The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1895-09-03

struggling with weeds he soon had a
very successful garden under way. Me,
lisse, in the meantime, grew to be quite
a little helper in managing their pow
erty stricken bit of house keeping and
sweeping clean the old house, which
Jean tried to patch up here and there.
The haying season was q harvest time
for Jean, for then he could earn a dol
lar a day and board for all three of
them, Meli5se and Theresse going with
him to his work in the morning and
playing in the fields until night. s.
many days work was there in helping
gather the hay for several farme 8 that
when the haying season was over there
was money enough to pay tie rest of
the years rent, to buy q COW and t.
provide some stout clothing Tor all
three.
Gradually the little old farrnhoUs !
was made more habitable and many
nece5 stiles for comfortable llvl.g pro
vided. With the same care tna5 all
the small farmers of Canada give to
their crops and their animals-car8 that
thus came very natural to Jean-the
garden thrived and produced abund-
antly, the chickens grew thriftily and
the few hens laid many eggs while the
COW supplied nearly half the little fam
lily S living with her milk. Early and
late Jean worked about the place, sub
DUNG the bushes and the weeds, re
pairing fences, the barn and other
buildings, getting hay for the COW
where the bushes had not usUrped all
the field and getting up wood for the
coming winter. All through the fall
he worked in the morning and evening
at home, and during the day in the har
vest fields of other farms, and soon
there began to grow a little pile Of mon,
ey in a box in the little old house, for
Jean had a plan all mapped out before
him.
It need hardly be said that the gool
people all about became greatly inter,
ested in the children that had come tC
live among them. These neighbour
would gladly have assisted them, but
Jeans Independent spirit would lei
them go only so far as he knew he
could repay them; but not a few o.
these neighbors put the boy in the way
of profitable work and good bargains
when he had to buy, 50 that the helI
was not a little after all. During the
winter Jean found many jobs to do il
helping haul out wood from the forest,
in cutting firewood for others and IN
doiog other work, here q day and there
a day, until by spring, when his years.
rent was up, he had fifty dollars with
which to make the first payment on
the purchase of the farm for this was
Jeans plan, toward when he had been
working for the last eight months H
had grown bigger and stronger now,
and in the next year there we're many
changes for the better in the once de
serted farm-not great nor sudden, nol
yet changes that called for much outlay
of money, but changes such as pains
taking and steady work can always
accomplish. The fields were gradually
| cleared of bushes and cultivation be
gun. The buildings were still further
repaired. The old orchard was pruneC
and dressed, the garden was enlarged
and more thoroughly cultivated while
| the quarters for the poultry, which
had had increased greatly in numbers,
we're made so comfortable that, after
| the n of his Canadian ancestors,
lean was able to make not a little from
this branch of his farming. Mellese
and little Therese went to the district
school, several months during the year,