The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1896-05-14

plausihSe. is regarded by the farmer
win oAtrust. not to say with incredu-
ii'!. me friSkineSs of the mules when
hrSt led forth from the stable and
placed IN front Of a plOw which they
are expected to persuade through more
or less roOty and cloddy earth for the
next sixty days is not difficult to ex-
pam. They have been doing nothing
put eat their heads off during the win
Ter, M have, therefore. acquired an
amount of adipose tissue quite unbe-
coming to the degenerate sons of an ig-
noble sire. Were this the sum total of
thelr offending. no harm would be
aone. for too much fat on Il mule is an
lnflrmity easily overcome by Il tudicious
system of heavy loads. a long thrash
pole and much profanity. But IA mule,
When he gets fat, is sure, in rural par
lance, also to become "ambitious,' and
lnJudicious ambition is as bad for a
mule as for the hereditary ruler of a
warllke people. Properly directed. the
ambition of the mule. like that of the
KING. can be worked off in peaceful
channels. but sometimes the mule, like
the monarch. has not quite sense
enough to perceive that the ways of
peace are preferable to the paths of
war. and so manifests his ambition by
Kicking the harness to pieces. OF
course, this r~eprehensible act meets
with prompt %retributiOn at the hands
of the enraged granger. and a conflict
ensues. generally ending to the disad-
vantage of the mule.
But grabbing and cleaning and brush
burning and blowing are, after all, the
introduction to the planting with
which the labOrs of spring may be said
to close. There is no more romance
about planting than about any other
part of the farmers spring toll, for
nothing is more fatiguing than to walk
all day over newly plowed ground,
sinking to the ankles at every step.
dropping exactly the same number of
grains in every hill to the subsequently
covered by Il deXterous stroke of the
hoe. 1t is hard work. and the only
y VI 'i'A'
really enjoy seeing anybody do it are
the crows. TO them it is a JOY. if not
forever, at least during the spring sea-
son. nor are they deferred from it in
any wise 10y the erection of scarecrowS,
for crows have a world of sense for
crows. and can tell the difference be-
tween a Scarecrow and a man as far as
"
they car see. The farmer may erect
his worst suit into manly guiSe. and
do his planting in the belief that the
crows are deceived. but the sly rogues
know better. laugh his scarecrow to
Sc0rn and follow along in his tracks
and pick up his corn as he drops it.
without. by so much as a single crOak.
giving an Indication on hint of their
ncfarious presence. They know lie has
no gun they also know that he cannot
throw Il clod as straight as his Youngest
boy. so they hop along from hill to hill.
as though measuring the distance to
ascertain where they will have TO dig
for what is left after he has covered it
up. The farmers Seed-time is the
crows harvest, and keenly do the lat
ter enjoy il. Thus it is that the farmer
sees no romance in the beautiful spring.
For him the words mean. not the wax
Ing of natural world to fresh life. but Il
renewal of coarse and often lire
Quilted toll. No mistress is so caprious
as Dame Nature. Sometimes she
opens her hands and pours out her
blessings until the barns burst and the
%granaricS cannon contain. bur at others
she fails to send the rains and The dcWs
and the genial heat at the times when
most demanded by the ~eXigcncieS of
plant life. and then the labor of the
farmer is all in vain. Dependent as he
is on the vicissitudes OF the Season ne
wonder he sometimes becomes Il fatal
list and finds signs and wonders where
others see natural phenomena easily
susceptible of explanation.