818 
■Uhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Pastoral Parson and His Country Folks 
By Rev. George B. Gilbert 
Whooping Corcir.—Such a time as we 
are having with the whooping cough. One 
of the boys came home from scliool one 
day and said a child near him had 
coughed terribly for a week. The next 
thing we heard was that the child had 
been sent home with the whooping cough. 
Ity that time, of course, the whole school 
had been exposed. Tattle Closson began 
to cought right away and before we knew 
it he had the real whooping cough. Then 
the baby comes down with it, then 
George, and then “Sit.” It seemed too 
much to have this come on now when the 
baby was coming on so well. 
A Long Sikge. —AVe know that we are 
in for a long siege. The doctor says it 
will have a run of 12 weeks. It is one of 
the things for which no cure has ever 
been discoverer It can only be helped 
more or less, generally less. Little Glos- 
son has it the worst and it is pulling him 
down so. He was getting along splendidly 
in school, and this will put him back. 
George is at home, of course, and this 
means that he will not pass up his grade 
this year. 
That School Hegister. —Sometimes 
the Parson wunders if the school register 
is really a god to whom children are to 
be sacrificed. A woman who seiwed din¬ 
ners to teachers told him some time ago 
that the chief topic of conversation 
among them was practically always the 
.school register. One might think that the 
children would sometimes come in for a 
share of interest. No matter how soak¬ 
ing wet they get or how cold they get, if 
only the registm’ looks clean. 
It Comes High. —Education is a won¬ 
derful thing, of course. Put it comes 
high, to put it mildly. AA^ith what they 
hear and what they learn outside the 
building, and the diseases they get. one 
is almost forced to wonder whetlier the 
day may not come that it will be man¬ 
aged differently, to say the least. The 
best teacher and the best supervisor is 
the one, of course, that crams the most 
into them. AAniether they are nervous 
wrecks when they get through with the 
process or not is a small matter. 
First Grade AA’’ork. —Most fortunately 
the Parson sends no child to school till 
it is seven years old. Eight would be still 
better, but the child would seem so large 
with the others. AAHien the first grade 
boy quit with the whooping cough he lurl 
learned the sixes of the multiplication 
table. He was learning a great long list 
of dates of United States history—all the 
imiiortant ones and many others. He is 
studying language and geography. He 
has pages of things to learn. This is 
what he was saying over to himself the 
other night as he lay tossing on his bed: 
“Many di.sease-bearing bacteria live in the 
soil.” This was only a sample of a long 
list, geographical, historical, and patho¬ 
logical sentences he was to commit to 
memory. How there could be anything 
left for the other 11 years of schooling, 
it was hard to see. In fact the eighth- 
rade boy and the fifth-grade boy and the 
rst-grade boy came home one day with 
precisely the same stuff on a paper to 
learn. 
AA^’iiich Cottrse to Take? —The oldest 
boy came home the other day with a 
blank to fill out stating which coui'se he 
would elect in the high school. The Par¬ 
son looked at it with much foreboding. 
The trouble was not that he did not know 
the nature of these suggested studies; far 
from it. It was because he knew them 
too well. lie knew how much time and 
worry he had i)ut on those dead languages 
and dead mathematics and dead philoso¬ 
phies. Dead physics, too, for that mat¬ 
ter. Did we not spend hours on Guyot’s 
Physics, the only sentence of which he 
can remember now ended like this—some¬ 
thing was to be “superimposed on a 
simply sheer.” No doubt it was simple, 
very simple, but it did not seem so to the 
I’arson ,and he remembered well that it 
did not seem so to the rest of the class, 
either. 
Better Times. —Yet the I’arson saw 
signs of better times in the courses the 
boy brought home. There was woodwork 
mingled in with trigonometry and 
Cicero, as Mi’s. Parson mingles orange 
juice with castor oil. Under the clas¬ 
sical coui'se the I’astor cast his eye about 
for Greek, and lo, its place could nowhere 
be found! Free-hand drawing seemed to 
have knocked it out of the ring. Should 
the boy take a course that would place 
him in the way of coming into the work 
of his father? AA'^hen has the Parson 
thought more deeply than here? AA^'hat 
father has not come to this same mile¬ 
post on the journey? The Parson thought 
of the years and years of work and study 
he was compelled to put on old, unmean¬ 
ing subjects that have done him no good, 
he thought of the lines of study that 
would have been of great help to him 
that were not touched upon. His eye fell 
upon the Hebrew Bible and the Hebrew 
Lexicon all black and worn from mid¬ 
night labor, and—the boy did not fill out 
the course his father filled out 30 years 
ago. 
Something New.— Time was that the 
farmer that had courage to go to a bank 
over in town to borrow money had nerve 
indeed. The bank did not care to see him 
coming, and he felt out of place within 
its walls. But this war has brought the 
farmer into his proper place, whatever 
else has happened. The “Agricultural 
Agent of the National Bank” went down 
to the church with the Parson the other 
Saturday night. He is sort of talking 
the farmers into borrowing money from 
the bank to increase their business and 
develop their land. The bank will put up 
money for stock or for fertilizer or for 
seed. This old, .sound, conservative l):ink 
has set out for the fanners’ business as 
an e.special honor! Surely times do 
change! 
All Kinds There. —AVe had about 70 
down at the old church that Saturday 
night. The Parson talked awhile about 
the war, and this m:in talked about his 
line, and explained^wh it the bank would 
do for them, and ‘then the young folks 
went upstairs for their games and danc¬ 
ing, and we older ones sat around the old 
box stove and ate clam chowder. “How 
many different nations here tonight?” 
asked the agent of a Scotchman sitting 
near him. “I don't know,” came the re- 
Chopping Wood to Bug Thrift Stamps 
lily, “but we can reckon up.” So they 
went over the people together and found 
that there were nine. 
Meat For Dinner. —“AA^iat shall we 
have for meat for dinner?” How that 
question comes to us on a farm! Meat 
has had a big jump here, and round steak 
is around 45 cents a pound. The last the 
Parson heard, ham was (iO cents a pound. 
It is a matter that the Parson has thought 
on not a little. How can we have meat 
the year round on a farm, and a small 
farm at that? AA’’e have been able this 
year to pretty nearly have something in 
the meat line all the time. AA'^e killed a 
beef in the Fall and iilan to do so evei’y 
Fall. This saves the pork supply, which 
will keep in warm weather. ,Tust now, 
the first of June, we have one large ham 
left, quite a lot of smoked bacon, and a 
good supply of salt porK in the cellar. As 
far as the Parson can remember, he has 
bought but two pieces of meat since last 
October. AVe have bought some fish, of 
course. There will be some sitters to 
spare for the table soon, and then the 
broilers will come on. The babies of the 
Lone (!oose will helj) on in the Fall, and 
with plenty of milk, tlie price of meat 
will not trouble us. 
A Smoke-House. —The Parson needs 
and has his heart set on a good brick 
smoke-house. He got a big hogshead up- 
lown one day. It worked much better 
than a barrel. He started it going out 
by the shed one morning just as he was 
starting for town. In his hurry he threw 
over a very good raincoat to keep the 
smoke in. Great excitement prevailed on 
his return home. The barrel was a thing 
of the past, also the raincoat, also the 
handle to a good hoe. Most fortunately, 
the bulk of the meat was saved. It got 
smoked all right—pretty well cooked, too. 
Nem' Idea. —Since then the parson has 
been looking about for ideas on smoke¬ 
houses. He got one the other day. It 
was told him by a fellow parson and 
came straight. It really beat anything 
he found in the Government bulletin. The 
fellow parson and his son were riding 
through a section of back-to-the-landers 
when they saw smoke pouring from the 
attic windows of a farmhouse. They 
rushed to the house and bolted into the 
kitchen. “Your house is on fire! The 
smoke is pouring out of your attic win¬ 
dows !” But the woman was unmoved. 
“AA’'e are smoking our bacon,” she re¬ 
marked. The minister and sou ascended 
to the attic. Several bricks had been 
taken out of the chimney, which had been 
stuffed tight above this hole, and the ham 
and bacon was hanging nearby on the 
rafters. AA'hy need the I’arson look fui’- 
ther? AA’hat more convenient and less 
ex))ensive? .lust what the insurance peo¬ 
ple might think of it is another matter! 
A Morning Airing. —The Parson has 
always heard it is fine to go out in the 
morning and get a good whiff of fresh 
.‘lir. The above minister w'as telling me 
another the other day. “Pretty cold open¬ 
ing the chimney this morning,” said a 
fellow neighbor to him one terrible day 
last AA'inter. “Opening the chimney?” 
exclaimed the man. “AA’hat do you 
mean?” “AVhy, don’t you put a stone 
over the top of your cljimney nights to 
keej) the cold out?” So every night the 
last’ thing and every morning before a 
lire could be built, this man mounts the 
jiinnacle of the house and removes a huge 
stone from the chimney. 
Some AATriding Trip. —The Parson has 
had a good deal to say about the men who 
go about leaving the women folks at 
home. They need to get out just as much 
as we do, and more. There is a good 
deal more sameness about a woman’s 
work than a man’s. A man was i-iding 
on the cars and got into conversation 
with a fellow passenger. After a while 
the latter casually remarked that he was 
on his wedding trip! “You are! You 
are!” cried the companion. “AVhere is 
the bride? I want to meet and congratu¬ 
late her.” “Oh, the bride.” said the man 
with utter unconcei-n. “AA’hy, she’.s at 
home. There’s so much to do all the time 
that she could not get away.” 
No Floi r.— AVho Avould have thought 
some time ago that w’e could get along 
without any flour in the house? AA’’e have 
had none for two weeks now. AA’e have 
cornmeal—our own corn ground—and it 
goes very well. Corn bread is made every 
day and Ave have cornmeal griddle cakes 
quite often for breakfast or supper. Milk 
goes great with the.se cakes, and such a 
meal will stand by one. As the Parson 
writes this minute a pleasant odor of 
meat comes from the kitchen. The pet 
rabbit is in the oven! 
rABRAGE.s AND Barrits. — Cabbages 
and rabbits do not seem to go togethei*. 
'I’his was a very handsome I’abbit and a 
gift to the boys. They let it run at large 
during the AA’'inter and Spring, intending 
to shut it lY 'vhen the garden was 
iilanted. P’’t ’^.o shut up a rabbit, you 
have to catch, 't. Thei-e was the rub. 
Muskrat traps were even resorted to. but 
lie promptl.v pulled out and went his \yay. 
lie cleaned out every cabbage in sight 
and then started in on the tomatoes. This 
was too much for the Parson, and the 
June 22, 1918 
boys too saw the point. They helped set 
out those cabbage plants, and did not 
relish the idea of doing it all over again. 
Boys Het.p. —As the Parson writes the 
boys are cultivating the corn. There is 
a fine stand—every kernel seems to have 
come up. AVe have done quite a business 
selling seed com this Spring too. AA’e 
must have about GO bushels of ears on 
hand now. Such a help as it is. AA’e buy 
no grain—this corn feeds us all. The 
boys crack it up in a little grinder for the 
chickens. They get nothing else but 
water and some mi'k. There must be 
about a hundred of them now. How lit¬ 
tle work it is to raise them ! AA’e took 
some egg.s from the incubator and put 
two each under some sitters we had left 
round for a week or so, and by hatching 
even one chick they would own any 
number. AA'e gave them about 25 each. 
Keep the hens in a coop and let the 
chickens run in the garden. AA’^hat a good 
time they have and how they growl! The 
second boy takes charge of them and the 
hens. 
Beal Profit. —The hens are giving us 
just about three dozen eggs a day, seldom 
less, often more. Just 36 yesterday. AA"e 
count up 58 hens. They have a good big 
run and nothing in the world but corn 
thrown to them on the cob. Once in a 
while a little milk. AA’hile the pig eats 
the rye, they are picking the clover sown 
purposely for them. This .$40 a month 
is certainly easily made and most all vel¬ 
vet. 
Getting Beady. —It is a possibility, 
nothing more, that tomorrow Moms and 
four of the children and the Parson start 
for old A^ermont in the little car. Moms 
gave up going several times yesterday, 
and the Parson has given up going twice 
already today. AA'^hat a job it is to get 
off! Yesterday we painted on the car, 
and got it to looking a little better. It 
has been run only seven years now, and 
seems well limbered up! Gars have gone 
up in price, and this would bring more 
than it cost second-hand three years ago. 
It rattles some to be sure, but it never 
caused us to miss a service yet. Last 
Sunday night, had you been far down on 
a lonely road, you would have seen it 
carrying eight grown people and towing 
another car behind. After breaking all 
the ropes in the neighborhood, the other 
car was loft in a shed and the eight peo¬ 
ple came home in this veteran roadster. 
Ghopping at Ten. —This boy you see 
in the picture has made quite a name for 
himself at cutting and selling wood to 
buy Thrift Stamps. He is only 12 years 
old and his sister, 10, helps him. His 
brother goes by the name of “Happy,” 
and this boy is just as happy as he is. 
His mother sold .$00 worth of geese last 
Thanksgiving. He helps get the nettles 
and sand for the little ones. 
School - House Service. — Many of 
these people in this district read The 
B. N.-Y. and I am going to send in their 
picture. It is taken right by their dis¬ 
trict school-house. AA’e have just had a 
fine service. Night before last we had a 
lawn party down there and had a big 
crowd and a fine time. It is 15 miles 
from the Parson’s. How many more boys 
and girls would stay in the country if 
all the school-houses were used this way? 
Down at the old church we had a big 
party the other night, and an auction, 
and cleared up almost $30 for the Bed 
Cross. 
An Early Spring. —It is a wonder¬ 
fully early Spring here. Glover is already 
in bloom and haying will be on before vie 
know it. The boys claim that the water 
is warm in the brook and want to fix up 
the old dam. They are teasing strong to 
go barefoot, the flies are bo'riT’uin'- *-n 
bother and when the hens get out . j. 
scratch up the women folks’ flower bed, 
the Summer season will surely be here. 
Alfalfa for Human Food 
Every now and then someone starts 
the old report that Alfalfa is being used 
freely for human food. AA'e have traced 
this down, several times, but have' never 
yet been able to find the people who, it is 
claimed, are substituting Alfalfa for cof¬ 
fee, bread and meat. The modern Nebu¬ 
chadnezzar does not seem to make him¬ 
self visible. Probably the following state¬ 
ment tells the story: 
I have had the experience of eating: 
what is known as Alfalfa bread, but I 
have never yet seen any Alfalfa flour. I 
conside’r it as being of no value for hu¬ 
man food, directly. I have talked to 
some of the best cooks in the country and 
I found one negro, who "was at one time 
the private chef for Mrs. Potter Palmer, 
and who is at present working on one of 
the private' cars on the Burlington Bail- 
road, who stated that he could make Al¬ 
falfa meal bread, so I got him some meal 
from one of the mills in Basin, AA^yo,. 
where we stopped for a few hours, and 
he made some very fine biscuits and light 
bread, which had a light green color, but 
upon quizzing him I found that he used 
just enough of the meal and enough of 
the liquor from soaking the meal to give 
the green color, and the saving of flour 
was practically nil. As far as I am 
aware. Alfalfa is not being used to any 
extent as food for humans anywhere in 
the world._ Those who have eaten Al¬ 
falfa biscuits with a large percentage of 
Alfalfa meal in them tell me that they 
w'ould pre'fer to take their Alfalfa second¬ 
hand ; that is, fe'ed it to a lamb, and eat 
the sheep. henry g. knight. 
Oklahoma Exp. Station. 
The Congregation at the Schoolhouse 
