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"The Education of the Countryman in Lippe" (1789)

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In case of overheating, either a cold drink or a sudden cooling may cause a stasis of the juices in the small vessels and in the finest inner body parts to develop, whereupon dysenteries, emaciation, and consumption, or whatever the myriad of illnesses might be called, will follow directly.

Most importantly, do avoid the stimulations of lust and the vice of unchastity, so that the vital powers do not wane prematurely and that the horrible consequences of self-weakening, i.e. lethargy, gloominess, melancholy, dull silliness, poor memory, madness, stiffness and paralysis of the limbs, of which the wise among the people have always warned with melancholy earnestness, do not hit you in older age. For most evils one endures in old age often derive from the excesses to which you abandoned yourself in the prime of youth.

From the 21st year onward, the young man, now grown strong and tough, can assume the responsibilities of a foreman on the farm, he has to feed and cut fodder for four to eight horses; from the celebration of St. Peter assuming the Pastorate until the time the plow is put to the field, he helps from daybreak to trim hedges, cutting bundles of brushwood and firewood for the summer, and doing other types of work that comes up outside the house. In terms of work in the fields, he must plow and sow, both in cultivating the summer and the winter seed, while simultaneously performing feudal services for the lord. During harvest time, he precuts corn, loads the corn on the cart, and takes it to the barn. From the Wilbaser Kirmis onward, he must chop fodder before dawn and carry out the work in the fields upon daybreak. As soon as the cultivation of winter seed has ended, he must help thresh during the time before daybreak, then chop fodder for the horses during the day, while spinning half a piece of yarn over the long and 15 skeins over the small reel. If an entire day’s work is threshed, he must also help thresh, while chopping fodder for the horses, after which, however, the steward and the junior farmhand clean the grain. If there is no threshing, he must, alongside chopping fodder and feeding the horses, deliver every day once piece of yarn over the long reel or 27 skeins over the small reel, though in case he mucks out the stable, which happens every eight days, he is exempt from spinning his quantity of yarn.

The steward and lord of the feudal manor must observe all of these labors and activities, be present during any of this work, set every activity in motion to begin with, replace any missing thing, primarily though inspecting diligently the chopping rooms and feed store, watching out carefully for the cleanliness of the mangers for all livestock; during the time of fieldwork, they need to check closely every day whether the long iron wedge, the plow coulter, that compass of this implement, is aligned properly.

In addition, it is his business proper to feed the fattening pigs, if he does not employ a swineherd, since he will hardly entrust the key to the granary to anyone else.

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