1885 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
farm ^opifs. 
KEEPING THE BOYS ON THE FARM. 
CLEM AULDON. 
It has been said that “common sense is, 
paradoxically, an uncommon gift.” I think 
an observer of hurnau nature will lend assent 
to the assertion. Oftentimes a man’s worst 
enemy is himself, and with a majority of 
people through life a disposition to work 
against their individual interests is a predo¬ 
minant trait. Sometimes it crops out in 
whisky, sometimes at cards, sometimes in a 
variety of dissipation that robs the mind and 
ruins the body, You may readily recall ex¬ 
amples, and illustrations will present them¬ 
selves every day. If a man, for instance, is 
driving a horse that suddenly becomes fright¬ 
ened, how natural it is for the driver to be¬ 
come excited and lose his presence of mind. 
He strikes the horse and yells at him when he 
should be perfectly cool and U3e a little judg¬ 
ment. If you are milking a fractious cow, 
and she kicks the pail over and splashes the 
milk in your face, wbat do you do? The 
chances are nine to one that you swear at the 
cow, and kick her in the shins. This is the 
old remedy. Better try a little common 
sense. If a man is punishing a boy, nine 
times out of ten he loses his temper and whips 
the boy for the satisfaction of the thing rather 
than the good of the child. So with a thou¬ 
sand aad one affairs of life. The influences 
which operate to drive boys from the farm 
have been actively at work right at home ever 
since Adam and Eve went into the agricultu¬ 
ral business, and tried to raise Cain. And 
still each succeeding generation asks: “How 
shall we keep the boys on the farm?” 
If a little more disgression is permissible, 
it seems to me that there are two side issues, 
which form a powerful factor in this problem. 
The first is, making home-life pleasant; and 
the second, elevating the farmer’s calling. 
Every year hundreds of boys leave their 
homes in the city and set out to do for them¬ 
selves. It is not that they dislike their fathers’ 
occupations, but because they are dissatisfied 
with their homes. They don’t find them pleas¬ 
ant places to stay. And this, generally, is oc¬ 
casioned, not by thepecuniary conditions of the 
parents, but rather is it owing to the fact that 
fathers—and sometimes mothers—having out¬ 
lived their childhood, are unable to enter into 
the feelings and sympathies of their children, 
and come gradually to think that anything is 
good enough for a boy. Ou the farm they 
are apt to reason with themselves: “ This is a 
good deal better than I used to have it, and I 
guess it’s good enough for Charlie.” This 
may do for a theory, but it is very poor prac¬ 
tice. I have never yet seen a boy who was 
philosopher enough to derive any comfort 
from the thought that his father had had a 
“hard row to hoe.” It seems to me there are 
special reasons why the farmer should avoid 
this mode of reasoning, Farming is neither 
a trade nor a profession, and, as a class, far¬ 
mers have a more scanty education and a 
poorer knowledge of their business than the 
professional man or the artisan. They have less 
system about their work, and consequently, 
less taste and refinement about their home life 
than their town brother of corresponding or 
even much less means. They get into the 
habit of doiug without conveniences, and with¬ 
out any effort at improvement: the house and 
its surroundings grow older and lass attrac¬ 
tive instead of becoming more beautiful and 
pleasant. This, accompanied with the mono¬ 
tonous routine of the average farmer, makes 
a very unenviable life for the l»oy who has 
any ambition. It forms a striking contrast 
with the life of his city cousiu, and the boy 
naturally feels it. 
The apprentice in the city, or the clerk, iu 
addition to wearing better clothes while about 
his fvork, has a certain number of hours to 
labor, and he knows when his task Is done. 
Then he has a pleasant room to go to when 
the day is finished, and no matter how tired 
he may be, he can lie down iu his little teu- 
by-twelve castle, aud live iu a world of liis 
own for a few short hours. Now, to many 
weary workers this is a world of comfort. 
But the boy on the farm, how about him? Iu 
addition to working harder, and wcuriug 
meaner clothes while he is about it, he has no 
hospitable room to open its doors tor him at 
night; noplace that he can fix up and orna¬ 
ment to suit his taste, and call bis own. He 
may bavo to sleep iu the garret or the un¬ 
furnished chamber or some out of the way 
place, where he can indulge his imagination 
by looking at a bare floor and a dirty ceiling, 
and wondering how the place would seem 
with a few pictures on the walls and a carpet 
on the floor. 
Too frequently he never knows how many 
hours it takes to make a day’s work, uutil he 
gets into bed and he has just about as much iu- < 
centive to work as the ox or the horse that 
gets three meals a day and a new harness 
when the old one can’t be tied together or 
patched up any longer. Then people wonder 
why the boy dosen’t want to stay on the farm? 
If we hope to retain the boys on the farm, we 
must expect to do two things: provide them a 
pleasant home, and also, manage somehow to 
interest them in the work of the farm. But I 
presume that a good deal of missionary work 
will have to be done among the fathers before 
we may expect to accomplish much with the 
boys. I apprehend that with the general ran 
of farmers, there will be found a disposition 
to ignore what looks to them like mere trifles. 
They are apt to conclude that these matters 
are all well enough for the lawyer or the doc¬ 
tor or the kid-gloved professor, but that the 
hard-working farmer has no time to 
attend to such affairs; that this is all out of 
place on the farm. My candid friend, you 
are making a mistake. If that is your view 
of life, I am afraid you are on the wrong road. 
You must strike a different route, or else you 
are bound to go thro’ this world in a wrong 
direction. 
Stop and reason about the matter a mo¬ 
ment. Are not your children just as good, 
pound for pound, as those who are born in a 
town. Haven’t the boys from the farm prov¬ 
en themselves a match for their sharp city 
cousins time and time again? Don’t they do 
it at the bar, in the pulpit, on the bench—any¬ 
where and everywhere you may put them ? 
The good old New England homestead has 
been prolific of scholars aud orators; it has 
sent its full quota to all the callings in the 
higher walks of life; and when we reflect that 
the majority of lawyers and statesmen for the 
coming generation are growing up on the 
farm, don’t you think it worth your while to 
give your boys all the advantages within your 
power? But even if you are more modest in 
your parental hopes, and only desire that your 
boys shall never leave the farm, you would 
certainly, wish them to be good farmers; want 
them to be looked up to by their neighbors, 
and to lead a life that will be an example to 
others and a pleasure to t hemselves. 
“Theharmouyaud happiness of life, in man 
or woman, consist in finding in our vocations 
the employment of our highest faculties, and 
of as many of them as can be brought ioto 
action.” Why should not this he the case on 
the farm, as well as iu the office or the shop? 
I see no reason why t.be farmer should not take 
this view of life, and endeavor to derive as 
much satisfaction and enjoyment from his 
business as the professional man or the me¬ 
chanic. This is the problem for the father to 
work out; let him develop this idea in the 
miuds of his children; bring them up in a 
pleasant atmosphere, surrouuded by books, 
papers and pictures, and as many of the com¬ 
forts aud luxuries of an intelligent home as his 
menus will admit. Let him educate them to 
the belief that farming is a respectable occu¬ 
pation. A man naturally feels a pride in ex¬ 
hibiting the finest horse or the best cow at the 
fair; but should it not bo a source of greater 
pleasure to hear it said: “That mau has raised 
the finest lot of boys in this country.” 
There are t wo classes of men who raise 
boys. Some fathers realize the fact that the 
rearing of cbildi'en involves a great re¬ 
sponsibility, and feel that they can 
hardly do too much toward traiuing 
aud educating them. They feel a just 
pride in seeing them grow [into sterling 
manhood, aud they cherish a secret ambition 
that they may some day make a mark in the 
world. There is another class of fathers who 
regard children as a something that come 
along iu the natural order of events, and 
they look upon them as being created for their 
particular benefit—a species of property in 
which they exorcise an exclusive ownership, 
and they propose to make the most of it until 
the boy is twenty-one, or until he is big 
enough to lick “the old mau.” 
I shall assume t hat most of the Rural read¬ 
ers do not belong to the latter class; that they 
hope to raise a boy of whom they may be 
proud; that they feel they have some time to 
devote to his interests. There is every induce¬ 
ment iu the world to view the matter in this 
light. First, the necessity of the thing, if it is 
expected the boy will stay on the farm until 
he is of ago, and will have a respect for his 
father afterwards. Secondly, the laudable 
ambition which every father should have 
that his children, when grown, may look back 
upon a happy childhood. It was a theory of 
Sidney Smith that mankind are always hap¬ 
pier for having been happy once; so that if 
you make ouo happy now, you make him 
happy twenty years hence, by the memory of 
it. The thought bears strongly ou the matter 
of making childhood a happy season. It need . 
not be a pampered childhood, or one devoid 
of many hardships which so develop wiud 
and muscle; but it should be a loving, cheery 
season, even if passed uuder the humblest 
cabin roof. Douglas Jerrold said; “Blessed 
be the hand that prepares a pleasure for 'a 
child, for there is no saying when and where 
it may bloom forth.” 
In the arrangement of a well ordered and 
pleasant home, it is the little things that make 
or mar the current of one’s life—the mere 
trifles that the common plodder is apt to over¬ 
look or ignore. To illustrate: the Rev. Alfred 
Taylor says, “Few people realize how much 
of the success or failure of the day’s work is 
dependent on breakfast. It is of the first im¬ 
portance to begin the day’s work well. The 
morning meal, if prepared pleasantly and 
enjoyed heartily, is the crowning brightness 
of the day, which sets affaii's in motion 
cheerily, and for the largest and happiest re¬ 
sults. An unsatisfactory breakfast is worse 
than a cloudy sunrise or a gloouyrain. Sour 
looks and cross conversation at the breakfast 
table are aids to the quack medicine man, for 
they give the family the horrors aud promote 
indigestion. A slovenly table is an enemy to 
domestic peace, for it helps to make home 
hateful.” 
In the matter of beautifying the home, it 
seems to me that a great many people work 
to a disadvantage. We are all trying (pre¬ 
sumably) to be happy. Most persons of taste 
have a desire for “nice things” about them; 
and the ambition of the newly married couple 
with a small bank account, is to be able to 
furnish a parlor. They work, and contrive 
and economize to get a nice carpet, then a 
handsome parlor suit, then some fine pictures, 
and, perhaps, a costly piano. .All their spare 
thoughts and their 9pare cash go into the 
parlor. They have a nice room, to be sure— 
something it is a pleasure to behold. Then, 
after it is all furnished, they draw the curtain 
and lock the door. The utility and comfort 
and pleasure of this room do not enter the 
mind. It is a thing far removed from their 
daily life—something reserved for state occa¬ 
sions. When the “company” comes, they open 
the parlor. It may be once a week, may be once 
a month. The room is enveloped in a sort of 
frigidness, like that which surrounded the old 
Puritan Sunday, and is entered so seldom that 
the “small boy” looks awkward and clumsy 
when he crosses the threshold, and feels as tho’ 
he were going to fall over and smash some¬ 
thing. 
Now, why devote so much care and expense 
upon a part of the house that is only to be 
seen once a week, and leave the rooms where 
so much of our time is spent, looking so bare 
and uninviting? Why not apply a portion of 
this outlay to furnishing the bed-room and 
oruumentiug the dining-room? Here is where 
your life is to be passed, and let a sensible 
effort be made to have things pleasant and 
cheerful when company is not present. It will 
be useless to talk about any change to people 
who have been keeping house for twenty 
years, but let the young just starting iu life, 
with small means, try to make things pleasaut 
for themselves, aud rest assured that callers 
will always vote them entertainiug. If you 
have but little, expend that little in furnish¬ 
ing yqur private room aud iu ornamenting 
the rooms where your life is wearing away. 
After you grow rich and proud and have lost 
all your capacity for enjoyment it will be 
time enough to furnish a parlor lavishly, and 
then lock it up out of sight. 
Let the young husband have a small room 
that he can call a “study,” where he may 
have a writing table and book-case, with some 
pictures of his favorite authors and as much 
reading matter as his means will afford. This 
is something that should be encouraged in 
every legitimate way. The farmer should 
have his library just as much as the profession¬ 
al man his private study. Add something to it 
every year, aud the more pleasure the farmer 
6uds in this room the finer will be his crops. 
This will prove one of the strongest influences 
for general advancement and the elevation of 
the former’s calling, that can be recommend¬ 
ed. Wheu your boy grows large enough to 
have a room, let one be set apart for his ex¬ 
clusive use, adapted to his tastes aud his years, 
with a writiug desk aud pleasing and instruc¬ 
tive books. Furnish it according to your 
means, and make it pleasan6 and cheerful. 
The boy will learn to be careful and consider¬ 
ate by baviug “nice things” for his daily com. 
pauious, aud he will be tidy and considerate 
just according as you have taught him while 
a child. 
When he goes away from home he will see 
that he has things as nice as other people's, 
aud he will conclude that the old farm is a 
pretty good place after all. Wheu you buy 
him a suit of clothes, no matter whether they 
are cheap or expensive, have them made to 
fit him. With the present facilities for gettiug 
boy’s and men’s clothing made to order, there 
is no excuse for, aud no satisfaction in, buying 
“custom-made” suits. There is more mortifi¬ 
cation to a sensitive boy in an ill fitting gar¬ 
ment than in the quality of the material. 
Clothe him so that he will not be ashamed of 
himself when’he goes out and sees’bow other 
boys are dressed. As he grows older, he will 
want to go to balls and parties and concerts. 
This is natural. Probably you did the same 
tbiDg. There is not much boy in your boys or 
girl in your girls if they do not seek amuse¬ 
ment the same as other people’s children. Do 
not oppose them too strongly in this. Talk 
with them. Reason with them. Amusement 
and recreation of some kind are essential. 
The desire for them will endeavor to find ex¬ 
pression in some form. No matter how much 
you may try to frown it down, you are not 
able to suppress it. The most you may expect 
to do is to direct the channel. 
Some parents, from religious motives or 
penuriousness, or a fear- that their boys may 
marry young or form impure associations if 
they are permitted to go into society or culti¬ 
vate the acquaintance of the opposite sex, aim 
to exclude them from social gatherings of 
nearly every description, and especially from 
balls. I suppose it is of little use to talk with 
most people about how to raise children. It 
is like trying to cou vince a man that he be¬ 
longs to the wrong church or the wrong party. 
But I have this to say. I have been a boy, and 
I have some ideas about boys, that were not 
gathered from books. I believe that just about 
the best society for your boy is the society of 
girls and boys of his own age. This is human 
nature, and human nature is a pretty strong 
element to tamper with. 
If you insist upon isolating young people, 
andunsexing them, you may live long enough 
to find out that there are habits which a boy 
may conti act. that will prove a good deal 
worse than dancing. Tbeu, let your children 
enjoy themselves in every rational way. Try 
to enter into their amusements as enthusiasti¬ 
cally as you do into them labor. If they work 
hard they must play hard. Give them a 
holiday occasionally, and get up a party for 
them now and then. In this way they feel 
that they are allowed some priviligesat home, 
and are not compelled to seek elsewhere for 
their amusement. So much for the manage¬ 
ment of che inner home. 
(To be continued.) 
CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
The People’s Farm and Stock Cyclo¬ 
pedia. —The agricultural literature of these 
days is becoming quite voluminous, but by far 
too much of it is written by men with little or 
no practical knowledge. There is far too 
much theory and too little actual experience; 
as well in the books as in agricultural journ¬ 
alism, it is too much the blind leading the 
blind. We are glad occasionally to get hold 
of a book that actually smefis of the soil. We 
have just received from the author, our old 
friend and contribntor, Waldo F. Brown, of 
Oxford, Ohio, a work that is not open to the 
criticism of being written by a tbeorizer. The 
People's Farm and Stock Cyclopedia is a fine 
volume of 1,300 pages filled with plain, practi¬ 
cal common sense, written by men who know 
how to do, as well as to direct others. 
In the preparation of this work, Mr. Brown 
has been efiieiently assisted iu several 
special departments bv such practical men 
as Prof. A. J. Cook, L. N. Bonham, Stephen 
Powers and many others, so that we have a 
work that is authority on these subjects. It 
is divided into two parts: Part 1st treats of 
the farm and farm belongings, and of the 
management of the soil, and the growing of 
various crops, iuehiding root aud fruit culture 
and gardening, tree growing, beautifying the 
home and its surroundings. Part 2nd treats of 
stock and stock breeding.growingand feeding: 
—feeding for various purposes and by differ¬ 
ent methods. The diseases and medication of 
stock, and by stock we mean every tbing liv¬ 
ing and moving, not excepting the bees. 
From a hasty perusal we conclude that all sub¬ 
jects are treated in a plaiu practical way that 
is within the comprehensiou of every farmer, 
aud we think it will pay for a careful read¬ 
ing. It is printed iu large, plain type, on good 
paper aud is well bound. It is published and 
for sale by Jones Brothers, Cincinnati, Ohio, 
and by the author. Oxford, Ohio. 
A List of Extra-Tropical Plants readily 
eligible for industrial culture or naturaliza¬ 
tion, with indications of their native countries, 
and a statement of some of their uses: by Baron 
Fred. Von Mueller; an American edition, re¬ 
vised qud eularged, published by Geo. S. 
Davis, Detroit, Miehigau. This book is some 
450 pages, is issused with the vie v of calling 
attention to the valuable foreign trees that 
possess an economic, value to our people, 
with a desire of reuderiug them better known, 
and with a hope that some of them may be 
introduced and rendered popular aud that 
their growth may become profitable. We 
esteem it as a book of reference. 
