SOCIETY OF CENTBAL ILLINOIS. 149 



believed in planting in the '' moon." They believed in signs, but, 

 nevertheless, the fellows that went by the signB generally ran off at 

 a tangent, although they did not connect signs with tangents. We 

 have learned to plant in the earth, and the earth has never yet been 

 known to refuse to make a fair compensation for honest and intelli- 

 gent labor bestowed. 



Now I guess I had better tell you a little story. I recollect, 

 some years ago, receiving, in my editorial capacity, a letter from a 

 farmer's wife, living not a thousand miles from Dwight, 111. I will 

 not give her name, for it might make her husband feel badly. He 

 has experienced a change of heart in his later days. Now this wife 

 wrote that she rose at 4:30 a.m., skimmed the milk, fed the chickens, 

 had thirty-three young ones — not children, but chickens — and one 

 hundred and fifty eggs nearly ready to hatch, in addition to getting 

 breakfast, which was eaten at six. Her sister had to drop corn from 

 the planter. She worked for her board, poor thing ; and it was also 

 arranged that the wife should go to the field at ten. So the baby 

 was dressed, the dishes washed, the beds made, the floor mopped, the 

 sitting-hens fed, chickens killed and prepared for dinner (when the 

 good man would allow "sich "), cookies baked, the baby put to sleep, 

 and the dinner arranged read}" for twelve o'clock. She then took the 

 lunch and went to the field to relieve her sister. 



After dinner there was the usual routine work to do. The good 

 wife had a loving for flowers. She watered the plants, and did a lot 

 of garden work to keep the household in vegetables (and this is 

 strictly horticulture). This, perhaps, occupied her time until three 

 o'clock, and then she went into the field again and dropped corn un- 

 til night. After supper she milked, fed the chickens, baked bread, 

 ironed, sewed buttons on her husband's shirts, crimped the ruflles on 

 baby's Sunday frock, and what lace she could afford on her best 

 dress, besides other things innumerable. If she happened to have 

 forgotten anything, even to the patching of a garment, there was a 

 time. 



Now times have changed since forty years ago, but the applica- 

 tion is, that if the average husband had had the average energy of 

 the wife, the children of such couples would now be well on the way 

 to become bloated millionaires. Some of them have. Now i)erhaps 

 you may think this is a departure from horticulture; but it is not. 

 For did I not get in all about the watering of the plants, which the 

 poor wife had to undertake? Now here is one thing that some to- 

 day have improved upon. 



Another ''lord of creation " whom I know had allowed his over- 

 worked wife to drudge herself to death; at the last moment he bent 

 over her, kissed her and said: "Wait for me, Jenny, on the other 

 shore." "■ Yes John," she faintly whispered, " but I hope I shall get 

 a good, long, rest waiting — I am so tired." 



