464 
Annual Report of the 
that long before that is attained there is much for woman to do, 
much that will elevate and ennoble if properly sought after. Wo¬ 
man has a great work to do, and it seems to me her hands are too 
full already to ask for more duties; and the cry had better be for 
more time, time to improve and fit herself for the duties that are 
now devolving upon her; time to read, to study and think, to keep 
equal with man in intelligence, to be his helper and adviser as well 
as his housekeeper. 
That woman has a great and sacred duty to perform at home is 
not to be disputed. That is her realm, and her chief delight should 
be to make home all that is bright and lovely. As wife and moth¬ 
er there are many duties which may not be delegated to another, 
and her family should not be neglected for any outside enterprises. 
But, are her duties all of the hand? Is it the chief end of wo¬ 
man’s existence to feed and clothe her family? Should she have 
no ambition above her daily round of toil? While the labor nec¬ 
essary to be done should not be ignored, or looked upon as dishon¬ 
orable, I claim, that aside from this there is a work of the head and 
heart that is just as necessary for the well-being of the family, as 
that the board should be daily spread, or the house kept in order. 
While she ministers to the physical wants of her children, should 
she not also be competent to advise, direct, and educate their minds ? 
In order to do this, she must, herself, be intelligent, and spend 
some time in the daily improvement of her own mind. 
Women, generally, and farmers’ wives more particularly, have 
not time, or at least do not take time, to cultivate their minds as 
much as they should. If there is one right the working-woman 
should ask for, it is the right to more leisure, more time to read and 
rest—time to think, time to converse with her children. 
The ceaseless round of work which many a farmer’s wife is 
obliged to do, deprives her of one hour of leisure time. Even the 
Sabbath brings with it many duties which may not be neglected; 
and weariness of body and mind often keeps her from church or 
unfits her for useful reading at home. 
Constant, arduous toil, year after year, will soon cramp the mind 
and dull the intellect, even if it be i 4 n a good cause. 
We need intelligent housekeepers as well as industrious ones. 
There is not much danger that our families will go unfed or un- 
lothed; but there is danger of our children being uncultivated and 
