The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1856-06-18

on; but not as you ana grandfather, anu
his father did," And though the old man
shook his head, and looked earnestly over
the bridge of his specs at his son, Ben
was as good as his word; forthwith he went
to work in earnest. e.s4
Spring came. Ben went into the old
eight acre field and ploughed up one-half
of it. Upon this he had deposited the
whole of the seasons manure, that had
hitherto been sparely spread upon double
the surface. He narrowed these four
acres, and narrowed them carefully. Hoe
ing time came, and Ben had only one-half
the space to GO over, Though the corn
and potatoes looked finely, and the beets,
the cabbages and the carrots grew mar
vellously. the old man grew crusty, and
declared it wouldn't de, and that there
wouldn't be root enough But Ben went
fright along his. own way, AT his second
heeing Ben went into his four acres, but
not with a hand hoe. He got some kind
ola jimcrack Gas the old man termed .it)
hitched to the old mares heels, instead of
lhoeing his potatoes man fashion; he'd be-
gun with his Improvements: bnt that culti-
vater, as Ben called it, wouldn't work no
how Ben continued the use. of the culti-
vater, however; the old man continued to
/ flourish. Ben Smith had gone over to
Ia neighboring town early in. the spring,
and run in debt (Ben was the first Smith
that ever did this thingo for two hundred
bushels of "nasty ashes" which he tugged
the cattle to draw to the farm, and with
(which he top-drcssed the meadow. Here
Twas an innovation, sure. And he had
Subscribed for a weekly paper, too, what
with his jimcrack ofa cultivator, his ash
Ter and book farming, the old gentleman
was nearly ;crazed. 1T would never do
to 60 on at this rate" said the old gentle
man. But the four acres of corn and po-
tatoes and vegetables still grew finely.
Never had the Smiths seen such corn,
such potatoes and carrots. The grass
Jeanne up thick, strong, .and. thrifty, and
the harvest time came round at last.
The cattle had plenty of good feed, and
they were fat and sleek; the pigs were fat,
and Ben grew fat and jolly as. he garner
ed his high corn, his big potatoes, his
generous sized beets, and his great bright
yellow carrots Ben had found time du-
ring his evenings, to read agricultural ar
ticles and to post himself in regard to the
markets.
Winter came. The good old farmer
! entered the barn. 1t was crammed with
hay and cornstalks, and wheat and rye.
The granary was loaded with corn, and
Ben, xho had been carefully taughtto shell
the .cobs across the edge of the shovel,
now stood beside another stupid machine,
throwing in a bushel of ears at the top,
while the big. golden kernels rushed out
in a constant shower at the bottom. Ben
Smith had "sqnandered' six dollars-in
cash-upon corn-sheller! "Ah! what
is the silly boy coming to?n exclaimed the
venerable progenitor, as he sighed and tur-
ned to the barn again. The old man ex-
amined the harvesting. There was more
hay in the mows than ever before. The
corn had turned out grandly. There was
everything in profusion, and only half the
eight acres had beeu tillcdi Ben pointed
to this gratifying result, and his father
only shook his head and said, Ben, you
have been lucky; we've had remarkable
season. Things have grown finely. A
very forward season, Ben, very"
Ben Smith, Jr., only smiled at this. He
killed off the cid razor-back gruntcrs that
had been bred upon the ancient farm from
time immemorial, and bought six impro-
we'd Suffolks instead of the three alliga-
tors that had previously been annually toll
erated on the Smith place. The super
animated cows, swith crumpled horns'
were turned into beef and brace of shi-
ming, Durhams supplied their places. A
!. sub-soil plough found its way into the yard
one morning early in the spring, and {
"new-fangled" harrow followedthis Their
came a new patent churn, then a. capita
straw cutter, then more "nasty ashes," thcI
a seed drill--and there was no end, sait
, Ben senior, to tie Internal machines tha
Ben junior cluttered up the plac
with.
!: Ben had been no idler meantime. III
9, had drawn into the cow-yard two hundre'
! loads of pond muck the previous fall
b He got plaster enough and crushed bone
0 and mixed with it, and when Februar
d came, it was heaped out generously upo
the four acres again. Everything wen
e on smilingly, and at haying time the s'ca
s lsheaf'' of machinery arrived. What o
d. earth is that? asked the old gentleman, q
), Ben put his team before new horse rak,
IS Ben laughed outright and asked his re,
Il pccted dad why he didn't read the paper
But his father said he had no occasion, b
al knew enough. Again the old barr
M cracked under. their generous harvest
i; hay and grain and vegetables, and agai
ydthea old man looked and sighed, and d.
sr clared that the, season had been remark,
f bles very. 1000, sttss: = =
Ie r Ben hadn't room to stow away tw'
a. thirds ofhisy syear's produce But his hs
stlwas excellent, his potatoes were mob
% ones; his carrots, beets and onions wei
ar splendid; he had Surplus rutabagas by Il
er cord, and turnips and squashes and ca
h. Ill ac oh