308 WHEAT AND WOMAN 



and in this way the harrows kept close in the trail 

 of the plough. 



But the fence of the forty-acre pasture was giving 

 out badly, and we not only had wandering calves 

 occasionally, but we couldn't be quite sure of 

 keeping horses within bounds through " the day of 

 rest." To this I owed my first regular experience 

 of ploughing which stood me in such good stead in 

 a day of need which was not far on in the future. 

 Patrick constantly called me to put in a half-day 

 " following the plough " whilst he mended the 

 fence. I learned to manage it fairly well consider- 

 ing how much more difficult it is when weeds have 

 grown so rank and strong that even very deep 

 ploughing will seldom bury them and will not 

 always quite turn over those of deeply penetrating 

 root ; so that, desirable as my deeply ploughed 

 acres looked, and soft as was this seed-bed prepared 

 for 1908, I knew, when I cared to face the truth, 

 that many strange seeds were there ; but I looked 

 right and left and saw the dark green crops gracious 

 and glorious as they swayed with the wind or stood 

 up straight and strong through the heavy rain, and 

 I said in my heart, " With the harvest I shall pull 

 through in spite of things." 



On the strength of my faith and their promise 

 I commissioned Si Booth to break and put in shape 

 for crop a further twenty- four acres for 1908. 

 Four he added to the big field, sixteen he broke 

 east and west, taking a difficult hill in his passing, 

 and four he added to the original six on the east 

 boundary. I begrudged the four and said so almost 

 complainingly. 



" The land in that corner is sandy, it hardly 



