"A FARMER'S BOY."

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12910, 26 February 1906, Page 3

"A FARMER'S BOY."

THIRTY YEARS AGO. A RAKD LIFE. A number of arriues have been published in the Wellington - Evening Post," holding up the dairy industry to obloquy because of the child sluvny it in so many cas-e-s involves. Some:-ce signing himself " Tiilingham," says she children of ]N~ew Zealand do not know what hardship is, and he tells the story cf his own boyhood, to prove that assertion. He says he writes of 20 to 50 yeais ago, and of Old Ennland. "I am a son al a, farm labourer of that period, an individual who is generousrv blessed with a J quiver- full," and as u' e farm labourer could only get for his labour the sum of 10s to 12s per -week in fine weather, and a diminishing comnaiatiw in wet weather, cue can imagine what straits he is driveu to to feed his familv and supply their seantv necessaries- I was one of a family of eleven, and at the age of 11 years and 6 months I had permanently to turn out, to add a m-xJicuaj to th* needs *f the household. Mv brothers, "who were older, were out also* my sisters had to go out as helps, where I den't know, as I was too young to retain the knowledge of their whereabouts; but >sraffice it *hat I had to go out to work to earn my living, or as much of it as I could. .My 3iour of rising was 4to 4.30 o'clock iu the morning (my father was «.p before me), have a bit of breakfast, and off to the daily routine, which was, in the 11th to 16th years, very similar. I have had to walk from my "home to mv work through all weathers, a distance of four to six miles, and have had to be at -work at 6 o'clock in the morning. 1 k member during 'this period 1 suffeied considerably from chilblains, and my sufferings have awakened the sympathies of some° of my fellow labourers, who have -seen my suffering and have actually taken it in turns to •-carry ..me on their backs a purtion of the way in order that I might be at work in tame. This work lasted throughout the ■day... sometimes 'driving plough,"' sometimes picking and burning couch, and general -work incidental to a farm at Home. We knocked off at 5 pjn. in >winter and 6 p.m. in summer, and then had to -walk ■hazae.

Of course, the distance depended -upon the farm one worked at. It was sometimes situated six miles from mv father's cottage—no ponies to convev us—and ;;I1 this had to be continued sometimes in scnow, and sleet, and aviin, and frost, the thermometer considerably bekvw freeing .point, icicres drooping f rom one - s sc . mlv clothing, often with worn-out ioots and a"u .empty stomach; in fact, at any time we were only able to get bread aud 'such vegetables as my father grew in :the .hired rood of.-iground that was routed out to poor i cottagers in the village .and 031ue Prussian peas, boiled in a sack into a sort of wuddiug which we used to enjoy with some dripping, rendered from some* off cuts we might be able at times to purchase from the one-bullock-a-moath butciier: no- milk jexcept a half-penny worth of skimmed occasionally, no meat except a jiiece of fat .pork now and again, at which my stomach revolted, no raisins, currants, "spices, .pickles, jams, sauces, nor aiustard. -except such as grew in the field, no holidays except Christmas Day and Sundays; and =even them I have had to .go to wcrk a«s -usual when I have been employed scarine ■crows. We had no orang«s and bananas amr iruit of any kind, except durimr thi apple season we might be able to buy a few windfalls from a fanner. I have* fhsn I have been unable to get work 1 + *? a farmer fin the winter, had to go on to. the mud flats surrounding my home and tirudge perhaps twenty to thir.tw miles itniough water and mud -up to the knees :in order to gather periwinkles, the day's labour; realising perhaps from half a peck to a peck, and to carrr these home, the >sunx total of which would realise 6d to 9d lhjs .would have to be doae in the cold, weather, and sometimes the east winds are ■«o>aeyere they cut one to the .quick I have had to do this in «rtkr to obtain |toead..f« myself and other members, of the.family. I have not bees wrapned up warm during those trying times; my" clothing .i>eing a calico shirt, jersey," cotton trousers and coat, and sou'wester" hat I hax& come home on a bitterly cold winter day, and when there was harely any fuel to make a file with, the times beinn- so severe that poverty has reduced our eWnbined ..efforts to obtain these luxuries. I learned to read and write before I was and the schoolmaster was a good sort,-and started a night school for boys irom .7.30 to 8.30 p.m. • I continued my studies from this source during the : time I .was in the village. I think I was aMe ;to pass the <,Fifth Standard by this means. I xead several ' books for boys, amongst them "President Lincoln" and "Fromiog Cabin to White House." were a good stimulant for a boy ana on* with any grit will naturally be -"ted up. Looking buck during these years. 1 do not consider mv lot any more narsn than rthe lot that befel the general run of the labouring class lad. nor even as harsh, as my patents were deeply reliigjous from their standpoint, and worshipped God in an unassuming, methodical manner, and w«re kind and generous, commanding the kxwe and respect due from children to parents. They did the best they possibly coald: without-murmur, ever their hard lot. They laboured during a long life, .attaining old age (one of them *iill survives}, but withoat being able to secure a foot of this earth, they could call their own, and if it had not been in the pow*r of their ijiildren to help them, the workhouse must have been their home and a jjaupers <jrase their la*-, resting place. °

'* Place the foregoing alongside the lot of- many .03 the dairy farmers in this country, and compare their daily exktence. I place it alongside, because "the dairy farmers of to-day are sprung from the same class that I write of, have had like experiences to encounter in their youDg days, and have (the bulk of them) gone through the same routine, and therefore the standard of conducting th-sir homes must in. a great measure be governed bv the experiences of youth, and they compare the lot of their children with tli?ir own youthful lot with' a wide margin jo the benefit of the child of' to-dav.

"'They had no ponies to take tJiem to. school; no mi!k, butter, and food of every kind jo .absndance; bo holidays, no shoot-

j ii.g, fishing, nor dances of an evening; no gcxod Government who supplied their ia- | .nets with farms on very easy terms', whe.eby they could make the land their own and leave it to their children as at: heritage for ever and ever. 1 have lived !in the back-blocks of this country for ; fourteen years amongst the dairy farmers, and I have noticed the lot of the children and censidered the overflowing abundance of advantages they have. 1 have never observed a case of hardship during the whole foi:rKe'.i years, and I am conslantJv contact wij.li them, as my occupation is that of a storekeeper. 1 have noticed how strong and robust the children are, especially those who have to turn out and r.;iik. 1 have not observed any lack of brains amo-gst them, or any backwardness in the studies of those who were gifted m;. re than others. I do know thai I lie paze i> !>::y from my store a great am u:.l cf goods and luxuries that would im-er be thoutra. of or in any way possible hi mv e.arly experience—luxuries that 1 at present cons.der absolutely unnecessary, but which ths iiii.s-.akc:: kliulr.css of tf.i parents givts the children of tiie present day. Of course. this arises fr-.m the great amount of spsnd-i-g power ilie parents enjoy. I cannr.s ttc any Kom to decry a system that gives so many benefits both to parents and children. ;.«•.'. children's children. Theie is no (hub: that parents "try to get as much as possible out of the children, but what is their vhjeet but- to pay r.ff the mortgage 0:1 tfcv 250 acres, w that :; can be enj..ycd free? What more L«.:dab!e object co'uld the jjvirent cniploy the !ab;>i!r ».f hi* children in: .As I have stated, children can be employed urnler much mox- adverse conditions without deterioration. Why shr.ahl a parent, who knows this fiom experience, hesitate to •use them?

Pjrrents can. and do. make tlnir cowyards better as times improve ami the mi-k checrue increases. But this cannot be do :e the first Year, nor perhaps for sev-ral ve:. >. t«ut the parent always has that t.bjecz, :;» view. He may suffer lesses of st«;tk vhi-.i, may ptit him back a couple •»;* s S ;. .•;. . 3 have -known a small dai:y fuvir.er Jt-.-o as much as twenty or thiin-" Ih:hI <.f cotts an one season. One cannot criticise t'.:v fanner's actions in his misfortune, and a\\ his efforts and the efforts ;f Us familv are combined to recover this loss. Casual observers' criticism is always ant ;<• l>? siraiced. Persons who theoiise can a!ways do better than the practitioner. Let vn-ell alone, • and the condition will work out .its own salvation if there is any libus* j in tii-s employment of child which. las an observe? of fourteen vears* onstant contact with the class, j have tot ■seen;"