied with a farmer’s life? 
J. L. w. 
I will cheerfully admit that I may bo 
lacking in ambition, good taste and intel¬ 
ligence. 1 have lived in town and city 
at all sorts of jobs, except that of owning 
and spending large sums of money. I 
admit that I am not posted on any life 
which must be tinauced with heavy cap¬ 
ital There may he lines of life far bet¬ 
ter in every way than the oue we have 
selected. We can have no quarrel about 
that; all I know is that after trying many 
“lines of life" and lindiug most of them 
hard and rather crooked, I am well satis- 
lied to live on a farm under comfortable 
conditions. I do not hnd fault with 
those who have other opinions, and surely 
I do not envy them. If they were cap¬ 
able of understanding wbnt they miss, I 
should feel sorry for them. I would like 
to make it clear that what 1 mean is that 
the life of a “fairly prosnerous farmer" 
gives me the best opportunity of living 
what seems to me the best life. I do not 
pretend to say that all men can find the 
same satisfaction in it. 
* * * * # 
What do I mean by a fairly prosperous 
farmer? That is an elastic term, and will 
depend' somewhat on the locality, the 
habits of the farmer and his family. For 
example, in New Jersey 1(M) acres is more 
than a farmer needs in order to be pros¬ 
perous, while in Iowa or Kansas he might 
need -KM) acres. I should say that, a pros¬ 
perous farmer should own his land clear, 
and also have a fair surplus of cash or 
good investments or credit. He should 
have his farm in a good rotation or in 
orchards, or with a good herd of slock, so 
that there will be a reasonable and steady 
income. A man may plan to sell Alfalfa 
hay or strawberries or eggs or tomatoes 
or grain—whatever suits him. If he is 
what I call "prosperous" he has his land 
in such shape that it gives him a sure and 
steady income. This income will be more 
some years than in others, but ou the 
average it affords opportunity to pay for 
a good living and leave some little sur¬ 
plus. In spite of all the talk about hard 
times. I can find thousands of farmers on 
what I call the Atlantic slope who have 
developed and maintained just such a 
farm. True, they do n«>t all live as fine 
a life as they might, hut such a farm 
gives them opportunity to live what I 
conceive to be the ideal human existence. 
You may think I am talking in superla¬ 
tives. but remember that 1 am merely 
giving my own opinion. I am not saying 
that all farmers are so fortunately situ¬ 
ated; I am just trying to give my con¬ 
ception of what, farm life ought to be. 
* * * A * 
A man on such a prosperous farm can 
in time provide his family with the com¬ 
forts of life. I am not speaking of luxu¬ 
ries, but of plain comforts. For example, 
water running through the house. In 
our own case, we tapped a soring on the 
hillside and piped the water to our build¬ 
ings. It runs all through the house as 
freely as in any system of city water¬ 
works. We have a hot-water heater, 
which makes our house far more com¬ 
fortable than most eitv apartments. Many 
farmers pump the water supply from a 
well or use the power of a running brook 
to lift it to a tank. A prosperous farmer 
may have these things. As for lighting, 
in our own case we can tap an electric 
wire which runs past ns. If that were 
not possible, we have a brook which could 
be made to at least partly light our 
house. As I go about I find many farm¬ 
houses wlu re night is turned into day by 
means of some mechanical or chemical 
system. Our telephone puts us in touch 
with all the world, and we hope to have 
a wireless outfit before the year is over, 
which will enable us to comb the air for 
its mysteries of music* and speech. With 
a ear we can easily get about. All these 
things are not to be classed any longer as 
luxuries; they will be considered neces¬ 
sities and before many years they will 
be quite within the reach of the "fairly 
prosperous farmer.” because he will come 
to realize that they are necessities, and 
not things to be given entirely to tin* rich. 
Such a farmer as I am speaking of will 
not wear many diamonds or fill his house 
with rich tapestries or elegant furniture, 
but he will have good books and pictures, 
and that solid thing we call comfort. 
***** 
T often ask myself what more than 
comfort can the city man obtain? He 
may say that he lives among people. 
There is always the excitement of a crowd 
around him—always the gamble of 
chance—even the spirit of <Hit and ex¬ 
citement. Some years ago. during a great 
Wall Street panic, a poet looked out from 
a window on the struggling crowd aiul 
wrote: 
"Ah, saner are the hearts in quiet ways; 
Thrice happier they who, far from those 
wild lanes. 
Grow softly as the apples on the trees.” 
I have had city men tell me that we 
who exist in the country do not know 
how to live. To me it seems that the ex¬ 
act reverse of this is true. Irvin S. Pobb 
is an author and humorist of great skill, 
lie has recently been printing a series of 
“favorite stories.” One pf them tells of 
a certain rich man who became a "high 
liver.” At an age when the human ma¬ 
chine naturally logins to snap and groan, 
he continued to consume great quantities 
of raw meat, liquor and black tobacco. 
Of course, he began to "go." Tim experts 
were called in anil gave him a thorough 
overhauling. They told him his only hope 
was to quit entirely raw meat, rum. and 
recking tobacco. 
"Well.” he said, if I do that, what 
can you promise me?" 
"You may live live years?” 
"But wlial for?" asked the patient. 
I presume we should all laugh at. this, 
but somehow I fail to see any joke. I 
ih* not quite get it. Perhaps if t had 
lived in “other lines of life” 1 might 
laugh. Here was a man rich and with 
superior intelligence, who could see little 
or nothing in a life which was to deprive 
him of the things which could only appeal 
to the selfish, brutal side of existence. 
It seems hard for me to believe any such 
story, yet I am assured by those who 
know that there are thousands of men 
and women who would feel just as help¬ 
less if they chanced to he deprived of the 
selfish and mean habits or vices which 
have long ruled their lives. As Tennyson 
wrote: 
“Are there no poor upon your lands?" 
Apparently not, or. at least, none that 
are worth much thought or worry. 
***** 
“But what for?” You understand 
that in all this I am not attempting to 
prove that all "fairly prosperous farmers" 
are angels nr pure patriots. Unhappily, 
I know better. I have worked for some 
of them in years* past who could not pos¬ 
sibly serve us models. 1 am just trying 
to picture something of what this "fairly 
prosperous farmer" might do if he wanted 
to. The life of such a man will naturally 
be many-sided, lie has time for reading 
and thought, which your city man never 
can find. The quiet of the country among 
growing things give him the power of 
concentration and study. Your city man 
lives his life in a prison of byick and 
stone. The rubbish and dust of the streets 
are swept away, but there is no vision of 
growth constantly b fore bis eyes, lie is 
like an animal confined to bis narrow box, 
with only a glimpse at the sunset, except 
for some brief trip into the country. The 
farmer lives among living things. Spring. 
Summer, Autumn pass along his farm, 
dropping their gifts as they go—the bloom 
of Spring, the ripe grain of Summer, the 
deep color and cool nights of Fall. Then 
comes Winter stealing upon him. killing 
the growth be loves .so well, and yet in 
his heart he may carry the eternal prom¬ 
ise of Spring. The city man, as gray 
comes in his bail*, looks out upon the dull, 
drab Winter of city life Until there is 
little wonder that he asks in his heart: 
“But what for?" 
The farmer may look out across his 
brown fields, or over the snow-covered 
hills, and smile, for he knows that all in 
good' lime the snow will melt, and once 
again the brown hills will burst into life 
and beauty. That is one reason why l 
have said, and why I believe that the 
future of this nation lies in the smiling 
farms rather than in the grinning city. 
For into the mind anil soul of the coun¬ 
tryman grows something of life which 
the city man never can understand. Your 
city man will smile at tlii« and shake his 
head in his superior wav, but many a 
hired man going out at daybreak with 
his clattering milk pails looks off to the 
crimsoning cast with something in his 
heart which the man who asks “But what 
for?" never will know. 
***** 
I have conic to think that what a man 
does with his surplus is a pretty sure 
index of his character. See what in* does 
with his money after he has gained a 
competence, and I think you can get the 
answer to "what for?” I know men who, 
when they were struggling against pov¬ 
erty and trouble, made a si 1mm vow tlmt 
when they once gained competence and 
home they would turn around and help 
others. They would keep ou working, 
for work becomes a habit, but you would 
see them show their gratitude when their 
ow'ii family was provided for! The trouble 
is that the habits of work and seltislmess 
grow together like the Siamese twins. 
You cannot separate them. Such men 
never have enough. They always see an¬ 
other farm mr another bunch of bonds to 
buy. Of course, they know they never 
can use, never can need, this extra prop¬ 
erty, still they sweat and toil for it. 
Sonic of them invent the beautiful fiction 
that it will be needed for their family, so 
they proceed to starve the children of 
the beautiful, spiritual things of life in 
order that they may leave a handful of 
material things. 'I’llat is one great reason 
why I prefer the life of a fanner. I can 
give rny children a much finer childhood 
and a better start, in life than your city 
man ever can. There are no “chores” for 
the city children to do, and there is a 
discipline and training in good, honest 
chores that you cannot get in any other 
way. As for “leadership.” the barefooted 
boy who roams about the open fields with 
the little dog running after him will make 
a far safer leader of men than the city 
youngster who spends his life in a stone 
box. That is, supposing the two Imys 
have equal opportunity for education. 
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2 
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