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Fourth Regular Discussion 
OP TOE 
VOUTIIS’ HORTICULTURAL CLUB 
OF THE 
Rural New-Yorker. 
Topic:—"Is it advisable to oblige chil¬ 
dren under 12 or 14 yeai'S of age to do 
farm work ?” 
The chair was occupied, as usual, by Uncle 
Mark who opened the Discussion. He said 
that this topic had been chosen on account of 
its being oue of immediate interest and im¬ 
portance to every member of the Horticul¬ 
tural Club, But while it is of the highest in- 
tei-est to every farmer’s boy or girl, older 
miuds have been agitating the question as to 
whether, ou the whole, it is best to compel 
children, uuder the ages mentioned, to do hard 
work on the farm, and so deprive them of 
much needed time for study or play. When 
children are old enough to attend school, the 
school-house is the place for them, certainly 
until they are of the ages meutioued iu the 
topic, providing of course their health is 
such as to permit their attendance. No one 
can got an education for them ; that they 
must do for themselves. But when out of 
school, that is iu the morning before school 
time and in the afternoon after their return, 
they should be allowed, largely, to choose 
their employment. No hard labor should then 
be forced upon them, though the little chores 
about house or burn, which are not taxing 
upou their strength, they should willingly 
perform. However, nothing will be lost in 
the end by giving them ample time for sport, 
for strength of body is now to be built up. 
Gertie Cornwell :— I believe children at 
the ages you name should be taught to work, 
but “ all work and no play makes Jack a dull 
boy and so with girls. I am thirteen in 
March. I go to school seven or eight months 
in a year but I am taught to work and 1 be¬ 
lieve children when twelve or fourteen can do 
a good deal of work both in the bouse and 
out of doors. 
Willie MarsTON :—Thei'e is no doubt but 
some boys cau do much hard work in 
the lields when 14 years of age, but because 
they can do it is no reason that they should 
do it. Many times boys are fairly sickened 
of the farm ju&t because they are compelled 
to work hard from morning till night from 
April to November. I believe this is the rea¬ 
son why so many leave the farm for city life. 
If a boy has been at work all the forenoon in 
the harvest lield, he wants a " nooning” just 
as much as the men, but too often his “noon¬ 
ing” is passed at the crank of a grindstone 
while the hired man sleeps in the shade. 
Oscar Chapman :—I think it is nice to 
work on the farm, mornings and evenings, 
when I go to school and a part or all of Satur. 
days, but I like to have the proceeds of my 
little gai'den to spend as 1 please, and when 1 
work all the time I would like to have my 
Satui-day’s wages lor my own use. Boys 
don’t like to ask their parents for every 
penny. 
U ncle Mark :—Children who are compelled 
to work nearly always do it reluctantly. 
They are in a hurry to get through with their 
task, hence are liable to slight their work, and 
slighting farm work is of all things to be avoid¬ 
ed. A habit of doing things at loose ends, early 
formed, will cling to a persona long time, and it 
will be found a difficult thing to shake it off. 
Tnis may be avoided largely by not overtask¬ 
ing wxth heavy and constant labor. 
Fannie Metcalf:—I don’t think that boys 
and girls uuder the age you speak of, ought 
to be obliged to work ou a farm all the time, 
but that they might have their worki. e. lack¬ 
ing garden sauce, picking up potatoes, etc:. I 
think they ought to go to school when it keeps, 
and that they ought, to play some of the time. 
Bertie Brown. —I think that boys from 12 
to 11 years of age ought not to be worked too 
hard. They should be sent to school all the 
time that their parents cau spare them. I am 
going to school this Winter and have a good 
teacher. I think boys ought to learn to do 
house work if they have no sisters. I think 
that an agricultural education is very useful 
to any oue, and I think if farmer’s boys ai’e 
taught this fact while young and they get 
such an education it will give them a chance 
to gain an independence that but few other 
occupations alford. 
Ezra Morse:— In my opinion boys ought to 
work on the farm, but not beyond their 
strength. No doubt some boys have been in¬ 
jured by overwork, but where there is one 
boy that is injured from overwork there are 
ten who suffer from the want of work. 1 was 
bora and always lived on a farm, but I never 
hurt myself with work yet. Learning to 
JAN. %\ 
work is an important part of a person’s edu¬ 
cation. 
Uncle Mark:— There is truth in the state¬ 
ment that while some are injured by over¬ 
work. others are quite as much injured by 
doing nothing. Sometimes parents, in their 
fear of inculcating habits of laziness by allow¬ 
ing their children much spare time, go to the 
other extreme and give them none. When 
the “happy mean” shall be found we shall 
all rejoice. But up to the age of 1-1 the aver¬ 
age farmer boy should be required to do but 
vei-y little, if any, heavy farm work, such as 
pitching hay, mowing with the scythe or fol¬ 
lowing the plow. Yet I have known men to 
compel their boys of 14 or 15 to follow the 
plow all day, and so do the work of a full 
grown man. Girls, too, are sometimes made 
to do the work of a washerwoman when they 
might better, by far, be romping iu the fields 
or performing their tasks at school. At this 
age, when children are growing rapidly, they 
should do no continuous heavy work. 
May Bell Park:—1 think it best for all 
boys and girls to learn to work when they are 
young, and then it comes easier and easier as 
they grow older. Mother often says that our 
hands must he educated as w ell as our heads, 
and how can w'e do it but by practice ? The 
other day mother was away; 1 got dinner for 
seven and did all the work after dinner and 
baked bread, and I am sure I felt happier than 
I would to have played with my dolls all of 
the time. 
Hulda Lick: —Children under 12 and 14 
years, or even younger, are able to do consid¬ 
erable work on a farm. But still their em¬ 
ployment is generally unadvisable on account 
of the inferior work and the danger of caus¬ 
ing a dislike to farming, unless the children 
are only required to work a few hours each 
day and can have the rest of the time to 
themselves. Children of nine or 10 years of 
age should have a small plot of ground to 
work as their own; in this way they will learn 
the use of various tools. Generally children 
who have worked considerably until 14, and 
are then sent to school succeed better than 
those who have always been to school 
Uncle Mark:—I t is a good tiling for 
farmers’ children to have a little plot to till, 
as just suggested, and il’ it is large enough it 
may furnish them employment for a good 
share of the time they wish to devote to work. 
I am not sui’e, however, that children, who 
are not sent to school until 14 years of age, 
then succeed better than those who have been 
to school for some time previous, 
Annie Winfrey: —I don’t think you could 
have given the Cousins a better subject to dis¬ 
cuss; it certainly wall call to mind their own 
duties, which might have been neglected. 
This subject is worthy of more educated 
minds than ours. Iam 14; I get up aud get 
breakfast, fix the dinnei', help dress the child¬ 
ren and then go to school. We have a large 
family but I come borne at five, get supper 
while my sister milks and then wo wash 
up the dishes. I have lots of work to do 
Saturdays, but don’t think that I have no time 
for pleasure. We have an organ, a violin and 
lots of good books; we take five papers which 
I spend a great deal of time with. Cousins, 
don’t you think that in 14 years a child’s body 
w ould bo apt to run away with Ids mind 2 and 
when he begins work at that age would he not 
be awkward, and have no interest in it f 
Mary Thuklow: —In my opinion boys and 
girls should learn to work while young, but 
not do too much, though they are not very 
apt to work too much. I think some are forced 
to do more than is good for them though I do 
most of the housework since dear mother 
died, nearly three years ago. 
C. A. Butterworth: —Iu regard to the 
subject under consideration, it seems to me 
that thei'e is room for exercising a good deal 
of judgment. It is best that persons should 
begin to put on habits of industry in child¬ 
hood, but at the same time, thei’e may be 
danger of carrying the matter too far. Some 
may be physically strong enough to do a day’s 
work, but it should be remembered that the 
progress of time to a child is much slower 
than to an adult, and labor should be assigned 
proportionately. 1 do not desire to cast 
even the thought of a shadow over the merry 
days of childhood, if. is true enough that the 
small people have their trials, but grown per¬ 
sons know that they could get more solid en¬ 
joyment out of a few hours, when they were 
children, than they now can from a fortnight’s 
vacation. It is evident there are two extremes 
to be avoided, theoneof doing too much, the 
other of doing nothing. The “golden mean” 
should be adopted. 
Bertie Park I think all boys aud girls 
ought to learn to work while young. It is an 
old saying that “all work and no play makes 
Jack a dull boy, but all play, and no work 
makes him a mei'e toy.” And where is the 
boy among all the Cousins that wants to grow 
up a man “amere toy.” Iam sure I do not 
want to. I will own that it sometimes comes 
pi'etty hai d to work, when I have a nice play 
on hand, but I know it is far the best. I am 
thirteen years of age and my two older 
brothers are away from home at school and 
my father is not living so I have a gi’eat deal 
to see to ; I take nearly all the whole care of 
250 sheep besides doing other chores and going 
to school. Begin work young and it is much 
easier when you are older and we learn to 
love the animals and farm if we have some 
care of them. 
I hope all boy farmers with me will agree 
That well to succeed we busy must be, 
And learn something useful from day unto day, 
And take the good “ Rural” that, teaches the way. 
And If we uso well our hands, eyes and ears. 
We'll in time be good farmers; of that have no 
fears. 
Elmer Blanchard:— I think that neither a 
boy or girl should be set at hard work at the 
age of 12 or 14, bat should be allowed some 
time for recreation between their study 
houi’s I think it is best that they should be 
made to work moderately, so that they will 
not get a distaste for work by being idle. 
Uncle Mark: —Summingup our Discussion, 
1 think we may say that at this early age it is 
not advisable to compel children to do farm 
work, because, as a general rule, they are 
not strong enough to labor bard and continu¬ 
ously, These are the years, also, in which 
very many farmers’ children must get an 
education, if they have any ut all from books, 
and it is not a good policy to deprive any 
child of the advantages of even a common 
school education. Hard work, moreover, is 
vex-y apt to make boys hate farming—a thing 
which farmers must guard against, if they 
would keep their boys on the farm. It is the 
great secret. It also is very apt to cause 
slighting of work and carelessness in their 
haste to finish tho task. However, as has 
been said, judgment must be used in the mat¬ 
ter, and parents are the judges. It would not 
do to lay down an invariable ruie as to how 
much a child must work, and I can only coun¬ 
sel parents to make health of body and mind 
iu their children superior to any help they 
may be capable of giving In the heavy and 
sometimes severe tasks of the farm. There is 
time enough for hard work after 15 years of 
age. Befoi’e that keep the “golden mean” in 
view. 
-- 
LETTERS PROM THE COUSINS. 
Dear Uncle Mark. —I am sorry I cannot 
join iu the Discussions, for fi'om the time the 
subject proposed until the Discussion is over 
a letter fi'om hei'e could not reach you. My 
sisters and I wish to still remain in the Club. 
We return many thanks for the celery and l ed 
bud. The celei'y grow very well until about 
the 10th of June. Crops here are almost a 
failure. During Summer j'ain fell only 
twice, I might say nothing fell from the 15th 
of June until the 15th of November, except 
the few leaves that wei'e not dried up by the 
sun. The waters in the Ottawa and other 
rivers are so low that a gi'eat portion of tim- 
bei’ could not be brought to market. Just now 
tho earth is covered with a mantle of snow 
about one foot deep, aud a great many lakes 
and rivers are frozen over. We did not sow 
the Red Bud seeds for it was too late when we 
received them. We sowed all the other seeds 
sent us from the Rural, some of them 
yielded but very little, and others died. 
Would the Rural be kind enough to show 
through its columns, some nice designs in 
knotted lace? I want to maKe a set of lace 
curtains, and would like the design to come 
from the Rural so I would always feel proud 
of them, and keep them for many years. I 
discovered two things that may prove useful 
to most any pei’son. One is that ripe tomato 
juice will remove dye stains from the hands, 
and the other is that warts can be removed 
by rubbing them with a piece of raw potato. 
Would some young lady reader of the Rural 
be kind enough to send me her address ? Noth¬ 
ing could give me greater pleasure than to 
correspond privately with some one whom 1 
never knew or heard of, just to know if 
there is any oue whoso ideas are the same as 
mine. I could write many interesting things 
of this ’counti'y and inhabitants, and would 
like to learn many things of places and people 
1 never saw. i hope that not every one who 
reads this will pass it over saying some one 
will write, but will just put their thoughts in¬ 
to words, and I will answer any addresses I 
will be fortunate enough to receive but will 
choose one or two ns my cox-respondents and 
do my utmost to interest them. If some 
ot my friends who are over the line—for I 
have many of them—read this I know they 
will laugh when they come to address Maggie 
Riche, Temlscmangue, Quebec, Canada. Wish¬ 
ing you health, happiness anil prosperity, I 
hope to remain, Uncle Mark, your neice, 
Maggie Riche. 
-- 
New Members of the Club for Week 
Ending Jan. 14. 
Katie Carpenter, Bennie Hess, Forrest 
Hess, Emma Cornelius, Lizzie McLane, Min¬ 
nie Rainier, Katie Mobley, Olive Hallock, 
Francis Hallock, Newell Hallock, Mary E. 
Thurlow, Alice Barnes, Ethan E. Sabin, Ed¬ 
die Ellermeier, Freddie Eliermeier, Nellie 
Gheenbank. 
gfttja'feUatteottsf. 
[Brooklyn (N. Y.) Times.] 
How Well He Feels Now, 
A Well-Koiiwn Boniface of East New 
York Makes a Profitable 
Discovery. 
Captain Henry Lubs. the keeper of one of 
the best hotels in East New York, was sitting 
before a comfortable grate in bis sitting-room 
this morning toasting his shins and musing over 
the probable influx of visitors to his charm¬ 
ing rural retreat, during the warm months, 
when a visitor entered with whom he seemed 
to bo acquainted. After tho usual time of 
day the visitor expressed surprise at seeing 
the Captain looking so well. “I heard you 
had the rheumatism. I have a touch of it my¬ 
self, and would like to know—” 
“ Well, it’s a long story,” said the Captain. 
“You see, a year ago this Winter I was laid 
up with the rheumatism. I had it bad I tell 
you, and this Winter—” 
“ Yes; all l'ight. But what cui’ed you ? ” 
“Now don’t interrupt. I’ll tell you in a 
minute. This Winter my bad blood broke 
out in eruptions of various kinds—skin dis¬ 
eases aud so on, and I am now as sound and 
hearty as a buck.” 
“ But you don’t tell me what cured you.” 
The Captain went on dreamily: “A friend 
of mine came here fainting in his carriage, 
from which he had been thrown. I took him 
in, put him to bed, and at once put ou the 
same remedy which I had used for myself; 
and would you believe it ? The next morning, 
so far as soreness or lameness was concerned, 
be was as sound as a dollar.” 
“ But when are you going to tell me what 
it. was ? That’s what 1 want to know,” 
“ Why, is that all ? Only St. Jacob’s Oil. 
You can find it at any drug store in East 
New York,” and the visitor disappeared iu 
seai-ch of the article at once. 
[New York Clipper.] 
Buffalo Bill Successfully J*rescribe«. 
Mr. Cody is a success at anything he under¬ 
takes; not only is he a consummately good 
aetor and a successful stock-raiser and grazer, 
but, a good prescribe:- as well. The following 
incident noticed in a New Hampshire ex¬ 
change explains the matter: 
Mr. George M. Ray, city billposter, Dover, 
New Hump-hire, says: “Last November, 
while lifting scenery in the City Hall, I felt a 
stitch iu my back, the same night Buffalo Bill 
was playing hei'e. I was relating the circum¬ 
stances to him and complaining of the severe 
pain. He advised me to procure a bottle of 
St. Jacobs Oil at ouce, saying hejhud used it 
and found it the best of all remedies. I imme¬ 
diately got a bottle and tried it, and in three 
days was as well as ever.” 
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