IV 

 THE LAND AND THE MAN 



AT the end of the seeding month I had to find a 

 new hired man. My shrunken capital absolutely 

 forbade me to hire a man and team, no matter 

 how strong was the argument for the land's sake. 

 But if only I had been strong enough to take that 

 special chance, I should have saved myself eventually 

 much anxiety, worry, disappointment, grave financial 

 loss, and possibly the life of a horse. 



Nothing need trouble any farmer but this 

 matter of working expense, since for labour one 

 can train oneself to fill all emergency. But horse 

 power or steam power is imperative, and none can 

 insure against occasional casualty. Over and over 

 again I have known the traditional run of bad 

 luck with horses confront the newcomer, and occa- 

 sionally the old-timer, on a prairie farm. For this 

 reason mares should always be purchased when 

 possible in preference to geldings ; the years go 

 by so quickly, and in case of loss or mishap none 

 can realize the relief of going out to the pasture to 

 select a horse to fill the vacancy, in place of going to 

 one's banker for an eight per cent, ticket to the 

 market, where even now good horses are more easily 

 sold than bought. The newcomer, too, should 

 invest a generous margin of capital in cattle : 



280 



