Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1886-04-16
PRIMITIVE FARMING.
WHAT JOAQUIN MILLER SAW AWAY
DOWN IN MEXICO.

Thrashing Out Grain in the Middle Of Feb
r~uary-Goats on the Gallop-A Mexican
PlOw-Quaint Old Wagon-NO Milk in
the State of Texas.
To-day l saw q man thrashing out last
years grain. The air is so pure here and
the rain so rare that a Mexican may let
his grain lie in the stack or sheaf till mid
winter, or until the season is far spent, be-
fore he needs to take care of it because OF
the elements. And so he let's it lie till
he really is in want of it before it is taken
from the field.
The man whom saw thrashing here in
the middle of the last month Of winter had
built a little pen in his field, tumbled his
dry sheaves of grain into this pen, and
then turned a flock of goats loose into the
pen and on top of the grain. Then wrap
ping himself in his serape and sitting ON
the edge of the pen, pole in hand, he
goaded the goats around and about the
pen in a fast gallop.
Sedate as a judge on the bench, chin
buried in the picturesque blanket about
his neck and shoulders, a hat cleaning
with belts and bands and bells of silver
and tall as a hat of old-time history
there this nan sat, silent, passive, serene;
uninterrupted by the railroad, not a mile
distant; untroubled by my presence; per-
fectly satisfied with himself and all the
world. He was in fact a Mexican.
In a field not ten rods distant two men
were blowing, One held on to a rope, the
other to a forked stick. The rope was
around the horns of the nearest of two
well-fed, fat and ~good-natured steers. A
rope fastened a pole to the fOreheads of
these two contented bullocks, which
seem to partake of the tranquility and
laziness of the two Mexican masters, and
to this pole was tied, in a loose fashion,
the other end of the forked stick. This
was a Mexican breaking pillow, a Mexican
team, two honest, cOntented, happy MeXi-
can farmers. And they did not care q
button or a fig for the raiload, either.
MEXICAN WAGoN-GLAss OF MILK.
Up and down the ancient and well-worn
road between the fields toward the city
crept the ever-patient and ever-laden little
'burro" under his load of wood. The
wagons creaked and creaked, like pagan
gods in pain, as they passed on into Chi
huahua with their loads of eggs, chickens,
corn, and al that this richest land under
the sun sends forth to market.
These wagons were laden down until
they scraped the dust of the dusty roads
with the big, heavy, oaken axle. This
axle was in every case simply an oak sap.
ling wrapped with "rawhide," which had
once been soft and pliable, but was now
like bands of steel. The wheels of these
wagons were simply old logs sawed off,
with q hole for the axle. Sometimes the
whole family-a large, honest, content
and religious family-lay on the load in
the creaking wagon, some asleep, while
the patient, good-natured steers, with the
ropes and poles about their horns crept on
down the dusty road toward the town.
This morning | asked for q glass of milk.
It came after a long time, and l drank ii
with great relish, for it was good. 1t was
genuine milk, the first | had really tasted
since leaving the Atlantic states. Nay,
don't wrinkle your brows at this. know
very well what | say and where | had Just
been travelling, know | had just passed
through Texas, the greatest place for COWS
on this earth, except this same Mexican
state from which | now write. But there
is no milk in Texas. At least l was not
able to procure Il single glass of milk in all
that magnificent state. We have had ICON,
centrated' stuff fran the time we left the
north Atlantic states till we struck Chi.
huahua, But here-glorious! hurrah fol-
MeXico!-we had real milk. Ny fellow.
traveller, a manly Canadian Englishman:
pushed ont his solid legs under the not
very clean table, and took in q long breath
of satisfaction. The milk had made him
good-nGtured, and he wanted to praise the
milk, and, perhaps, the milkmaid. So he
began talking in very rusty and rancid
Mexican in praise of the milk.
The good-natured landlord, Il blGck-and
tan Mexican, w0ddled forth, and began tc
talk and gesticulate in English. His
English was, if possible, worse than my
friends Spanish. And that is saying thai
it was execrable.-Joaquin Miller in Chi
cagO Times. .