Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1874-02-25

entered the barn. 1t was crammed with
hay, and cOrn-stalks and wheat and rye.
| The granary was loaded with corn, and
Ben. who had been carefully taught to
shell the cobs across the edge of Il shovel
now stood beside another stupid " ma
sheen :" throwing in bushel of ears al
the top. while the big golden kernels rush
ed in cons ant shower from the bottom !
/ Ben Smith had "squandered :" six dollars
| lin cash) upon corn-sheller! All
what was the silly boy coming to-" ex
claimed his venerable projenitor. rs he
| sighed, and turned to the barn again.
| The old man examined the harvesting
| There was more hay in the mows than
ever before! The corn had turned on
~randly! There was everything in pro
fusion and half the eight acres had beer
| t.iled! Ben pointed to this gratifying re
sult-and his father only shook his head.
and said, :. Ben, you have been lucky:
1Ce'Ue had remarkable season. Things
have eroweI finely.-A very for'ard sea-
son. Ben, very!"
Ben Smith. Junior only smiled at this.
He continued to read his paper. sub
scribed for another, paid for both. tahi
m]tat extravaganza and winter passed
glibly away.
He killed off the old razor-backed
grunters that had been bred in-and-in up
on the ancient farm from time immemorial
and bought six improved Suffolks. instead
Of the three alligators that had previously
been annually tolerated on the old Smith
place.
The superannuated cows with crum-
pied horns > We're turned into beef, and
e IL,
their places. A subSoil plow found it,
way into the yard, and one morning early
IN the spring, a new-fangled harrow
followed this. Then came patent churn,
then Il capital straw cutter, then more
= nasty ashes" then a seed-drill-;lnd
there was no eend (said Ben, senior
s. to the infarnal masheens that Ben, junior,
cluttered up the place with!
Ben had been no idler, meantime. He
had drawn mo the cow yard, two hundred
loads of peat and pond-muck, in the prevl-
Gus fall. He got plaster and crushed bones
and mixed them with it, AMI when Febru
AIRY came, it was heaped out generously
upon the four acres again. Everything
went on svimmingly and at haying time
the - ctps.icaf" of machinery arrived!
What Oh earth is MH?n asked the
OItl Dcll pun tS'tii PCioi'
his new horse-ruke Ben laughed outright.
and asked his respected father why he
didn't read the papers! But his father
said he had no occasion-he knew
enough"
Again the old barns creaked under
their generous hay. and grain, and veget-
;lbles, and again the old man looked Oh
and sighed. and declared that - the season
h.,I rf-
Ben hadn't room to stow away two
thirds of his year produce! But his hay
was excellent, his potatoes noble ones, his
carrots and beets and onions were splen-
did; and he had surplus ruta bagas by the
| bages by the ton, for which he readily
found good market, seven miles distant.
Nobody believed it, (at first but all these
| fine products really came from the old
Smith farm.
When the snow and sleet ratified around
the ntient mansion, that winter. Ben
owed no man Il dollar, his barns and bins
and cellars were well filled, and he had
three hundred dollars, in clean cash, on
hand! Here was Il fortune.
Verify. Ben" said his parent. "you
have been lucky. and the seasons ftvora-
bic, rery!''
The elder Smith has been gathered to
his fathers. Benjamin Smith. Junior. Esq.
| is now a man of solid substance. Il Justice
of the Peace. and IL farmer of forty years
| in good standing. He knows the differ
ence between partial and thorough cult
walton; he can tell you about the benefits
| of subsoil blowing and shallow furrow
/ he can tell you whether a piece of Suffolk
pork or of Devon beef is preferable to that
of the greyhound hog or shingle-backed
OK; he knows how to use the no se-rake
and the potato-dropper; he will nov in
form You about the advantages to be de-
rived from If CATION, froIl draining. from
Use of phosphate of lime, and the like: he
will show you on his flrm big haystacks,
generous squashes, huge potatoes, twelve
rowed corn, fat hogs, improved poultry.
sleek. velvety cattle. and all the Jim
cracks = of modern agricultural progress
and YOU will find in a snug corner of Ben :
ample keeping-room ut the old Smith
homestead. the choicest agricultural
| library in the State; while he is Il constant
reader and paying subscriber to all the
leading - book farm publications " in the
country.
No one that knew the old Smith farm
five and twenty years ago, would recog-
nize it now Squire Ben is worth pretty
fortune. has a buxom wife and half IA dozen
children. and though little corpulent. (fol
he will Live well, y he is lively, and
Jolly, and as thrifty book Turner rs you OF
[ would wish to meet with.
Il beg your pardon" concluded my
traveller friend, ut this point. - but here we
are! and the train halted in the Boston
Depot. -Ne,U England CultiUator