Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1896-06-11
FUN ON THE FARM.
Memories Which Cling to the
Grown-Up Farmer Boy.
They Follow Him Into His City
Life When III After Years He
Becomes a Resident OF the
Metropolis.

1t is probably true that a large pro-
portion Of the most ardent and enthu-
siastic sportsmen are those whose boy
hood days We're spent upon the farm
whose early associations were with the
woods and fields. ard whose recreations
were largely found IN hunting and fish
ing. Led by inclination or the force of
circumstances 10 The large towns. con
fined to sedentary occupations and de-
prived for the greater part Of the year
Of open air and freedom and exercise.
Ken find that although the cords which
bound the boy to mis- country home were
very elastic when he pulled away. later
in life they become tense and ug at tie
heart. Echoes and whisperings of tAe
old days come back TO the city man al
streets or amid the whir of machinery.
The odor of a flower. the note Of a bird
may bring the past all back to him; the
subtle influence will be potent. and a
barefooted boy, he viii again drive the
cows to pasture through the dew Of the
morning Again. the bub5ling song Of
the bobolink or the clarion call of the
bluejay will be borne to his ears: again
the odor CT the fresh-turned soil or the
smell of the ripeniug corn win greet his
1ostrils: and yet. again. visions of sum
mer felds ripping in the heat, or stin
autumn woods, whose leaves are falling
Eat the Earring of the earth's axis" will
appeal to him and draw him-aye, drive
him--to the meadow and forest once
more
In the sparsely-settled farming dis
tricts of the north one is apt to find his
sympathy and commiseration going out
TO the children whose homes are in
these lonely and seemingly unattractive
places Remote from towns and vii
lagos and compelled through seant COM
radeship to rely upon their own re-
sources for enjoyment, it would indeed
appear that in their isolation and home
ly surroundings were things to be re-
GREETED. But if we knew an that these
little people know, perhaps, we would
find that they have less need Of pity
nature and nature takes care Of her
onn. The first messages of spring are
given to the farmers boy. The mild
south wind which softens the ice ana
sets the mea1osy brooks to overfowing
also causes his spirits to thaw and over
flow. 1t is to him that the first blue
bird calls out her sweet and CHEEKY vel
come, and it is his sharp ears and eyes
that discover the pioneer robin in the
top Of the tall maple. In his brown fist
fhe brings home the earliest spring
flowers, blue violets. anemones and adj
ders tongues. The pussy willow blooms
for him before others see it, and an the
creeping, crawling and flying things
report their advent to him before the
rest Of the world is aware of their ar
rival. It is not always he who travels
furthest that learns the most. The in-
telligent boy WHO has spent a dozen
years or moro. en- a 50-acre farm, almost
every square foot of which he has
worked over with hoe or AK or scythe,
gets - have very thorough knowledge
Of a large part Of the earth, surface,
even though he may never have crossed
the limits OF che county in which he was
born. Being for the most part mechan-
ically employed. his faculties are alert
to what is going on around him. He
sees the wild creatures in all their
moods, surprises them on their most
furtive erlands. and sooner or later
draws their secrets from them.-Forest
and Stream