Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1879-07-26

Z uOm Itc Ichu' IIucuS uu'tiSuV S"Ss
The New and the Old.
a The clatter of the reaper is hear
, again in the land. The fields whel
y waveth the golden grain and til
, meadows where blossometh eli
sweet scented clover invite the hus
husbandman thither, and beneat
r the sweltering summers sun Il
gathers in the products Of the pas
years labors. 1t is by far til
+ busiest time and most laboriOu
part of the farmers work. It's
labor that can't be shirked from c
delayed. BY the sweat of the bro
the work progresseth. But no
different the harvest time now I
what it was half century age
How much lighter are the burden
now, and how much less is the con
ling of harvest dreaded than it wa
under the old regime. The reaper
propelled by horse power, does tn
hardest part of the work. One man
seated behind two spirited steeds
goes forth and does the work Q
twenty men of olden times. Yea
the sickle of our grandfathers is ;
thing Of the past. The hamme
and anvil and the old Dutch scytht
which were carried to the hay tielt
by the farmers of fifty years ag'
have long since been thrown aside
and very few of the present gen
Grafton ever saw one of these an
cient implements, let alone having
ever operated one of them. Very
much unlike that of the present
day, the harvest time in years agone
was season of frolic as well as la
Dor. The farmer never carried on
his work alone. Three or four nei Ugh
bors always united their forces
ten or twenty men marched out in
to the field-the jokes and the mer-
ry laugh were passed around and a
right royal spree they made Of it,
however hard the labor, And the
horny handed reapers looked for
ward to the coming of the harvest
as golden opportunity to test their
skill and powers of endurance. 1t
was quite an honor to be consider
ed the best reaper or "cradler" in
the country. 1t was next thing to
going to the Legislature. And it
was the delight of these raw. boned,
sturdy individuals to run down an
opponent and 'slay him in the
as it was called. The fame
Of the hero spread far and wide. He
was looked upon as a parsonage of
much more Importance than the
militia Colonel. He was pointed
'ut at all the big meetings, and at
,he general musters was locked up
o as a sort of privileged character,
vas treated to cider and ginger
'akes, whole quarter sections, and
10 doubt felt his Importance. The
.spiring youth gazed upon his come
y form and longed to see the day
Vhen he could carry off the houors
nd wear the belt as the champion
Going from the field to
be household, bow different the
Gene now and then. Now, there
J no great pack Of hungry men to
o for, and you would never know
; was harvest time unless you 60
ut to the field. Then, it was a
Tying time upon the good house.
life. Preparations were begun
'eeks in advance of this festive
easOn. Their "men" who labOred ,
ard had to have the very best there
as to cat. And in addition to get [
ng her regular three meals a day,
he would sweat and smoke her. 1
slf half to death over an old chin i
ey fire, fixing up ''four o'clock {
ite," which she would carry a mile
trough the hot sun, repair to some ,
djacent shade tree, spread out the s
lands upon the cool, tall grass, a
nd around it ''all hands and the g
,ok" would gather and partake Of t
le refreshments and have good c
,st. But all these festive occasions
'e buried with the past. AS the il
,untry grows older our people grow L
ore selfish and unsocial. By the :
d Of improved farming implements n
icy are enabled to rely almost a
holly upon their own resources, n
I'd don't feel themselves under OBJ. d
cations to anybody. The rising r.
do not appreciate the q
we now possess with a
Q aid Of all kinds of improved n
rming machinery over the fathers 81
no tOiled under SO many disad- =,
Intages fifty years ago. The mo- Of
tonOus clatter of the reaper has "
tirely superseded the merry laugh G,
d the joyous song of the harvester n,
the days we read about. AS we la
ink of the past and stand astound- dj
at the marvellous wonders of v
3 present, We can't help peering a
or into the future and wondering III
lat the next half century will re. fl,
al to us, and how much farther IN
will be on the road of progress nc
civilization.-[Salem (Ohio) II,