1892 



GLEANINGS IN 1{EE CULTURE. 



85;") 



luiMits. and tlicn fold lluMr liaiuls and give up? 

 Why. tlit'sc " liirlit alllicIioMs " arr answers to 

 ouv pniycrs. 'iMn-y arr fnmi (iod's own hand. 

 Tlit-y arc ivallv cxhihitions and indications of 

 liis lovinsi l<indn('ss: and yet we oflcntinirs 

 grnnibic and i-onipiain. .Xrc tluTt' other occu- 

 pations that give us iiu> same discipline and 

 drill as does farming? Wril, I hope there are; 

 but why do not the statistics and our observa- 

 tion show us tluU tiiese other occupations fur- 

 nish as many scholars, teachers, and real 

 sturdy stalwart itwii (in the best sense of the 

 word) as do the farmers' boys of our LTnited 

 States of America? 1 am proud of the fact 

 that my early life was, at least the greater part 

 of it. spent on a farm, and a ratlu'r poor farm at 

 that. I would rather be a fdDiier, and wear 

 farmers" clothes, and put up with a farmer's 

 hard-s}tit)s. than to have the linest otlice in the 

 tinest city that our laud can furnish: and. come 

 to think of it. it seems to me tiiat I have hetird 

 something a good deal in that line, with a little 

 different wording. Let's see: " I had rather be 

 a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than to 

 dwell in the tents of wickedne.ss." The word 

 "doorkeepef" means one who stands on the 

 threshold: from which we see that David would 

 rather enjoy the ?C((.st of (rod's favors than to 

 enjoy for a season all the tinsel and glitter of a 

 wanton life, only to be cast away from God's 

 favor at the end. What better exhibition of 

 common sense could there be? 



High-pressure Gardening. 



FARMING DOESX T PAY. 



A few days ago I saw two good stout men 

 and a team standing in front of our tool-house. 

 As they did not seem to be doing any thing, 

 pretty soon I got around to where they were 

 and inquired what they were waiting for. They 

 said they were sent after the potato digger, 

 but it was gone— somebody must have borrovv- 

 .ed it. I do not know how long they had stood 

 there, but there they were when I came around. 

 I felt sure it was there, right in its place, hang- 

 ing tipinplaiu sight, over the mannrt^-spreader, 

 and there \lwas. Perhaps they did not .see it 

 because it was hanging up. It was not hung 

 so high. howev(?r, but that a man could reach 

 it easily while standing on the ground. In 

 fact, it was the most conspicuotis object in the 

 whole tool -house. You say, perhaps, that this 

 was only an accident, and that such things hap- 

 pen with the best of us. Perhaps they do; but I 

 can not believe that any ical live wide-awake 

 man— one who is interested in his business, 

 and anxious to get to work, would make a 

 blunder like this. We estimate two men and a 

 team worth .50 cents an liour; early in the 

 morning they ought to bf worth a little more, 

 if any thing; and it always worries me exceed- 

 ingly to see a team witli tuen standing idle. 

 Sometimes one of them stops to tell stories, to 

 look at the daily paper, to talk politics, and that, 

 too, while all. the rest hav(; to await his move- 

 ment. I said, .some of theift. I did not mean the 

 horses, and I think I had better beg their |)ardon. 



Now about this matter of saying things "ain't 

 there'" when th^y are riglit in plain sight. In 

 employing all sorts of ludp I have had a good 

 deal of this kind of work. Such blunders are 

 almost always made by hdlf-licftrtcd people. 

 One who likes to dig potatoes, and knows he 

 has something worth digging, who has got his 

 work all planned, and enjoys making things 

 tly, will see at a glance every thing there is in 



the tool-shed, even though il lie lilled up with 

 various tools, as ours is almost the year round. 

 It is a positive sin to have so little interest in 

 your work, and so little energy: and if you 

 think you are going to gt!t a living in this way, 

 you will b(! disappointed at every turn. Aft(^r 

 you have found that fdrimiKj doesn't |)ay, and 

 have tried something else, you will liud that 

 there is not a)u,i thing that pays, unless you 

 wake up and shake yourself, and put your 

 wliole heart and soul into your work. When I 

 plan for a certain job, I go out before break- 

 fast, or just befoi-e dinner, and notouly see that 

 the right tool is in idace and in order, but, if it 

 is not too heavy. I get it out in front of the 

 tool-hous(>. Then I get the appropriate; double- 

 trees and neckyoke, and have them on the 

 spot. My the way, we have two doubletrees 

 and two" neckyokes, just to avoid having the 

 team and men stand still while somebody runs 

 away across th(> lots after one or the other. 

 Just now farming Is close business, I admit, 

 aud therefore we must make it our constant 

 study to avoid, hindrances and delays. If we 

 are so unfortunate as to have men work for us 

 who are dull, we must keep them in mind and 

 keep an eye on them. The two men I have 

 been ^^peaking of are not working for me. I 

 think they are raising potatoes on shares; so 

 when they could not see the potato-digger, it 

 was, mostly, their own loss. Perhaps I should 

 explain that said potato-digger is one of the 

 shovel-plow kind— that is, a shovel-plow with 

 some rods sticking out behind. It will dig a 

 pile of potatoes in a day, and do it quickly and 

 easily. The only drawback about it is, about 

 ten lier cent or more of the potatoes are liable 

 to be left on the ground. If you are going to 

 fit your ground for wheat, you can take them 

 out after the harrow throws theiu out on the 

 surface. Some of them you will i)robably nev- 

 er get at all. and you will have •• volunteer " 

 potatoes for the next season. 



HAPPY SURPKISE.S. 



I have talked to you several times about the 

 happy surprises a Christian has a right to ex- 

 pect. That is not quite it, either; for if we 

 were expecUiuj them all the while they would 

 not be .s((v7>r(.vf.s'. Perhaps I should put it this 

 wav: H(! who does his duty, and tries to have 

 his'heart right before God", will be continually 

 meeting with happy surprises; and these happy 

 surprises are among the brightest things one 

 meets in this world. And I think a/ormeralso 

 has a right to ha|)py surprises — that is. if he is 

 a good farmer, and is honest, faithful, and 

 hard-working; and if a man is bo(/i Christian 

 and farnu^r, these surprises ought to make him 

 very happy indeed. Well. now. I am not a very 

 good Christian, and I am surely a vn-y poor ex- 

 ample in farming : but for all that, God sees fit 

 to cheer my way with many happy surpris/'S, to 

 overbalance, as it WM-re. the disappointments; 

 and there are three of these siu'prises that I 

 wish to tell you about to-day. The first one is 

 in our New "Rose celery. While I was in Cali- 

 fornia our boys started some New Rose celery 

 along with the other kinds. The plants became 

 too large to stay in the greenhouse, and they 

 had to be put somewhere; so we made two rows 

 aud a half down in the creek-bottom grounds. 

 It was .so wet we sort o' tramped them into the 

 mud; and then the rains and floods came, and I 

 made up my mind that that lot of celery plant- 

 (>d out so early was just another waste of time 

 and (expense. "It held its way. however, after a 

 fashion, until some time in July. By this time 

 some of the lowest portions were drowned out 

 entir(;ly; so we took the half-row and filled out 

 vacancies, and that left us just two rows forty 

 rods long. When we filled out the rows the 



