The Ploughboy 



had to come to my assistance in throwing it 

 over on its side to be drawn around the end of 

 the landing; and it was all I could do to set it 

 up again. But I learned to keep that plough 

 in such trim that after I got started on a new 

 furrow I used to ride on the crossbar between 

 the handles with my feet resting comfortably 

 on the beam, without having to steady or steer 

 it in any way on the whole length of the field, 

 unless we had to go round a stump, for it sawed 

 through the biggest grubs without flinching. 



The growth of these grubs was interesting to 

 me. When an acorn or hickory-nut had sent 

 up its first season's sprout, a few inches long, 

 it was burned off in the autumn grass fires; 

 but the root continued to hold on to life, formed 

 a callus over the wound and sent up one or 

 more shoots the next spring. Next autumn 

 these new shoots were burned off, but the root 

 and calloused head, about level with the sur- 

 face of the ground, continued to grow and send 

 up more new shoots; and so on, almost every 

 year until very old, probably far more than a 



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