FARM AND GARDEN.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 346, 18 March 1911, Page 3

FARM AND GARDEN.

FARM LIFE. AN AMERICAN OPINION. While the drift of the rural population to the cities is not so apparent of late, things are not in such a satisfactory state in America. A. M. Soule, of the Georgia College of Agriculture, referring to this question, says that the thoughtful observer must be impressed with the social unrest of the present day, with the great struggle for place and position. The young man's ambition is no longer in the direction of agriculture, because the , life to his mind is too circumscribed, too quiet, and too exacting. In other words, there is not enough of the glitter and glare of city life that does so much to excite and stimulate for the time being, but which finally leaves one a nervous, if not a financial wreck, in middle life. The wild rush to the city at the present time is due to the fond belief of the average man that a fortune there awaits him. What future is there for the average young man who enters a factory to-day, or learns a trade? Each year the period of apprenticeship is lengthened, while the trade union dictates to him what he shall and shall not do. If he is possessed of genius along a certain Jine, instead of helping him it retards his progress. The time was when the quiet, peaceful life of the country was more thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed than it is today. Time was when man's idea 9of success were not measured by the standard of gold alone. Time was when people were more nearly free and equal than they are to-day. Then the social line was not so strictly drawn as'now. • The change in sentiment with regard to agriculture and the great increase in urban population, due to the extensive development of our manufacturing interests, would not make so much difference after all if they brought happiness and contentment and good fortune to the majority of men who cannot hope to rise above the level of the labourer. But unfortunately they do not do these things. Shutting men up in close factories at laborious tasks breeds discontent, jealousy, and covetousness, with their attendant evils. And this is the atmosphere in which the youth of the city is expected to find nourishment for his body and mind. Little wonder that the country boy should excel him in many respects, and grow up brawnier, more independent, thoughtful, industrious, and God-fearing citizen. What a contrast between the crowded tenement life of the city and the open fields and woods of the farm. And yet the young man is striving to get away from all that is most beautiful and inspiring, and shut himself up in a city away from the influences that make for the development of the most admi able traits in human character. i

The question has been frequently asked why the country boy succeeds so well when transferred to the city. This is not a difficult matter to understand when one has had the experience of living under both sets of conditions. Did you ever think yf the many activities which enter into the life of a country boy? First, he early has a chance to develop brain and muscle in the open air. There are probably brothers and sisters and neighbouring children* for playmates. What greater pleasure is there than to roam the fields hunting for the wild flowers and gathering the nuts in the autumn season, chasing the squirrels and catching the 'possum? Then there is the stream in which to fish and bathe on hot day 3. There are shady woods to stroll in, and verdant fields for playgrounds, ar.d when one gets hot and tired and thirsty, there are the luscious fruits of the tree and vine and the big red-hearted water melon to soothe and comfort the aching void which constitutes so Jarge a part of every healthy boy. And these are only a few of the things which engage his attention even in the course of a day. It may be that he is called on to render some useful service. He may have the cows to bring home, or the pigs to feed, or the chickens to look after, or the mules to ride to water, and these in their way are all pleasures, and they are teaching the boy a thousand useful thing 3. It is the great variety of conditions that he has to meet that develops in him the self-reliant characteristics which are so invaluable in later life. In the good country home there are books of travel and history to read in the evening which help to round out and build a perfect man, and so when the country boy is transferred to the city and finds a new set of conditions to face, his training stands bim in good stead. Though he niav be greet! and awkward at first and inexperienced in the deceits which men practise upon each other, it will not take him long to thoroughly master the situation, and then because of hit; splendid initiative, his fine constitution, and his strong moral fibre due to the purity of the social atmosphere in which he was raised, the rest is plain sailing, AH this goes to show the advantage of the country as a ulace for training the youth of the nation, and if it is the proper place to grow the boy, is it not after all the best place for him to live? Will he not render the country a greater service, and will he not accomplish more for himself ultimately in an by seeking a livelihood in other vocations'.' The desire of every man is for a free, active life in the open air where he can think and do largely as he pleases. This is one of the inborn principles of the Anglo-Saxon race. The country has much to oiler the pool 1 man in the way of privileges from which he is debarred in the city, j He has the privilege of enjoying the I best the land affords, of living like a : king. .Because he does not do so, and ! because the country home is frequenti ly bare of furniture and books, and of the things that go to make up life, there is still no reason why they cannot be had. As there is less temptation in the country for the expenditure

1 of money for gew-gaws and trifles, there is a chance to improve the home and add to one's possessions. Though the acquirement of wealth on the farm ; is slow and even laborious, it is better i in many instances than the poor man who is a labourer or a simple mechanic succeeds in doing under city conditj ions. One of the objections to rural life has been found in ics isolation. 1 There is an idea in the minds of many persons that in order to be happy one must be in society and have daily visits from friends to the exclusion of the good old family life that meant ■ so much and was so thoroughly benei ficial. The country is more densely I populated now, and it is quite rare for one not to have neighbours close at hand. The churches in the country are much improved, and the farmers are building pikes here and there. They also have telephones in their houses, and the daily paper is delivered at their door. And in the summer when the weather is hot out under the shade of the big trees he has a seaside resort at his own door. Over yonder there is a school-house, which, thanks to recent legislation, will be greatly improved. Thus one of the most serious objections to country life in Georgia will disappear because the primary school is now to be made stronger and more effective, while a central secondary school will afford the children of the community the same advantages they have hitherto found it necessary to go to the city to obtain. Has not the condition of isolation practically passed away in the country, and do not the things just enumerated constitute the very best and choicest things of life, which, when taken into consideration with the other privileges which country life permits more than offset the electric lights and the hum and buzz and hurrah of the city.