OLD DAYS ON THE FARM 



CHAPTEE I 



Those Who Live in the Coitntby 



I'VE always felt if there is one profession that 

 a man engages in on earth, about which he has 

 reason to be proud above other men, it is the 

 profession of farming. Please note that I'm using 

 the word profession. You'd expect me to use call- 

 ing, occupation, job, or some of those plebeian 

 references, but not so. There is no word too 

 patrician nor too high up on the language shelf, 

 nor too exclusive, for that matter, not to be used 

 when referring to the profession of those sons of 

 toil who till the face of Mother Earth. It's the 

 oldest of all the professions. You'll remember 

 that Father Adam himself began it and the Good 

 Book has innumerable references to it. The 

 world's greatest poets have sung its praises, mas- 

 ter painters have delighted in making pictures 

 with sheep on the hillside, waving grain-fields, 

 cows drinking at meadow brooks and other pas- 

 toral beauties, and great sculptors use scenes de- 

 picting this oldest profession for their finest 

 frescoes in marble. 



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