1890 
J*f RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 27, 1919 
Pastoral Parson and His Country Folks 
By Rev. George B. Gilbert 
Christmas Spirit. —Little George, half 
asleep, for it is more than bedtime, is 
sitting on the arm of a chair knitting on 
a wrister, or pulse warmer, as they are 
sometimes called. From its looks no one 
Would know what it was, and the Parson 
doubts much whether the boy will pro¬ 
duce a real conserver of heat in the hu¬ 
man frame. But the little fellow works 
away and works away, trying his best to 
keep his eyes open. He has gotten the 
Christmas spirit, and must make some¬ 
thing to give away. He has no idea now 
to whom he would give this little knitted 
article, even if he ever finished it, and 
it doesn’t matter either way—he has im¬ 
bibed the Christmas lesson. 
Tragic. —How really tragic it is that 
this Christmas spirit seems to last so 
short a time. IIow often would Christ¬ 
mas have to come to get us all into the 
Christmas habit so we would stay there? 
Over town a man died with the “flu'’ last 
Winter, leaving a large family of chil¬ 
dren. The Parson feels that in a case 
like this those who were spared at such 
a time feel a real responsibility. So he 
pulled up one day and deposited a Win¬ 
ter’s supply of potatoes and turnips 
on the porch and drove along. When he 
stopped in the near-by grocery he was 
confronted with a torrent of rage. By 
giving this woman all these potatoes the 
store could not sell her any more! The 
widow and her little children were the 
last consideration. 
Ciiurcii Insurance. —The Parson has 
been reading of a church that has taken 
up the insurance business. All its mem¬ 
bers are insured against all sorts of mis¬ 
fortunes. Why no 4 ;? They have under¬ 
taken to insure their getting into Heaven 
•—deferred payment life, face value not 
guaranteed—but why not help them out 
while still in this troublesome world? 
Why shouldn’t the church have under¬ 
taken to do everything for its people that 
would make them happier and better— 
more as God wants them to be? 
They Could Do It. —The people in 
the churches could do all these things if 
they had the Christmas spirit a little 
while after Christmas. There is a 
woman’s church society iu this State that' 
is always after the Parson to get his 
country women to join it. But they 
want him to take envelopes down for 
them to put a dollar in. But the Parson 
doesn’t do it. The head of the society 
is said to pay income tax on an annual 
income of over $30,000. Her ears and 
fingers are loaded down with great dia¬ 
monds, and she lives iu a perfect palace. 
If such people want money given for 
various objects, why under Heaven don’t 
they give it? The Parson has looked 
and looked and cannot find the text any¬ 
where in the Bible where it is supposed 
to say: “Go ye into all the world and 
collect a dollar from every creature.” 
The Christmas Anchor. —Christmas 
is one of the great anchors to hold the 
children to the old farm—the old home. 
The season begins long before the day 
itself, when coming home by the wood lot 
the boys begin to have an eye for a likely 
tree. Little George has for several 
weeks sized up many a scrub hemlock as 
lie and the Parson have jogged along the 
Lonely Road. On the long trip down coun¬ 
try tomorrow a decision will have to be 
made, and when Clossie sees us coming 
down the road he will make a dash to 
meet us and drag the tree off in triumph 
to show it to Sit. * 
Where to Put It. —It has been sug¬ 
gested that the tree be placed in Mom’s 
big enlarged chamber upstairs. The 
children took to the idea at once. Some 
of them could behold it even as they 
opened their eyes in the morning, and for 
days after Christmas they could play 
around it a while at night. Its litter on 
the floor would not matter so much up 
there as down in the parlor, and so it 
might quite likely be allowed to stay up 
much longer than otherwise. So up there 
it will be placed, and Shelley will rig up 
an extension electric light to be placed 
among the branches, and aglow ';ith this 
Tadiance it will be an anchor to hold after 
memories to the dear old home for many 
a long day to come. 
The Dinner. —We had one of those 
snow-white geese for Thanksgiving, and 
a good goose is certainly good eating. 
The Parson considers it much tastier 
meat than that of a turkey. For our 
Christmas we have saved a couple of 
roosters—the last of the season. The 
Parson took it upon himself to help pre¬ 
pare the Thanksgiving dinner. The boys 
scurried the barn for eggs enough for a 
fine cake, and Mrs. Parson was com¬ 
pounding the ingredients. The Parson’s 
first move in assisting was to grab a dish 
that stood on the table and throw the 
little mess of water in it into the sink. so 
that he could use the dish for something 
else. As its contents disappeared down 
the sink spout, a cry went up from Mrs. 
Parson. It was the whites of all those 
precious eggs—the last ones to be had! 
The Parson and the boys decided it was 
time to go over to the barn and open up 
the silo. 
Something to Wear. —“Seems tho’ I 
always got something to wear on Christ¬ 
mas,” said one of the children to another 
the other day. “I wish we could have 
more playthings.” It set the Parson 
thinking. It is a temptation to get mit¬ 
tens and sweaters and neckties and hand¬ 
kerchiefs for Christmas. The city child 
often gets toys till it is quite bewildered, 
but it is not so on the Lonely Road. The 
packs on the pictures of Santa have horns 
and drums and toys of all sorts, and the 
children gaze and gaze at them. Perhaps 
it’s just as well that Santa does not carry 
felt moccasins in his satchel. The Par¬ 
son is going to get more real silly toys 
this year. 
The Christmas Candy.— As the Par¬ 
son writes the children are having a great 
time fixing up tho Christmas candy for 
the Parson’s various missions. Candy 
boxes seemed high and scarce this year, 
and so we bought the Christmas napkins, 
five cents a dozen, and put about a half¬ 
pound of candy in the middle of one and 
then just gather up the corners and tie 
a Christmas string about it, leaving the 
ends long enough to tie on the tree. They 
certainly look like flowers among the 
branches. They will make up about 140 
of these, and the first 25 will go with us 
tomorrow. The Parson notices the chil¬ 
dren are taking a little toll now as they 
go along, finding some peculiar straw¬ 
berry pieces that need tasting. 
Little Billy. —The first place where 
the big grip with the candy inside will 
he opened tomorrow will be where little 
Billy lives. Little Billy is a poor little 
under-sized and under-nourished boy, who 
lives iu an old house unfit for human hab¬ 
itation down by the old sawmill site. 
There are six half-sisters and brothers 
where Billy lives, for Billy’s mother died 
before he ever knew her. Little Billy is 
12. but you would not think he was over 
eight. Besides the little wee baby, there 
is another baby on the bottle, yet all the 
milk that comes into this family is one 
quart a day. 
The Work. —Who lugs all the water 
used in that house from a spring down 
the road and across the brook and un the 
lull beyond? Who saws wood to cook the 
potatoes, and who peels those potatoes? 
Who puts the children to bed at night, 
and who gets them ready for school in 
the morning, and who. hurrying along in 
the cold, pushes one child and drags an¬ 
other by the hand to school? And all the 
time iii the corner of the room Billy’s 
stepmother sits and rocks the baby there 
stands a lash whip, ever ready for in¬ 
stant use. 
Billy’s Sister. — Someone told the 
Parson two trips hack that this family 
had moved into the old house by the saw¬ 
mill. and he climbed over the bars and 
went round to the back door. A half- 
grown chicken had been killed that after¬ 
noon by being caught in the kitchen door. 
This poor little sister girl was holding 
something to her breast anu rocking it 
and loving it and putting her little white 
cheek beside it. She never had a doll in 
her life. She never had a Teddy bear 
in her life. Had she ever been loved in 
her life? So she loved the little dead 
chicken as the Parson sat on the one 
spare chair. 
Tiie Water. —It was dark, and the 
rain was falling outside. “Billy,” said 
the Parson, “where is the pail you bring 
the water in?” And Billy went and got 
the pail, and then the Parson and little 
Billy went down across the yard and 
crawled through the barway and down 
the road and across the bridge and up 
the other side to that spring and filled the 
pail, and the Parson brought it back 
again, and five times we did this, till all 
the water pots were filled, all the boilers 
and kettles and the dinner pails. And 
then the Parson went out into the night, 
and as he poked along in the rain and 
fog and thought of how God made things 
to be, and how they really are, he seemed 
to have some slight inkling of how Jesus 
felt when He came to visit Ilis Father’s 
children, and why it could be said of 
Him : “He bare the sins of many, aud 
‘ ,T His stripes we are healed.” 
< Wpt.—B ut on the next trip down 
a light came into Billy’s life that will last 
for many a day. Even the boys of the 
townllooked long into the back of the old 
express wagon, to say nothing of the boys 
of the hillsides. Yes, there was a won¬ 
derful cart—the best that good money 
could buy. And that cart went under 
that chestnut barway and up to the front 
door where Billy lives. And Billy came 
out and saw that cart and tried and tried 
to believe that that cart was really for 
him, to be left there for him, for him to 
bring water in from the spring, and for 
him to “roller coaster” each trip down 
the hill. And a neighbor tells the Parson 
that the sound of shouting and laughing 
comes up from that hollow now. 
Not Crying Now.— The neighbors 
dreaded to see Little Billy go by to school 
in th*‘ morning, pushing one little fellow 
ahead and dragging another little fellow 
behind, for as he went all three would 
be crying from the cold. But the morn¬ 
ing after the cart came there was no cry¬ 
ing. for the thought of that cart was in 
Billy’s heart, and a great warm coat 
With a great thick collar was on his back, 
and both his little brothers had warm 
coats, too. If only the good woman who 
gave the Parson the money to buy that 
cart could see Billy and his little brothers 
rolling along to school! 
Santa Claus.— Tomorrow night, rain 
or shine, and the paper says it will rain, 
Santa Claus will stop at th* old house 
by the sawmill site and tap on the window 
and tin'll scamper away in the darkness, 
only to appear again, go in and shake 
hands all around and empty his big pack 
of toys on the floor. 
Christmas Gifts. —Everybody is 
groaning this year because Christmas 
presents cost so much. But it is always 
well to remember that there are many 
gifts that cost no more this year than 
ever. A change from a doleful, complain¬ 
ing, even alarming, report of the crops 
and the cows and the pigs and the hens to 
a cheerful, hopeful attitude will be a pres¬ 
ent that the mother of the household will 
mightily appreciate. Years ago you gave 
the cow at the barn a Christmas present 
of running water at every stall. Why 
not make mother a present this year of 
running water at the sink? 
Another Present. —When you come 
home from a trip to town, do you say 
anything in the house about what you 
saw and whom you saw and what they 
said and what news you heard? If not, 
there’s a chance for a wonderful Christ¬ 
mas gift. When Mary cannot leave the 
babies and go to town with you, or to the 
Grange, you can bring the trip home with 
you and give it to her. Don’t make her 
worm it out of you, but take time to tell 
her gladly all the news you have heard, 
and all things of interest you saw. 
The Other Side. —And if you haven’t 
ever made your husband the gift of a 
comfortable home, grant it to him this 
year. It is well to be clean, but there 
is no need of your being an “Old Dutch 
Cleanser”—forever chasing dirt. When 
you have chased the last speck of dirt 
out. of the house, look out that you haven’t 
chased your man out with it. If you 
have been a sort of housekeeper all these 
years, make him the present this Christ¬ 
mas of a real liomekeeper. A home- 
keeper is one who looks after the house 
in such a way that all the growing boys 
and girls, aud father, too, would rather 
stay at home of an evening, yes, even a 
Saturday night, than to be at any other 
place in the world. 
The Boy’s Gift. —The new nickel 
hockey skates hanging on the strong low 
branch of the Christmas tree are a fine 
gift for your boy. hut your continued 
companionship as he is getting bigger is 
a finer one. When the boy was little you 
were as proud as Lucifer, and went with 
him everywhere to show him off; but 
now you are “too tired” and send him off 
alone, or with the neighborhood gang. 
After Christmas you go to the movies 
with him and to the Grange with him, 
and to see the aeroplane with him. and 
go fishing with him, and take the old dog 
and the lantern and go skunk hunting 
with him. 
The Gift of Peace. —If we want 
peace in the family this year, let us re¬ 
member that nothing but justice can 
bring peace. It isn’t just to a child to 
laugh at him and spoil him and think 
everything he does is so cunning and the 
next minute, because we are tired or ate 
too much supper, go at him like a maniac 
and half kill him. It is hardly justice, 
either, to expect a child to keep from do¬ 
ing the things we are forever doing our¬ 
selves. A child learns from imitation, 
remember, not from advice. 
The Christmas Peace.- —How little 
peace in the world this Christmas! Not 
as much peace as there was last year. 
IIow the wars of strikes and anger and 
misunderstanding are spreading over the 
land. Before we take our stand on either 
side, let us go down deep into the causes 
and find out where the injustice lies. 
Though it may lie deep, it is there some¬ 
where, and until it is rooted out there 
can be no peace on earth, no good-will 
among men. 
Handling a Small Place 
We keep three horses, cow and chickens. 
We have plowed all the ground. 15 acres, 
this Fall. What shall I plant next 
Spring for feed for the above-mentioned 
animals? What do you advise planting 
among fruit trees and on the open soil so 
that I would not have to plow again for 
some time? The soil is good and rich; 
there was a crop of corn planted among 
fruit trees last season. 
Westchester Co., N. Y. j. f. 
My advice is to plant all the corn you 
can and sow Alsike clover after the last 
cultivation in July. The following year 
the orchard may be mowed and left for 
mulch, and the other land either mowed 
for hay or plowed under and corn grown 
again. Corn will give the most food 
value of any crop you can grow. The 
grain is good for all your stock, and the 
stover will winter the cow and horses, 
with some other feed. We winter our 
farm horses on corn stover and find it 
better than hav. Cornell University will 
give rations for both grain and mash 
that can be had for the asking. We use 
a very simple ration, which we vary at 
times because we are unable to get the 
feeds we want for grain. We use 200 lbs. 
corn. 200 lbs. wheat, 100 lbs. barley, and 
80 lbs. oats. The mash is 100 lbs. wheat 
bran. 100 lbs. wheat middlings, 100 lbs. 
cornmeal, 80 lbs. ground oats, and 100 lbs. 
beef scraps. The corn is better fed 
cracked if you can, and fine middlings, 
not the standard middlings, which are 
merely ground bran. We sometimes sub¬ 
stitute gluten for cornmeal. As long as 
we get the results we are after we don’t 
worry. floyd q. white. 
