The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1856-07-09
LIVING IN TIE eoUNTRY.


shine, in moonlight and starlight, in
rain, mist, dew, hoar-trost and drouth,
out in the open campaign, and under
the blue dome that is bounded by the
horizon only-It is good thing to have
a well with dripping buckets, a porch
with honeybuds, and sweet bells, hive
embroidered with nimble bees, sun
dial mossed over, ivy up to the caves,
curtains of dimity, tumbler Of fresh
flowers in your bedroom, rooster Oh
the roof. and dog upon the piazza.
When Mrs Sparowgrass and l moved
into the country with our heads full of
fresh butter and crisp nadishes for tea /;
with ideas entirely lucid respecting
:nilk, and q looseness of calculation re-
specting tne number in family it would
take coed laying hen 20 supply With
fresh eggs every mor-,.ng-when Mrs.
Sparowgras~ ald : moved into the coun-
try W ,ound some preconceived notions
lad to .e abandoned and some depart
u.es made from the plan we had laid
/ down in the little back parlor in Ave
| nue. G..
One of the first achievements in the
country is early rising vita the lark
with the sun-while the dew is on the
grass, "undcr the opening eyelids of the
morn" and so forth. Early rising |!
| What can be done with five or six o'clock
in town? What may be done at those
hours in the country? With the hoe,
the rake, the dihblc, the spade, the wa
teripg pot ? To plant, prune, drill, trans
plant, graft, train, and sprinkle Mrs,
s. and agreed to rise early in the
country.
A friend recommended me to send to
the south side of Long Island for some
very prolific potatocs-the real hippo
tamus breed. Down went my man, and
what with expense of horse-hlre, tavern
bills. toll gates, and breaking wagon,
the h popotami cost as much apiece as
pine APPLES. They were fine potatoes,
though, with comcly features, and large,
languishing eyes that promised IucreEsc
of family without delay. As ! worked
my own garden, (for which I hired
landscape gardner at two dollars per
day to give me instructious,) [ conclud-
cd that the object of my first experiment
in early rising should be the planting of
the bippopctamuses. accordingly
rose next day at five, and it rained.
The next and it raincd! 1t raincd for
two weeks We had splendid potatoes
every day for dinner. Ny dear"
said L to Mrs Sparowgrass, where did
you get those fue potatoes?' Why"
said she innocently, " out of the basket
from Long Island !" The last of the
hippopotamuses were before me, pealed,
and boiled, and mashed, and baked with
nice thin brown crust on the top.
I was more successful afterw ards. l
did get some seed potatoes in the ground,
But something was the matter at the
end of the season di1 not get as many
potatoes as had put in.
Mrs Sparrowgrass, who is noble
housewife, said to me one day, A." Now,
my dear, we shall soon have plenty Of
eggs, for 1 have been buying lot of
chickens" There they were, each With
about as many feathers as grasshop-
per, and q cLirp not louder. Of course
we looked forward with pleasant hopes
to the period when the first cackle sho'd
announce the milk white eggs, warml y
deposited in the hay which we had pro
vided bountifully. They grew finely,
and one day 1 ventured to remark that
our hens had remarkable large combs,
to which Mrs. S. replied, &" Yes indeed
she had observed that; but if ventured
to have a real treat, 1 ought to get up
early in the morning and hear them
crow" i" Crow !'' said ! family, % our
heus growing! Then by the cock that
crowed in the morn, to wake the priest
ell shaven and shorn,' we might as we'll
give up all hope of having any eggs"
said 1, &c for as sure as you live Mrs. s.,
our hens are all roosters that grew up
and fought with the neighbors chickens,
until there was not whole pair of eyes
on either side of the fence"
A dog is good thing to have in the
country, Ihaye one which raised from
pup. He is good stout fellow, and
hearty barker and feeder. The man
Of whom I bought him said be was thor
ough-bred, but he begins to have a mon
grel look about him. He is good
watch dog, though, for the moment he
sees any suspicious looking person about
the premises, he comes right into the
kitchen and gets behind the stove. First
we kept him in the house, and he
scratched all night to get ont. Then
we turned him out, and he scrached all
night to get in. Then we tied him up
at the back of the garden, and he howled
SO that our neighbors shot at him twice
before day break. Finally, we gave him
away, and he came back and now he is
just recovssing from fit in which he