The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-01-31
THE FUN OF FARMING.
AS RELATED BY THE HONEST
FARMER HIMSELF.
The Felicity Of Getting Up Early and
Tending the stock--Thc Hired Man
Ways of Planting and
His. sesting.
New York Times. |


$50 you think you would like 10 be a
farinerp said the honest member OF that pro-
fession called honest for the lake OF euphem-
isin) to the historian, from the seat Of "A
dngy wagon at the Gansevoort market. Il
suppose somebody has been telling you that
the farmer is the only independent man on
the face Of the broad earth, and that the
rural life Of the t.ller Of tho soil Is one long
paradise Of peace and happiness, with none
OF the narrowing cares Of business or the
wearing rush and grini Of the great city 70
drive him to premature old age and insane
asylums III tell you how much work he
does and then you Judge for yourself. Lets
see; where shall beginr
"Begin with the lst Of January sug-
gested the historian
well" continued the honest farmer,
reaching down from the seat Of the dingy
wagon TO administer slight kick 10 his
dingy nigh horse and shout "W'oa!" though
the beast had not moved for ten minutes.
We'll, I'll begin with the lst Of January
/ have farm OF seventy-fvo acres, which
fortunately belongs to me. Otherwise
should bo obliged 10 pay from $500 to $500
rent per year, which would about swamp all
the profit get from it, Now, for farm work
IN January. That il about the azest time
Of tho year for tho farners keep ten
COWS and sell milk in the city, and so am
obliged to got up about 3 o'clock in the
morning TO milk my cows and get the milk
t. the station in time for the train at
O'Clock. have "a hired man, Of course My
hired man Is a boy about 10 years old, and
II You ever hal to walSe him up i'm the
'a.rning you'd think he'd iust takan
chloroform / get 40 nad NJ thet -L-,s
when an a little late In the morning that
sometimes almost Lose my temper He
sleeps 80 hard that he might be kidnapped
aud given Russian Lath without waking
up. When you once do got him walked up
he's all right, though, for the day. Then we
go out to tho barn and start a fire In boiler
10 warm tho feed for the cows. and while
that l. warming we clean out the stables.
Did you ever take hold Of a pitchfork Oh
cold winters morningi Well, the handle Of
q pitchfork is the coolest thing there is It's
colder even than the village trustee you
voted for on the morning after his election.
IL the thermometer is ~ degrees below zero
Ia tha morning the handle Of the pitchfork
viii be 10 degrees Dosvr-, .md las a peculiar
species Of penetrating cold that goes rignS
through the thickest mittens. After you've
had hold OF that pitchfork about six minutes
you'll begin to wish that your parents hal
been born ON different sides Of the globe and
never met each other.
"Well, when you get the cows MIXED you
20 and clean of the horse you are going to
drive to the station with the milk, OF rather
you let your hirei boy do that and You go
In and get your breakfast salt pork, fried
potatoes, and coffee, all very weak lut the
pork. When you get back from the station
1t will lie about . O'Clock, and four hours
work done. While you have been gone the
hired man has fed the horses, the pigs, and
the chickcns--if he has done his duty Now
comes the business Of watering them. cowi
! and all You Will find iss ths country that Q
beneficicnt Providence has situated all barn,
about 100 feet from tine pump 1t Is specia
dispensation 30 that you shall not become
effete for want Of exercise. You take two
and staggcr back to tho barn
and the water splashes over from the pail,
into your ootlegs as you walk, and which ID
very cooling when the thermometer Is below
zero. And you wouldn't believe how much
the beasts will drink whom you bring it t.
en. II you turn them out TO a trough they
will take about two swallowso Of water apiece
| II you carry IL TO them in pals they will
edness, just for the sake Of sseing you carry
It. After you got the animals all watered
you and the hired man chop feed enough tu
last for the remainder OF the day and the
next morning. The chopper turns like a
Waterbury watch, and when you aave
chopped" for half an hour you viii be will
| ing to go through the machine yourself and
como out In small pieces rather than turn il
any longer. The man who invented thos,
cutters ought To be treated that way, Just a
they utilized Mr. Guillotine upon his own in
vention in France.
by the time the feed Ii chopped II Is tim
70 feed all the animals ut noon, and then yo,
60 in to dinner. After dinner you exchang
compliments with your wife, while the hire,
man chops the wood. You will please oh
serve what soft thing hired maj. has on
farm. II he only knew IL he might get
great deal more pleasure out Of existence b
serving term in state prison.) IL there
not anything Particular TO do after Dime
throughout the winter, there & always ON
resource. That Is 'sprouting' pooatoe:. Yo
soc, all the potatoes in q warm cellar begi
To sprout toward spring, and II the sproui
grow too long they entwihe together an
make the potatoes solid, besides decreasin
the genitive power Of the vegetable
there is one thing that In perfectly hcaysnl,
II is 10 sit upon reversed peck measure In
potatoe bin and sprout potatoes hour afte
hour by the light Of lantern while you OK
change stories from the almanac with you
hired man.
thus you occupy yourself I'm -sinter
When gentle spring, diphtherial mildness
comes, you begin 70 get ready for tho sun,
mer. Before the snow b of the ground yol
begin TO cart your fertilizer out to the field
50 as to take advantage Of tho sleighlng u
get IL there. You also take down your raj
fences and put them up again because th
snow will have shifted them all, and yo,
must get that done before the plowing seasol
begins. You begin to plow as soon as tn
frost gets out OF the ground, and with thi
renl commencement Of the agricultural sea
son your work begins You have beel
resting all winter to prepare for IT,
@An through the lovely, kafy month o
June you spend your time hoeing the pota
toes, corn, ETC. The invention OF the Color
ado beetle has added another pleasing com
plication TO the raising Of potatoes, for yo'
now have an opportunity TO amuse yoursel
by sprinkling them with Paris green an'
water, wh ch only makes them fat and en-
riches the druggist you buy tho stuff OF
Toward the lntter.part Of June and the frs
q July you begin haying, and now you wor
about twenty two hours day. Between th
first and second crop Of hay there is jus
about time enough 10 hoe everything again
and after the second crop you begin harvest
ing. And oh, what JOY unspea kable IL is
dig potatoes and bind oats and perform
other similar operations upon grain aud veg
! etables. That lasts until the cold weather
and then you have all the grain 10 thres
and all tho corn to husk. and you ccme Z
market, ss / have done to-day, oace In
groat Whils."
A Good Luck Would Kave II
French Paperl
4 -. .~.,...fo s.. ti.su <,x-xx So