The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-10-17
LETTERS FROM THE, PEOPLE
The Farmers Unrest.
To ahc Editor Of The Post.

agriculture and give the gentle reader an
essay on What Know About Farming"
no doubt The, Post would not grind In It's
ample press all the rich golden grains OF
experience which the writer has gained.
Farming has been a theme for poesizing
for bards Of every cline and tongue, since
eyoluted man first turned the sod, and
none sang sgeeter than Virgil. In his
Georglcs he sings:
The farmer, innocent OF all these Ills,
| With crooked plows the fertile fallow tills.
| And the year round with daily labor fIls;
| And hence the country markets are sup
piled;
| Enough remains for household charge he
His wife and tender children TO sustain.
And gratefully TO feed his dumb deserving
| train,
Nor cease his labors til the yellow field
| a fun return OF bearded harvest yield
A crop so plenteous. as the land to load.
ger come, the crowded barns, and lodge on
rcks abroad.
Thus every several season is employ'd
Some spent in toll, and some in case en-
lloyd.
The yeaning ewes prevent tine sprlnging
year,
The laden boughs their fruits in anumn
bear.
IT'S then the vine her liquid harvest yields
His cares are eas'd with intervals Of bliss
His little children, climbing for kiss.
| Welcome their fathers late return al night;
His kline with swelling udders ready stand,
And, lowing for the pail, invite the milk
er's hand"
Our farmers should read the Georges II
they wish TO learn something about crop
liberalization.
Virgil deyotes whole folios to agriculture,
and when, as a schoolboy, we read them IN
the noise and hustle Of New York CITY, we
longed to fly to the fields aud sylvan dels
to turn the rich and faliow soil with IA
crooked pIow' to plant corn in the dawy
morning and chase golden butterflies
through the purple shadows OF the meadows
ut eyentide. What Joy to gather at the
huskings. where rosy apples and the aro-
matte cider caused our may and light fan
tastGc toes to trip to the sweet pipngs OF
| Pan the god. And as for the hay field
! what essence on earth could equal the new
mown and bleeding GRASSES? How butter
cups ana daisies were blended with The rich
| extravaganza OF golden rod and purple as
ter. How like the sacred river Alph ran
the rloh streams OF milk from the udder OF
thS yltluluB Hulty, WnlJc ana uhEtpu
| flow OF pure delight, into the open buckets.
The witter can not help even now p)eti1lng
over milking although he has arrived AT
mans estate and boyhood dreams and boy
hood readings are but memory OF the long
ago Even now, when We read Hardy
Tess there comes q longing for glimpse
OF his mllhng scenes, and 10 see those
dimpled, whlte-skirtcd, pink-armed mix
maids. They don't in reality exist, but IN
their place there comes u long legged male
biped, who sits on \ three-legged stool,
spits tobacco Juice over the COW S back, and
says: "Gee-Hhw Damn you'll HaM!"
Sometimes we regret that we ever tried
farming, that we ever learned to mix n
cow and than we ever ran a furrom through
the rich black soil of Bell county, Farm
ing with the writer always had been d
sort OF investment and never revenue, The
last cow | MIXED, registered Jersey,
Kicked the nail was holding to the top OF
the wocdshed. bathing mo in warm. de-
light!ul flood Of milk. The last furrow 1
} plowed left mo in an exhausted condition.
Attached to my heel was three inches Of
black. sticky Bell county soil, and | tossed
and rolled behind the pillow like a ship la
, boring in a heavy sea he writer has read
Tor many years different farm journals and
regreta that he did not always ramain a
theorctlCal farmer The last cotton pm ch
owned and operated by me was a source OF
daily delight We would drive out after
business hours and gloat and 1nte over jt.
From quarter or a bale TO the acre we
finally decided that " would make bale,
: All THE labor for the making Of the rrol
having been hired. we found thht il would
take a bale TO the acre 10 come out even
ana that at cents a pound. One brght
: ! moonlight night some travelling aerlcul-
I turst carlped on the OF skirts cf our field.
b. and before morp'ng had picked and carried
off thirty hree rows OF our beautiful aud
i gh-pricad cotton. We hid thirteen Pekin
/ ducks. lily white, fat and flcocy We
> counted the increase from those ducks
would make us Independently rich In a few
years. One night twclve OF our full
hlooded, registered ducks were carried or
and kept by some coarse, unprinc Piled per-
son. Fortunately an old hen who WAS SIT =
Q ting on twelve eggs was nos discovere l.,
% and Ia due course Of time she hatchei hon
ont, mud we hadlanother interesting emily
OF thirteen
h Farming is a business q profession, and
# has TO he studied as much as any other
Y professor Ploslhly the successful farmer
J.. would he success ut anything he Under
took There Is about as much poetry in
Farming as there Is In the shoe business
d or banking, Tho writer has seen many
e farmers in this county buy their farms on
t. credit aud pay them out In six or seven
/ years We have seen others start MI "a iu-
herited farms and finally have to sell out
on account OF Indebtedness, We can't see
VuNt Ine hammer IS more ShfteSS fha1 tho
business man, although we see the pane, :
constantly flloi With advice 10 farmer.
II Our Idea Is that the smart farmer don't
T. need advice, and the dull farmer never wll
~ be benefited hy II. We have seen many
men fan, and We have seen many men ac-
l. cumuhaie lttle money and then dissinate
= Il all In some eNtrayagance or spenlthrllt
i folly The country is full of men 40 years
> OF age who have not even a home paid FOR.
or something laid aside for rainy d,y.
II Saving is a habit ana It should be taught
d children In the public schools 4 farmer
t. who does not own his 200 acre Farm aN.er
n twenty years OF labor probably never will
N own II.
i Having theoretically and practically
10 tasted of the sweets OF farming. the writer
II never travels, hut he likes to find out what
/ the carsh produces. and he always makes a
II business az asking questions OF the farm
s. ers. The man that sells soap and mel3sses
i. that ENSURES YOUR life and your house or
IL who fits collar to your neck doesn't seem
" 10 deal With the real uplass CT life as does
IS the farmer We always heard farming an
II Colorado WAS . picnic ana noem. We re-
/ ceived many Illustrated books ana railroad
10 plNluhlptS shoM-inY lNah,,Itro