Life, 1923-08-16 · page 14 of 36
Life — August 16, 1923 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This poem by R.E.A. satirizes the difficult life of farmers through the early 20th century. It catalogs rural hardships: droughts, livestock losses, taxes, and crop failures. The key joke appears in the final lines: a farmer's city cousin romanticizes "going back to the land" and becoming an "agriculturist," but the actual farmer knows he's just stuck as a "farmer." The satire mocks the gap between idealized notions of farming and its harsh economic reality. The accompanying cartoon by Bernard M. Baruch titled "Patron of Husbandry" shows a well-dressed gentleman with wilted flowers, symbolizing how removed wealthy or urban people are from actual agricultural labor. The page presents contrasting rural sketches about settlers and farming life, emphasizing the disconnect between romantic ideals and rural hardship.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE What’s in a Name? O!} the farmhand comes and the farmhand goes, And the hired girl’s like the winter's snows! There’s either a drought—or too much rain, And the cattle get in the standing-grain, While a worthless hound-dog raids the sheep— And it’s hardly worth your while to reap That field of oats the wind blew flat, And the milk is lacking in butter-fat— As the Inspector roundly swears, Hinting at burdens the old pump bears! A colt gets caught in the barbed-wire fence, And the tax well, they are immense! The turkeys die in the very flower Of youth, and an unexpected shower Ruins the cream of your clover-hay— And you wonder what would old Job say Were he farming now—and had to do With a dilatory threshing-crew ! Prices are “down” when you're selling things, But when you are buying they take them wings, And your city Cousin writes that he, And the wife, and “kiddies,” and two or three Friends of his, are “Homeward Bound"— And he hopes there’s some cider still around! Oh, an “agriculturist” would quit quick, But you're just a “farmer”—and you stick! New Crop F RMER BROWNE: How's your corn. ARMER GREENE: It'll be fit to drink in about a month. BERNARD M. BARUCH PATRON OF HUSBANDRY PR es The Settler “RUCK” JOHNSON was by na- ture a settler. He settled on Bear Creek when all the country in that neighborhood was a_ howling wilderness. When other settlers came he became restless and moved on to Devil’s Gulch, which he settled. He was soon crowded out of there and sought other fields. He became known as “The Settler.” This gave him an exalted opinion of himself and from settling land he soon took to settling disputes, argu- ments and—well, in fact, everything. He was the chief arbitrator of the whole countryside. He met a little dark-eyed lass and married her. She settled him. In 2023 A.D. IRST Citizen: How long has this Farmer-Labor movement been go- ing on in politics? Seconp Citizen: Oh, about fifty- Riding Master: Now, Rtse WITH THE TROT! RISE! fifty years, Fair Pupil: But 1 CAN'T TILL 1 stT Down! comicbooks.com