1S94 



<;leanin(;.s in p.ee culture. 



i37 



This is the season of fovers; and I believo 

 severe drouths are productive of fevers. If I 

 do not ride ten miles or more almost every day, 

 I iuive twinges of my old malarial chills unless 

 I stick to my heavy clothing and fur cap. La*t 

 evening I was feeling especially miserable — no 

 inclination to move around or do much besides 

 lying on the lounge and sleeping. I knew, 

 however, from former expeiienee, where I could 

 find life, enthusiasm, and enjoyment; so I 

 pushed off through the deep dust. It covered 

 the roads and tilled the air; but I plowed 

 ilirongh it. The first two or three miles the 

 chills did not let up; but after I began to sweat 

 a little I began to feel myself "boss." even of 

 malaria. I went out to see a spring a neighbor 

 was opening ui). I did not get started until 

 Uf-arly night; and by mistake I went almost a 

 mile back into the field. Hy the way, you can 

 run a wheel through pasture-lots nmr with the 

 greatest ease. The ground was hard; the grass 

 was gnawed down and dried up, so there was 

 scarcely an impediment. If you can get on to 

 a sheep-path you will have one of the finest 

 tracks. I went off through the fields, up hill 

 and down, back into the ravines, and I verily 

 believe I never enjoyed a ride out in the coun- 

 try more in my life. Just as it was getting 

 dark I got track of the spring. It has been 

 furnishing plenty of water for the sheep and 

 other stock: but the owner has to pnll it up 

 four or five feet with a pail. He thought that, 

 if he could run a pipe from the surface of the 

 water to ground that was four or five feet low- 

 er down, he would have a running spring. I 

 told him I feared the water would all run 

 away, and he would not have any; but as it 

 has be( n rising every day just as fast as he 

 draws it out with pails, he felt sure he could 

 make a success of it. I will report later in re- 

 gard to it. 



It was after dark when I finished ray inves- 

 tigations. The dust was so deep in the path 

 of the wagon-wheels that it was almost as bad 

 as sand to plow through, and it was getting too 

 dark to keep the horses" path. I soon found, 

 however, that, by watching for the droppings 

 of the horses, as they lay in the light yellow 

 dust. I could, even after dark, keep the center 

 of the beaten path pretty well ; and I finished 

 my ten-mile trip through the dust and dark- 

 ness with as much henlih. enthusiasm, and 

 enjoyment, as any mortal could reasonably ask 

 for. 



Yesterday, in going through a piece of 

 wheat-stubble, where some blackberry-bushes 

 had been cut oft' with the wheat, my tire was 

 iiunctured by a sharp dried-up berry-stubble. 

 While it was being repaired I was obliged to do 

 considerable walking over the grounds. First, 

 I hnd to go down to the creek bottom, then up 

 to thi^ windmill, and then ov^r to the swamp 

 garden, all on foot: and by the lime the wheel 

 was mended I had one of ray old-fashioned 

 backaches as a consequence of standing on ray 

 fnet too ranch. Well, the ten-mile ride I have 

 just told you about was just after this. I have 

 got so used up in walking about and looking 

 i after things, climbing stairs, etc.. that I pre- 

 ' sume I shall never get over it. Going about 

 I and attending to business on foot is far more 

 j tiresome than a straight trarap along a good 

 I road. Walking rapidly seems to employ a dif- 

 ferent set of muscles, and is more like wheel- 

 riding; but it is not to be compared with it 

 either in speed or enjoynK'ut. Well, when you 

 are tired out with ijusiness. standing around, 

 the very minute you get into the seat on your 

 wheel you feel rested; and the rauscles that 

 furnish the propelling power seera almost as if 

 they had remained unused since childhood; 

 therefore they are in full vigor. Day before 



yesterday, Aug. :w, Ernest rode from Toledo to 

 Medina, a distance of 110 miles, in 9 hours. 

 Now. such feats as the al)Ove, instead of using 

 him up, seem, on the contrary, to toughen and 

 harden and invigorate hira for any sort of work 

 or business. In a recent trial of what could be 

 done on wheels by means of relays, a raessage 

 was carried from Washington. D. ('., to Denver. 

 Col., in a period of time Ijut little more than 

 twice that reqtiired by our railway trains. The 

 trains have an expensive track to run on: iuit 

 the wheelman has nothing but ordinary roads, 

 and at a season of the year wiien a great part 

 of the roads are in a fearful condition from 

 sand and dust. 



Now, then, with a track or narrow pathway 

 that need not cost more than a tenth part as 

 much as a railway-track does, what do yott 

 suppose could be done on a wheel? It is not 

 necessary that the wheel-track be on a dead 

 level. In fact, I believe I rather prefer a path 

 that is a little up and down hill. The moraen- 

 tura one gains or accuraulates in going down 

 hill carries him nearly to the top of the next; 

 and with a good hard path undrr the wheel, 

 without any short bumps or undulations, and 

 where the hills are not too high or steep, one 

 goes — I was going to say. with the speed of the 

 wind; but even I myself can leave any ordina- 

 ry wind away behind; and I believe the whole 

 wide world has never yet dared to claim that 

 any method of travel gives any thing like the 

 enjoyment that riding a wheel does. 



HIGH PRESSURE GARDENING DURING DRY 

 WEATHER; WHAT SHALL WE DO? 



The natural answer to this question would 

 be, IiTigate. That is, construct reservoirs, 

 save up the water in winter and spring, and 

 use it during the drouth. Well, this mav be all 

 right, and to ascertain extent water is the very 

 thing to have during a drouth. But it costs 

 lots of raoney. and it is expensive business to 

 apply it after you have got it; and I feel cer- 

 tain there is something else to be done first. A 

 few days ago a young man whom I have known 

 for years brought in some very fine peaches. 

 He said he grew them himself on his clay farm 

 right here in Medina Co., and I was a good 

 deal surprised to hear it. That very evening I 

 took ray wheel and paid him a visit. Eight 

 back of his hou^e were three acres of fruit- 

 orchard, mostly peaches; and if some of the 

 trees and fruit were not entirely equal to any 

 thing I saw on Catawba Island, they carae 

 pretty near it. How did he manage to raise 

 beautiful peaches, without flaw or blemish, on 

 our Medina clay soil right during the most se- 

 vere drouth we have ever experienced ? 



Now. there is a wonderful point right here, 

 and it is really a glimpse of sunshine to farmers 

 and fruit-growers. It is the same thing I have 

 raet a good raany tiraes before. Briefly, this 

 young raan has a brother-in-law who is a peach- 

 grower near Catawba l^land. It is his business, 

 and he knows just how to succeed. Well, he 

 visited our M(>dina friend some years ago. and 

 in looking over his farm he told him he thought 

 he could raise nice peaches even here, if he 

 would go about it as they do up on the lake- 

 shore; and our friend "Milo' posted himself 

 up on the business of raising peaches, and went 

 about it. He planted his trees 18 feet apart, 

 over three acres of ground. Then he laid a line 



