222 THE FAT OF THE LAND 



days, and was dismissed for innocuous desuetude. 

 Still another man whom I tried did well for five 

 weeks, and then broke out in a most profound 

 spree, from which he could not be weaned. He 

 ended up by an assault on Otto in the stable 

 yard. The Swede was taken by surprise, and 

 was handsomely bowled over by the first on- 

 slaught of his half-drunk, half-crazed antagonist. 

 As soon, however, as his slow mind took in the 

 fact that he was being pounded, he gathered his 

 forces, and, with a grunt for a war-cry, rolled 

 his enemy under him, sat upon his stomach, and, 

 flat-handed, slapped his face until he shouted for 

 aid. The man left the farm at once, and I com- 

 mended the Swede for having used the flat of 

 his hand. 



In spite of bad luck with the new men we 

 were able to plough and seed 144 acres by May 

 10. Lots Nos. 8, 12, 13, and 14 were planted to 

 corn, and No. 15 sowed to oats, and the 10 acres 

 on the home lot were divided between sweet fod- 

 der corn, potatoes, and cabbage. The abundant 

 water in the soil gave the crops a fair start, and 

 June proved an excellent growing month, a rain- 

 fall of nearly four inches putting them beyond 

 danger from the short water supply of July and 

 August. Indeed, had it not been for the gener- 

 osity of June we should have been in a bad way, 

 for the next three months gave a scant four 

 inches of rain. 



The oats made a good growth, though the 



