Each could make it stand to reason that a man could not bear the heat and burden of harvest labor without beer.

Each had his illustration in the case of some poor fellow who had tried the experiment, out of principle or economy, and had failed under it.

It was of no use to talk of temperance and all that.

It was all very nice for well-to-do people, who never blistered their hands at a sickle or a scythe, to tell poor, laboring men, sweating at their hot and heavy work from sun to sun, that they must not drink anything but milk and water or cold tea and coffee, but put them in the wheat-field a few days, and let them try their wishy-washy drinks and see what would become of them.

As I have said, I did not undertake to argue the men out of this belief, partly because I wished to learn from them all they thought and felt on the subject, and partly, I must confess, because I was reluctant to lay a hard hand upon a source of comfort which, to them, holds a large portion of their earthly enjoyments, especially when I could not replace it with a substitute which they would accept, and which would yield them an equal amount of satisfaction.
A personal habit becomes a "second nature" to the individual, even if he stands alone in its indulgence.