The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-03-05

A City-Man's Experience In A agricultural
Pursuits.


Under pressure of oyerwork. and adj
monished by health that had passed the
verge OF frail. | yielded 10 the argent adj
vice Of my physician To give up city life
and take TO farming. Bred 10 commercial
I pursuits, and adhering 10 them with a
fidelity that rewarded me with poor
health-and with scarcely any thing else
il was not TO be expected that my knowl-
edge of agriculture Tor what | should
have 10 endured would be very extensive.
In fact, the ignorance i'm which l was en-
veloped was simply appalling; and |
would have gone back 10 my old ways, or
rather not given them up. bu, that the
spectre which stood by me. like a police
man, kept urging me 10 "moye on" The
die once east. We set ourselves-my wife
and diligently TO the task OF reading up
i'm the various branches, and those In par
| ticuar To which we specially meant 10 de-
vote our talents. Charmed with being
freed from the slavery of the counting
room, my mind took cheerfully 10 the
task, and | grew daily more interested.
Tired with watching and avoiding the
cunning devices of the sharp businessman
and his questionable practices, the pros
pect of associating with the man who
earned his bread by filling the soil-the
honest farmer-became pleasure, and
I
contemplation.
The final day came. and saw us on the
farm. Once on the ground, we set To
work to take in the situation, and. COM
pretending the whole, we laid our plans,
and arranged for putting them into exc
cution. Having learned by experience
the force of that old Latin maxim. that
:. Fast makes Slow we determined to
profit by IL in gathering around Us the lit
tie requisites necessary for the limited
farming We meant 10 do. We took this
precaution especially TO avoid falling prey
to the few disreputable persons who are
always on the alert 10 victimize the ''stuck-
up city man.
Our advent into these parts drew around
us many persons whose professions of
goodwill, and desire to aid. quite over
came us; and we congratulated ourselves
many times day that our lines had fallen
in such pleasant places. Preserving our
native caution. when the time came for Sc
Letting our COW, we decided TO buy OF an
old farmer with whom We had boarded a
year or two before, feeling sure that We
knew him. TIL bargain was soon struck.
that j.. we abided by his udgment,-
and. as consequence. paid him his price,
and the cow. short horned semi-Dur-
ham. was driven home; and then trouble
began. IL has been my fortune 10 Witness
some blooded English hunters (horses)
Jump the hurdles, but their exploits pale
before the efforts OF that COW. But I'll not
anticipate.
Having a COW. the next most desirable
thing was horse. Every man i'm the
countryside had the horse we ought To
have. and didn't wan'tto sell, but wanted
10 make il comfortable for u. and would
sell a favor. After casting about. we
finally liz upon a mare-b.ack a coal. and
as beautiful in form as any thing ever be-
held Ii apparently was without a
blemish. and l Afterwards found her TO be
an exceedingly gentle and afftctionate ami
NAL. The second day cough made its APP
pearance. and developed on the third day in
TO an unmistakable chronic trouble which
would soon result in death ! afterward
learned that the owner hal caused her TO
swallow a piece of tat bacon the day she
came into my possession.
The next things on our programme
were hogs and chickens; but We had. by
this time. begun 10 have some doubts
about the strict integrity of our neighbors.
and decided To satisfy ourselves that no
horrible disease prevailed among the
chickens. and the nogs were free from
their train of evils. | soon became salts
fled that we had no need OF hogs; that our
adjoining neighbours drove was quite
enough 20 satisfy the carrices of the most
Industrious man. | could not learn 10
what breed they belonged but this |
know; they manifested an amount Of am /
aIeur mechanical talent and skill that cast
into shadow the exploits of the Learned
Pig, and caused me 10 think better of Oar |
win. They could let down bars and /
rail-fences faster than two men could put l
them and wont ftl nrlysa j
them out, they would wait until you were I
upon them. and then, with a look that I
seemed TO say. "What do you mean Z" /
would walk quie .ly of. No sooner would 4
they be- driven out of one end of the farm \
than the Third Brigade of the Second \
Corps would make a flank movement and \
enter at some other point which | had \
supposed secure. Not having the power /
to be In more than one place al one time, 4
and having run after them until was in
a perpetual lather, took TO loading my /
gun with beans: but | might a. well have \
fired al the turret OF a monitor.
Ofcourse. this state OF things could not \
70 on: for. by This time. another patch Of I
peas needed sticks. and the hog-parsley /
had sprung up again with a freshness that 4
would have made any body else think il I
had never been cleaned out. A kind |
friend came TO my assistance. giving me a I
favorite dog. and took great comfoi out /
of that dog for one day-either driving 4
the hogs out was not pa-timc TO him. or /
he sought "a foe more worthy Of his /
steel'-he took to my neighbours sheep, \
so that il became simplya question wheth- /
er killed the dog, or bought hundred /
dead sheep. He died.
1t must not be supposed that all of my |
time was devoted TO the objects enumera
ted: on the contrary. | was diligently |
seeking land finding) practical knowledge
of gardening, and was amazed how soon
each particular product followed the other,
keeping me everlastngly " wrastling"