The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-04-01
LIFE IN THE COUNTRY.
Bill Arp and his Children Gardening;

palish green, the naples maroonish
red, and the peach trees are dressing up
in all shades of pink and white. The
hens are laying all around, and want
everybody to take notice that there is
one moro egg in the nest. The guineas
are cackling and chattering merrily and
make as much to do over nothing as a
parsel of school girls at recess. The
turkey gobblers' wings are scraping the
ground, and the gaudy peacock displays
bis tail with as much pride as crazy
woman displays her crazy quilt. The
Indian summers sun shines with a soft
and subdued radiance, and the silver
moon reflects the same gentle light by
night. 1t is good time for man to be
at home and enjoy nature and see wife
and children happy at this relief from a
long, lingering winter, hard winter,
that brought us trouble and aflliction.
am gardening now and have lots of
help. The children do all the STOPPING
and planting, while I prepare the ground
and Mrs. Arp kindly sets in the piazza
and looks on, and that always hopes ME
up nightly, as Cobe says. Just so she
is in sight we can all work heap better,
for if we don't she is apt to make re-
mark or two, and if she don't remark at
all she looks at us with peculiar tone
of voice that is all the same. 1t is fact
that I can work heap better when
under the sunshine of her presence. All
day 1 have been stretching the garden
line and opening the rows through the
mellow land. want them straight,
straight as q bee line, and the borders
straight and the surface smooth and
mellow. Then when the potatoes and
onions and the peas and radishes and
beets and okra and. early corn come up
they look like land carpenter lad been
about. I like these long beds across a
large garden for the plow can be used by
q careful hand and save world of labor.
I did not use to mind digging, but now I
dodge all work that bends me low and
strains my antiquated back. love the
perpendicular attitude the best, and so
the children drop the peas and plant the
onion sets, and the beets, and the rad
ishes, and soforth, and tie up l9e grape
vines, and rake up the scattered leaves,
and prune the rose bushes, and laugh,
and talk, and make frolic and keep
things lively while the paternal ancestor
directs aud walks around and mixes labor
with rest and rest with labor in pleasant
communion. Ever and anon the chick
ems slip in at the open gate or fly over
the fence and so to scratching, and the
children's dog grubs hole just where he
oughten't and when we run him out he
always takes down a fresh covered row
with his big feet and then have to rake
it over again. Last spring the pen fowls
eat up the young cabbage plant by plant,
and to day they got after the onion sets
and lifted them out one by one and laid
them down again while we were at din
ner. There is always some trouble about
everything and the only remedy is 10
watch and work and be patient Eter-
nal vigilance is the price of good gar
den as well as of liberty. Ive lost
hand this spring, a good hand, for the
we'll boy with the sick legs can do moth
ing but sit in his chair in the arbor and
look on and cheer up Carl and Jessie,
and tell them how to do. Sometimes he
holds up by the lattice and says, "look
at me-" but he can't hold up long, and
comes down prematurely with n heavy
thump on his chair Sometimes we
prop him up on his crutches with bis
back against the wall and let him swing
his helpless legs for exercise but he gets
about pretty well on his all-fours, and
says he is just fixed to play bear with
the little chaps, and he brags because his
legs follow where he moves. His mother
and I call him Ralph, but, these chill
dren sometimes call him N1ephi and
sometimes Boshcth aud Meph and Bosh
and Mephibosheth, the son of Saul who
was lame in both of his legs. There is
no limit to the rolicking mischief of
children. They will "catch on" to all
the slang that is agoing. I tried to break
mine of saying "chawed" when one of
them got "sct down on" and so they
compromised on 'mastication." a
stranger called to see me the other day, l
heard ore of the youngest chaps tell an
other that papa made . mash on him.
Well, l reckon they will get over it after
awhile. They have to take this disease
Just like having the measles. One of
the girls told Carl that he had dreadful
temper and if he didn't mend it it would
bring him into trouble, and the little
rascal said "Well papa says be had a
dreadful temper too when he was boy,
but he got over it when he was grown,
and l am not grown yet, you see !"
He is the milk boy now and first does
rate and re praise him. Praise is good
thing in a family. like it so we'll my
self that dispense good deal of it to
the children when 1 know they deserve
it. Praise for good deeds is worth more
than scolding for bad ones. Old parents
don't scold as much as young parents but
they look sad and show that their feelings
are hurt. But still it is all right all
around. The first children who come
must have rigid management to mould
them in the right way and the last will
have the innueace of their good example
and not need much whipping. 1t is
barefoot times now and Carl is happy.
He can wade in the branch and Jessie
looks on with sorrow for her mother says
it is too soon for her and has put her off
f,r a mouth. 1t makes ne sorrowlul,