80 FARMING IT 



old gentleman, upon their sworn statement that 

 they wanted it for the necessaries of life; where- 

 upon they, to the old gentleman's surprise, at 

 once proceeded to exhilarate, and would fre- 

 quently return in a most hideous state of inebria- 

 tion, and endeavor to argue the matter with me 

 until I would be obliged to have them removed 

 by the police. And so the farming industry in our 

 particular location would be brought to a stand- 

 still. 



Again, father believed that the domestic fowl 

 would yield more returns if allowed to range freely 

 over my premises, at least until seed was sowed. 

 I rather favored his point of view, and thought 

 that a flock of neat fowls looked well on a lawn 

 or about the buildings. 



But my wife took the opposite view, and 

 showed a deplorable pride of opinion in the mat- 

 ter, and the frequent spectacle of an agile woman 

 in "specs" pursuing squawking fowls with a 

 broom, added much to the joy of the neighbors. 



Now, I was bound to keep fowls, and my wife 

 was bound they should not be kept on the lawn. 

 She was unquestionably right in the matter, and 

 so a compromise was entered into. The fowls 

 were to be let out only at stated intervals, when 

 they could be under the charge of the old gentle- 

 man, who engaged to see that they did not tres- 

 pass on the lawn or dooryard. 



