The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1884-04-10
Farm improvements.

There are very few farms which can
not be- greatly increased In value by
some Improvement, Nearly every farm
has some waste ground which ls TAX
upon tho remainder, just as badly 80
as II q farmer were 10 keep o few dry
COWS or crippled horses which lived
only 10 consume feed and rob the useful
ones, Here Is q swamp meadow that
needs draining, when II would be tho
most productive part OF the farm
There Is stony pasture covered with
hrIars and sprouts and yielding u bare
subsistence 10 few sheep who pay for
their feeding In wool torn from tho
lleeces by the brlOrs, Everywhere
there are poor fences which are not re-
Qulrod, tangled with brush which Is cut
every year IN August In the vain hope
that II cut then Il viii be killed and
dene with, mud which rob the llelds on
o,thCr side OF broad strips Of soil which
is worse than useless, Old, hall-doad
fruit trees spreading their appealing
gNunt arms 10 heaven asking TO bo put
ont OF the way Roads that are mud
holes In the winter and spring and dust
drifts IN the summer Barns and sheds
In which the suffering cattle shiver
AWAY their food and come out lean and
yerminrIdden In tho spring, Every
farmer can sec all these on every hand,
and II he will only look for thom NJ
home he may find them there, too u
is this which makes men "land poor "
But II IL not business; II Is not farming,
and Il Is very Improbable, Moreover,
tho farmer often frets about H. knowing
the misery and loss Of H. and every year
determines to put an end 70 II once for
all, But this Is precisely whore he falls
10 do any good with all his efforts, lie
undertakes 100 much, lie lays out too
big n lob, and llnds, whom ho has be-
gun, he can not finish, and 50 what has
Gccn done Is work and labor lost,
and must be done over again the next
year,
Now, there Is u way Of doing all this
work Of Improvement successfully, II
ls 70 finish piece NJ times 20 undor-
take no more than can bo completed In
u thorough manner aud TO finish II and
have done with 10, There Is nm old
story OF Hercules who fought with n
monster which had immortal heads, II
WIS reared In swamp and had nine
heads, each Of which when struck of
crew again instantly into two, II was
called hydra, How many farmers have
II hydra like this reared in swamp and
whose heads cut of one by one grow
again into twop But. Hercules by the
help Of = servant, 0vorcnme the mon
ster by burning ~ heads as each was
Topped of and 50 finally destroyed II.
An these old neurological tales have q
lesson, and this has very pertinent
moral II the farmers will only see II and
learn by Il. Finish one head at time,
80 that II Is done for and can never ro-
appear, Drain piece OF swamp
grub III plow IT, spade II oven, II II can
not DO done any other way; seed II
down and never let II sprout up again.
The swamp hydra will then be killed
and bc no more trouble, So with all
other things that need improving. A
ncighbor nearly four.score years old,
who has lived on his farm all his life,
was moving down lot OF locust
sprouts last August Said hos "l have
been cutting this brush, trying to kin II,
for more than sixty years, and every
year II seems TO grow thicker. What
TO do with IL | don't know "Why
don't you grub out tho roots and plow
II and put corn and potatoes In itp II
Is only little piece, "Well, | suppose
that would have done IL; but II is too
late now for me, and Jake will have 10
do II next year" Jake viii roNd these
lines, and perhaps they may help him
TO make an end OF those costly sprouts
M T. Times.