Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1879-04-16

host of little ones, who "do love the her.
ries most dearly" and are there too. SC
often and so many that the poor farmer
can't get 1.-THE of the produce. And the
female portion of another class are there
with their children, with an eve to pecu.
mary benefits, that will have the audacitv,
after stealing your fruit, to exact a York
shilling quart from you, and to call
you hard names for refusing to buy.
0 " But they grow Wild are the sponta-
/ neous production of the soil; the Gift of
5 nature, and not the result of cultivation ;
this makes them Free" All, bah!
, Did not the farmer pay as well the value
j of his land as the merchant did that of his
tapeP and does not his yearly tax run as
high in proportion to the value of his land
as that of the merchant? Does not the
very fact of ownership give as GOOD a
right to occupancy and use in one case as
the otherP If his soil will produce ber-
ries, while the successive growth of wood
is shooting up, is it not his good fortune,
and an assurance from nature that her
productive powers arc never withheld in
giving abundance to those who cherish
themp
n can see no reason why these berries
are not the property of the farmer, and
his alone, as much rs the tape, tile mt
meg or the broadcoth of the merchant are
his? This, however, is but small consid
Grafton
We will suppose that nature has pro,
vided chestnut or walnut or other fruit
bearing trees, and the soil on which these
trees stand has become his by purchase.
by their value in money actually being
paid for them, and oftentmes his labor is
expended in such ways as will tend to in
crease their value as nut-bearing trees, by
removing underbrush and such trees AS
have tendency to hinder their growth,
and make the ground feasible for gather
ing the fruit. Are these trees, after all !
this care, his property, and like the stock
of the merchant and the tradesman. his |
alone, until he transfer his right to an. !
other? or are they the common stock of
all who wish to avail themselves of his |
purchase and his care in their behalf? In |
loo many instances common practice saws
they are not his, and how often is he |
doomed to look upon his trees with sor.
rowing eyes, for the strange mutilations
that have been inflicted upon them. in
broken branches. bruised trunks and all
the destroying influence that could be
adopted to secure the booty.
Again, take the farmers field. Pertains
by negligence, or perhaps by choice, he
has permitted the raspberry or the goose
berry to grow along the old wall-side, or
the strawberry may have taken possession
of the old field; though such things. |
will admit, are not in perfect accordance
with good husbandrv. 1t is easier. in
most cases, and cheaper getting these
fruits by cultivation in the garden. and :
more profitable keeping the meadow in
luxuriant grass crops. But this is not al +
ways done. Even good farmers may have
their grass killed out and have Il straw.
berry harvest from the field before they -.
can bring back their lands to their usual 9
fertility. Are the Strawberries his or his .
nelghbor's? Is the fact that there is not !
much grass in the moving field, or y
along the fences of the grain lot. l.
sufficient apology for Tom, Dick or Har- ~
rvs running over and trampling down -
what there is, provided they got and car -
red off none of the produce of the field? :,
A merchant once said, in apology for y
gathering his neighbours berries, i. C., his y
1eighbor s, if purchase gives the right OF !,
property, I" that be did not hurt the grass !,
much, for there wasn't much to hurt -
this neighbor had gone to the h
tore of the merchant day after day, and y
hrust his hand into his raisin box, filled :,
lis basket and said "he didn't hurt the ~
loor much; it was made to walk on. ~ -
would the merchant have suffered him to i;
AXE his first toll? No; and he ought not II
or the ralslns were his by purchase and "
possession, and none other had right TO h,
hem. The farmer who did that would e.
AVE been thief, and the merchant -,
would, in his own mind. have branded LII
lin as such.
once more. You have garden OF an h,
richard. You set out trees in eXpccta- e.
ION OF gathering choice fruit from them. III
Aller years, it may be Of anxious watch yh
1g and laborlous culture, you see the first ~
uds expand into beautiful flowers, and ~
nose flowers in their season succeeded bv =,
'ult. You watch its growth with daily '"
and, as the season of maturity
pprtoaches, you see its gay colors taking
mt from the sunbeams, and in fancy re- sp
llze the triumph of your toll in its ex- tn
ulslte Righteousness. A few days more so
erhaps tomorrow, it will fall in its rich tn
ess to the earth. But tomorrow comes, tn
nd, oh! sad thought the objects of your rs
IRE and solicitude are all gone. "Ye have fal
bored and other men have entered into an
our labor" and taken the first fruit. di;
W hat harm was there in it? only few me
'pes, or pears, or perhaps half-a-dozen tel
listers of grapes; surely, none but a Mig be
ara would refuse his neighbor these if he be
Guild, he ought to be drummed out of Gel
wn." An sure, and ye don't call it ers
ealing to get over and take II little fruit, FOL
YEP Yes, we do (says the agricul- pr
rlsD and the meanest kind of stealing, to
o. You wouldn't walk into that mans thu
use and take his money from his drawer, ma
II his bread from his table. and yet, very ou
,ely, that bread and that money have not we
st their owner half so much care, half kee
much labor, and are not half so much the
lied and valued us his fruit. sci
We will give here a panacea Extracted car
I'M an Ohio paper) Ior fruit stealing and ~,
rden robbers. " 1t says The tartar sel'
letic works finely! A good dose will . esl'
fellow out timber for while, us the the
experience of some here amply IRA
oVes. 1t also clears out the stomach. cuis
taste which ver,, n,nol '"u ,; orG':es " sell
ewing propensites." prl'
S this vandalism right. or is il only the the
ing to the fralty of our nature that we rna
it wrongP lslt giving that protection t ti,tsi
The property of others which we in turn ,rl lo,
nand from themp If SO, let the matter n lrnl
H. ,',at s'Io"' 81 'ii''' an VINO occupy bust
ers enter upon their premises at any mar
e and take and destroy what they won
lse, and as much us they please, and mo,
down, complacently looking at the re- f Gpn'
). II they are wrong, it is high time he ,
a reform in this matter, which is grow Tho =.
worse and worse, we believe. in al cant
st every section of our country. DO nrio
ask where shall we seek IL remedvp rott;
he first place we would direct to RIGHT
cation of the young. Teach them by
+ example that you would no soonerf III
} the property from your neighbours was
dlands, or his fields, or his orchard. or woul
garden, than you would his money place
4 his desk. Teach your own children suflit
e facts, and they will teach your neigh be u
. purp
IN OrrnI p,,iuopr;,,. IL.