IS'.t 



GLIvANIXGS IN BRP: CULTURE. 



607 



the chililien trailed after iiic down to the hal)- 

 blin.v; hrook. A ijood stroii.t,^ jilank took us 

 across to the ohl cohl sjirint; in the hillside. 

 A little stone crock stood on a shelf above the 

 spring. The dark-coloreil earthenware seemed 

 to invite coolness. While di]>ping up the 

 sparkling water I reinenibered the manj- times 

 I have craved, especially during sickness, a 

 cooling drink from that very spring. I passed 

 the water around, and each and all declared 

 they had never in their life tasted such re- 

 freshing spring water; and Hubersaid, " \Vhy, 

 pa, this is surely as cold as ice water." They 

 had forgotten their ride of 'M miles, perhaps, 

 and also that it was a hot July day; but, not- 

 withstanding, I had to agree with them that 

 that water was all my fancy and memory had 

 painted it. I drank it again and again. The 

 water from that spring does not need boil!>ig 

 to make it wholesome. And then I wondered 

 if my digestion would not be good without 

 the necessity of riding a wheel if I could live 

 where I could drink claily from the waters of 

 that celebrated Mogadore "cold" spring. 

 The well-worn path down the hillside attests 

 the fact that man\- besides myself had taken a 

 fancy to this special spring. Cousin Wolf has 

 a spring in a hillside right close to his dwell- 

 ing; but the waters are hardly equal to those 

 of this particular one I have been talking 

 about. He was a little surprised when I told 

 him that, for the small sum of 5i'-00. lie could 

 get a little hydraulic ram that would send the 

 water all over his house, and all over his farm, 

 for that matter. Of course, the expense of 

 the piping would be extra. A\'e sat out under 

 the shade-trees talking over old times. The 

 3'oung ladies thought they would retire; but 

 Huber, as he lay in the hammock, said he 

 thought he would not go to bed till "pa did." 

 When I was ready to go, however, he did not 

 respond. My cousin called to him; then he 

 shook him. Finally I gave him a shake, and 

 then — what do you think ? Why, he declared 

 he had not been asleep at all, and was sure he 

 heard all we had been talking about; and I 

 think he did — fifteen or twenty minutes before 

 he needed such a shaking. I tell you, friends, 

 a boy of fourteen, who is growing like a weed, 

 needs lots of sleep, especially after he has 

 ridden over thirty miles on the wheel in one 

 day. By the way, dear father and :nother, let 

 me suggest to you to give the boy, and girl 

 too, all the sleep they need when they are in 

 their teens. Would you think it any thing 

 strange if I w^ere to tell you a little care to give 

 them plenty of sleep and rest when they are 

 growing so rapidly might lay the foundation 

 for robust health and usefulness in later years? 

 Next morning the children were all right, 

 and wild to try their wheels again; but Mr. 

 Wolf promised to take us to visit Wilbur 

 Fenn's if we would wait an hour or two. On 

 the W'Ev we picked up my relative, Dennis 

 Fenn, and a little later we ran across Mr. 

 Metlin, so we finally had five potato-growers 

 together in council. I have not space to give 

 you all of that talk; but I will take .space to 

 give you just one little item to show you how- 

 intricate and complicated is the matter of 

 growing just a crop of potatoes. 



Cousin Fenn took us over to a nine-acre 

 field. The greater part of this field looked as 

 his fields usually do. Kvery hill of ])olatoes 

 was .so much like its neighbors that there was 

 scarcely a choice between them — no bugs, a 

 perfect stand, all bright and thrifty. At one 

 end of the field, however, there were perhaps 

 twenty or thirty rows that were not u]) to the 

 standard. You could tell the dividing line 

 clear through the field. I suggested there 

 was a different kind of seed. He shook his 

 head. "Planted at a different time?" he 

 shook his head again. 



' ' Well, Wilbur, what makes the difference? ' ' 



He answered something as follows: 



" You sec, I have always advocated planting 

 potatoes in loose ground. I did not believe it 

 was best to roll the ground at all. I wanted 

 it so the potatoes could expand and enlarge 

 .symmetrically withovit being squeezed out of 

 shape by uncongenial surroundings. I put in 

 my planter and started to plant the field with- 

 out rolling the ground. When I had got thus 

 far I did not feel quite suited with the way 

 things were going, and so hitched on to the 

 heavy roller, and rolled the rest of those nine 

 acres. You see the result." 



Now, this would seem incredible were not 

 the object-lesson right before our eyes. With- 

 out a question, the use of that roller on that 

 field of nine acres more than paid for itself in 

 growing this one crop of potatoes. I strongly 

 suspect that the low yield of potatoes per acre 

 throughout our State of Ohio is owing to the 

 fact that the farmers who grow them are so 

 poorly supplied with proper tools for pulver- 

 izing and fining up the soil. 



Finally the children were delighted to be 

 permitted to step out of the buggy and take 

 their wheels once more. We just flew over 

 the cinder wheel-path between the White 

 Grocery and Middlebury; and when we came 

 on to tiie paved streets on the side of Akron 

 toward our home. Miss Rena would anticipate 

 me and run up hill like a young colt that had 

 got started for home. I tried to have her stop 

 long enough to see the beautiful residences 

 along the suburbs of that Akron road, but I 

 could not hold her back. We took a hasty 

 dinner where we had dined the day before; 

 but when about ten miles from home it was 

 evident that the girls were becoming tired. 

 We took long rests under the shade-trees be- 

 side the road. We washed our faces in the 

 babbling brooks coming from hill-side springs, 

 and I for one had a really restful holiday. 

 We reached home at five o'clock, having made 

 about (>") miles in two days. All declared they 

 would like the fun of doing it all over again. 



Now, dear friends, if your boys or girls are 

 crazy for a wheel, give them the means if you 

 can of earning one; and when they get it, 

 watch over them and see that they make a 

 proper u.se of this wonderfid new gift that has 

 so recently come from the kind F'ather above; 

 and when the wheel comes, teach the children 

 to make a good use of it. Do not let them 

 ride far at a time. Have them take plenty of 

 sleep and rest. Don't let them undertake a 

 century in one day until they are nitu and 

 women grown; but before that time have 



