The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1874-11-14
The Farm Hand Of Thirty Years Ago.
ON NM Farm of Edgepood.

From My Farm Of Edgswood.
There lived some twenty or thirty
years ago in New England race OF
men, American born, who, having gone
through two Winters course OF dis
trict school ciphering and reading, be-
came the most indefatigable and ingen-
ieus of farm workers. Their hoeing
was slight of hand they could make
an ox-yoke, or an ax-helve on rainy
days; by adroit manipulation, they
could relieve choking COW, or as deft-
ly hive a swarm of bees. Their fur
rows indeed were not of the straightest,
but their control of long team of oxen
was miracle of guidance They may
have carried a bit of Cavendish twist
in their waistcoat pockets; they GER
tainlv did not waste time at lavations !;
but as farm workers they had rare apti-
tude; no tool came amiss to them !;
they Graded; they churned if need
were; they chopped and piled their
three cords of wood between sun and
sun. With bare feet, and keen-whet-
ted six-pound Blanchard, they laid such
broad swaths through the fields of
dewy herdgrass as made old country
men" stare. By kind of intuition
they knew the location of every tree
and medicinal herb that grew in the
woods
Rarest of all which they possessed
was an acuteness of understanding
which enabled them to comprehend an
order before it was half uttered, and to
meet occasional and unforeseen difficult
ties with a steady assurance as if they
had been an accepted part of the pro-
blem. 1t was possible to send such a
man into a woods with his team, to Sc
lect stick of timber, of chestnut or oak,
that should measure a given amount !;
he could be trusted to find such, to cut
it, to score it, to load it if the gearing
broke, he could be trusted to mend it !;
if the tree lodged he could be trusted
to devise some artifce for bringing it
down; and finally, for its sure and
prompt delivery at the point indicated.
Your Irishman, on the other hand,
balks at the first turn; he must have a
multitude of chains; he needs a boy to
aid him with the team, and another to
carry bar; he spends an hour in his
doubtful estimate of dimensions but
"begorra, it's lumpish tree" and he
thwacks into the rind a foot or two
from the ground, so as to leave mate"
Irish stump Half through the bole he
begins to doubt if it be indeed a chest
nut or poplar; and casting his eye
aloft to measure it anew, an ancient
woodpecker drops something smarting
in his eye; and his howl starts the
Eliminating team into a confused entan-
clement among the young wood. Hav-
ing eased his pain and extricated his
cattle, he pushes on with his ak, and
presently with light crash of plant
boughs, his timber is lodged in the top
of an adjoining tree He tugs, and
strains, and swears, and splits the helve
of his axe in adapting it for lever,
and presently, near to noon, comes back
for three or four hands to give him a
boost with the tree. You return-to
find the team strayed through gate
left open, into thriving corn field, and
one of your pet tulip trees lodged in a
1.-THE young hickory.
"Och! and it's tulip it is! and l
was thinkin' twas niver chistnut j;
begorra, its lucky thin, it didn't come
down entirely"
These and other such replace the
New Highlander born, who long ago
was paid off, wrapped his savings in a
dingy piece of sheepskin, scratched his
head refectingly, and disappeared from
the stare.