Nebraska advertiser. [volume] (Brownville, Nemaha County, N.T. [Neb.]) 1856-1882, 1860-12-06
g9G0e gess006.
John WaIGOn's Farm.
NHadn't You better subscrihe for Il q,

to spare; and, if / had, / haint got the
time to spare over newspapers" saiC
Eben Sawyer with some emphasis.
"But you will gain much Information
from it in the course of year, sir, pur
sued John Walton.
II tell you, don't want it!n
"Well, what do you say, Mr. Grum
met? Shant l have your name ?D
"No, sirr' This was spoken so fatty
and bluntly, that Walton said no more
but folded up the prospectus of periodi-
cal which he had with him, and then
turned away.
Eben Sawyer and Ben Grummet were
two old farmers-that is, old at TIE busi-
ness, though they had only reached the
middle age Of life; and after their young
neighbor had gone, they expressed their
opinion concerning him.
"He'H never make a farmer!' said
Sawyer with shake of the head. He
spends too much time over his papers and
books of his'n. He's leetle mite above
farmin', in my opinion"
"Them's my sentiments" responded
Grummet. II tell you, Eben, the man
that thinks to make livin' on farm in
this country, has got to WORK for it.
At this juncture, Sam Bancroft came
past. He was another old native of the
district.
ave was Just taIkin' about young Wal
ton,' said Sawyer.
1--we just come from there" replied
Sam.
Hes been borin' me to sign for pa
per; but he couldn't come it,"
"Ha-ha! so he bored u.s. He's get
ting leetle too high for farmerp'
"He's rippin' his barn floor upr' said
Bancroft.
"Rippin the floor upp' repeated
Grummet. "Why, Mr.. Amsden had the
whole floor put down new only three
years agor'
"The stable ho2r, I mean," pursued
Bancroft. "He's got carpenter up
from the village; and his two hired men
are helpin'."
"Whew l opine he'll make farm
er!'
And so they all opined-with a reser-
yation. In short, there was something
highly ridiculous in the thought of a
mans thinking to be farmer and stu
dent at the same time; and all sorts of
iests were discharged over it.
John Walton was young man-some
fve-and-twenty; and though he had been
born in the neighborhood, yet much of
L;.I;eo bo 4 Loop eDopt ~ o4har oortioDS
of the country. His parents both died
when he was quite, young, and his faith
er's farm passed into the hands of Mr..
Amsden. But now John had married,
and his thoughts naturally turned to the
old homestead He found Amsden will
ing to sell, and he bought-paying five
hundred dollars down, and giving note
and mortgage for five hundred, which had
been cashed by Mr.. Piddon.
The farming district was upon broad
ridge of land, which had been cleared
for great many years; and though they
were the handsomest and smoothest
looking farms in the parish, yet, they
were by no means the best. The summit
of the ridge was crowned by ledge of
granite, and the soil, over the whole
broad swell, was more or less wet and
cold. This was particularly the case
with John Walton's farm, some portions
of it being wholly unfit for cultifation.-
There was one field of over twenty acres
which was never fit for plowing. The
soil was so wet and heavy that it had ne
yer been worked to any advantage; yet
there was some good land upon 1t, and
Mr.. Amsden had gained fair crops while
he lived there.
Ben Grummet had a curiosity TO see
what was going on in Walton's barn, so
he dropped in there. He found that the
who { of the floor, where the cattle
stood, had been torn up, and that they
were digging wide deep trench the
whole length of the tie-uP.
"What Is all this for?' asked Ben
why" returned Walton. who was
busy in experimenting the work, and al
so in working himself, II am having a
place fixed here for making manure. l
mean to fill this trench up with good
muck, and thus save the liquids which
have heretofore been lost. l think, by
proper management, l can get full dou-
BILE the quantity of manure, which others
have got on this place."
"Do We" said Grummet sarcastically.
"Yes," resumed the young man. 1T
is fact that the liquid manures, could
they be saved would fully equal the So
lids, both in bulk md value; and when
combined with well rotted muck, and
some other articles which shall take up
and retain all the more volatile parts,
feel assured that they will afford more
fertilizing powers and properties than the
solid manures can"
You don't say so! Where dye larn
all that 2"
Partly from readiug, and partly from
observation" answered John, smiling at
his good neighbours open sarcasm.
u don't s'pose it costs anything to do
all this?"
80 yes, it will cost me considerable
before get through"
"Yes; / should think 'twouldr'
81 say!" he cried, as he met Sawyer
shortly afterwards, "John Walton's about
as nigh bein' crazy as man can be %
"Eh7-crazy, Benz"