The Meeker herald., 1896-12-12
FUN ON THE FARM.
Memories Which Cling to tho
Grswn-Up Farmer Boy.
They Follow Hin Into His City
Life When IN After Years Hc
Becomes . Resident of the
. Metropolis.

II Is prODaDly true tnut u large Pip-
portion of the most ardent and enthu-
siastic sportsmen are those whose boy
hood days were spent upon the farm.
whose early associations were with the
woods and fields, and whose recreat,ons
were largely found in hunting anG ash-
ing. Led by inclination or the force Oh
circumstances to the large towns, c5n-
fined to sedcntary occupations and us-
prived for the greater part of the year
Gf open cir and freedom and exercise,
men find that although the cords which
bound the boy to his country home were
very elastic when he pulled away. later
in life they become tense and tug at tn,
heart. Echoes and whisperiEgs of the
CID days come back to the city man al
his desk or counter, in the crowded
.treets or amid the whir of machinery.
The odor of flower, the note of a bird
may bring the past all back to him; the
subtle influence will be potent, and. n
barefooted boy, he will again drive the
cows to pasture through the dew Of the
morning. Again, the bubbling song OF
the bobolink or the clarion call of the
bluejay will be borne to his ears; again
the odor of the fresh-turned soil or th.
smell of the ripen;ng corn viii greet his
nostrls: and yet, again, visions of sum
ner fields ripping in the heat. or still
autumn woods, whose leaves are falling
lat the Earring of the earth's axis, will
appeal to him and draw him-aye, drive
him-to the meadow and forest one.
more.
In the sparsely7settled farming dis
tricts of the north one is apt to find his
sympathy and commiseration going out
10 the children whose homes are in
these lonely and seemingly urattractive
places. Remote from towns ard VII
lagos and compelled through scant com
radcs'ip to rely upon their own re
sources for enjoyment, it would indeed
appear thGtin their isolation and home
ly surroundings were things TO be re-
grctted. But if we knew all that these
little people know, perhaps, we would
find tliat they have less need Ct pity
than ourselves; they are very close to
nature. and nature takes care Of her
own. The first messages Of spring are
given to the farmers boy. The mild
south .rind which softcns the ice and
sets the meadow brooks to overfowiE..
also causes his spirits to thaw and over
flow. 1t is to him that the first blue
bird calls out her sweet and chcery well
come, and it is his sharp cars and eyes
that discover the pioneer robin in the
top of the tall maple. In his brown iiet
;he brings home the earliest sprirg
flowers. blue violets, anemones ard aL-
der's tongues. The pussy willow blooms
for him before others see it, and all the
creeping, crawling and flying things
report their advent to him before the
rest of the world is aware OF their ar
rival. 1t is not always he who travels
furthest that learns the most. The in
telligent boy who has spent dozen
years or more on n 50-acre farm, almost
every square foot of which he has
worked over with hoe or AK or scythe,
gets to have very thorough knowledge
of large part of the earth's surface.
even though he may never have crossed
the limits of the county in which he wa'
born. Being for the most part mechan-
ically employed, his faculties are aler.
to what is going on around hiE,. He
sees the wild creatures in all their
moods, surprises them on their most
furtive errands. and sooner or later
draws their secrets from them.-Fores.
md Stream