104 . PLAIN AND PLEASANT TALK 



SPRING WORK ON THE FARM. , 



Thokoughly overhaul your tools; let plows be sharp 

 ened ; repair their stocks if anywhere started or weakened ; 

 look after the chains, the swingletrees, the yokes for youi 

 oxen, or the harness for your horses. Don't have any 

 straps to replace, or harness to tie up with tow strings after 

 you get into the fields, and when time is precious. Now is 



THE TIME TO SAVE TIME, BY GEITING KEADY. Old rUSty 



buckles will give way the moment the plow strikes a root ; 

 stitches which have been longing for some time to fall out 

 and part, will be likely to do it when you have the least 

 time to mend them. Then we shall hear talk ; you'll be 

 cursing the old horse or the old rickety harness, and declar- 

 ing that your " luck is always on the wrong side ;" and 

 you may depend upon it, that it always will be, so long as 

 you are not more careful. Good luck is a wary old fish 

 which nibbles at everybody's hook, but the shrewd and 

 skillful angler only catches it. 



The opening of spring is usually debilitating both to man 

 and beast. Your horses cannot stand hard usage at once ; 

 some of them Avill need physic — all of them should be put 

 to work carefully ; increase their task gradually ; favor 

 them, and you will get abundantly paid for it before their 

 summer's work is done. 



A good farmer may be known by the way he manages 

 his spring work. Consider how much there is of it. 

 Cows are calving ; mares foaling ; young heifers for the 

 first time to be broken to milking ; all the tools to be 

 got ready ; the ground to be broken up and seeded ; 

 the orchards to be set ; or old ones to be attended to ; 

 a garden to be made ; and a hundred other things to do. 

 Now here is a chance for good management, and a yet bet- 

 ter chance for bad management. There is as much skill in 

 "laying out" a season's work for the fiirmer, as there is in 

 " laying out " a frame for a house or barn. 



