The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-07-18
.rH.LRlE -EnL.s STORY.


zross To 1EAt-E- BHI~ tNDs SERtoJs.
s aarre=eudeat of the y. I. Tribune
....,.,.f-.. &c with the following highly m
teresting narrative. which has a moral
that every reader can draw for himself
Late in the Fall of 1873, while passing
through Western Kansas, stopped aI q
small Station on the Kansas Pacific RalirOad'
hired n CONVEYANCE and started 10 call upon
an old friend, who, l was told, hNed apuuiI iI
ten miles south | drove ON over , thg ~ ~
rrairicS adniriug the rich, terJie SUI; llo
IIear rtruuiu0 streams and the many sieeh5
fat cattle grazing on the TIch pLalIle gas
and wondered not that TINS llllu WdS CS'lleu
the Golden Belt OF Kansas. .2Oo!l, INV tI
s,er found that L was driving west instead
,f south and there was constantly so many
branch roads that / was indeed puzzled 70
know which to take Just then boy OF
about fifteen years Oh az IO,e uP Oil ioISs .
hack and a bright, handsome lad ne was.
He Informed me that l was OF the direct
ro1ta but that he would ride across the
7,rairie with me until j reached the rlghJ
road. l soon drew him into conversation
I'm which / was much Interested His eXpe-
rieuce in farming know will be interesting
TO other boys, perhaps Serviceable to their
parents so here is his story.
We all came here twOyeaTS ago last SprlilS'
and father Immediately entered claim ull-
der the Homestead Law for one hundred ana
sixty acres of land-and it's hTst rate lahu'
too, / can tell YOU; none better any NIeIe
about here. Well, father said ne wanted 20
encourage me in being INDUSTRIOUS Dut he
went to work very differently from some men
I know in encouraging me Now tleIe =
Mr. A. who lives on the quarteT-sectioh ad,
ioining ours and he has two SONS, JOnh anu
Henry John iS little older than l. anu
Henri a wear Younger. Well, the way he en-
courages his boys is by having them up by
daylight in the morning and Keeping them
on a keen Jump all day long. lie haTdlN al.
lows them time to eat their meals. why, last
summer they worked till nine O'Clock every
evening, and didn't find an hour all summer
i'm which they could go a-tlshing, or even III
swimming Then To pay them, the OH man
gives them their board and his own worn out
clothes, with occasionally pair OF boots OF
something of the kind thrown IN. nat Is
the way hc teaches them to be industrious
But fathers plan is entirely dl1eTenV. ne
gave me four acres OF land Wmch ne hd'l
broken (this was two years ago last SpIlngl J.
and | was 10 do Just what l pleased with II,
and he would furnish me seed or means 10
obtain seed all that he required Of me was
that | should attend to the garden, do chores
ut the barn. and 20 to school in the winter.
The first year planted corn, and from my
four acres ! raised 100 bushels, which L sold
Mt 30 cents a huSheL
The next Spring father let me have the use
of his team, and | plOughed my four acres
and planted one and 9-hIlf acres IN castor
beans, One-half acre i put in strawberry
plants one acre i'm sorghum, two rods III
onions and the remainder OF the acre IN sun
flowers. Father laughed when tOld nun u
plans, but ne said ii was my own land ana
could do as / liked with 1t. l told nm
wanted to experiment on different crops, st
aS to see which was the most pTonJaDle
Well, my castor beans were a great ueaI
trouble. / had to watch them 50 Closely 10
to lose them when they cracked open. IL wa
necessary To pick them Immediately as las
as they ripened but my little sister, sever
years old, could attend to them about as WEI
aS J. and she did this faithfully on my prOmlS
hg = ION | r
/ raised TWENTY-FIVE bushels of beans OF q
my one and a-half acres, which sold at Sl.z
buShel. so after paying my sister - / II
allied for them $3.50. Father had TalSe'
considerable sorghum, and he had all the al
rangcmeuts for pressing, boiling, etc w
worked together in preparing our sorghum
and / had from my one acre two barrels
good sorghum mOlaSSeS, which j sold Tor )
cents a gallon, thus making SD from my sol
ghtm crop. My sun-hOwcrS, which were IN
laughiug-StOck of 50 many, brought me sun
cient tO pay me for my trouble. had plant
ed and cultivated them very much as II the
were corn. The flowers were splendid, man
of them measuring three feet six inches ]
diameter. i planted them principally for tl
stalks, which | sold over to the next town tt
fuel / had ten cords off of that part of a
acre, and realized SIS from the sale of then
gave the seeds 10 father for his poultry. II
thinks they are better than corn. Those wi
bought the stalks say that they burn Teadil,
and make q very hot fire.
and onions. a~ they had brought me the mo
the year previous, and / have done bett,
than ever before. Ny onions were the mo
profitable crop of all, rs / made SD oil Of n
two rods. ~ last Fall 1 had, after disposiI
of my crops. S7l.JO i'm cash. or nearly dOub
what i had the year before. | spent $50
this on my wardrobe $40 at Christina
bought three calves at $40 head, and Ia
Sll-5O left for suudrics. Ny onions didn't
quite as well as the year before. So this We
have made $500 off of my four acres. / c;
assure YOU ] am beginning to feel very mu
encouraged in being industrious. have iu
bought twenty more calves had to pay 5
q head for these but they are beauties, t
YOU. If they do well they ought certainly
be- worth i'm q year from now $50. | was
frrgd $40 to-day for my other lot. / have
trouble in finding market for my prOduc
for what i cannot sell here ! ship on the IA
road, and,'aS they carry at reasonable rates
nften prefer shipping. as / get better pric
the larger towns. ! shipped nearly all
my strawberries this year.
I was fifteen years old last August, and 9
r.urth to-day three hundred and ninety a
..rS. To be sure, my father has favored I
every way, furnishing me with seed, fe
frr my stock, allowing me the use of his tea
ami farming implements, etc, etc. But nC
I can afford To bc more Independent, a
hope before long To help him, instead of h
helping me. Father is making money e
This il Il fine wheat country, and he has y
most of his land into wheat We have h
Wrr seasons so far for our crops though ne
YEAR we may have grasshoppers, or drougl
or some drawback; but we have enOU
ahead now 20 stand one or two unprofital
aeasOnS so we don't worry. / intend to
vest every year i'm stock, as / have found
FAR more profitable than anything else. Il
uOn't You think my fathers method of
J0uraging one to be industrious is better tn
Mr.. A.'S2 Mr.. \. is just as well able to
mis- for his boys as my father Is To do it
me, only they are of different disposition
YOU see Now, there is your road YOU ke
traight ahead till YOU come to q red bal
when YOU turn tO the left and two miles fl
ther on you reach YOUR friends house, VIII
frame, with a porch in front. Good MOI
ing
\ good moral is contained in this boys Stt
-One which l hope this letter may mpr,
uuOn the minds of q multitude of paTen
&. J.. h
OsAwATOSrIE, Kan, May %, 1879