The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1900-09-02

must never sop The plants must be
thin1ed end hoed, anG constant fight
must he carried on against tho grass ana
weeds.
have eeen father and mother and
children go info this fight IN the morn
ing, when the dew was dripping from
everything, aud wet then through and
through. l have seen the scorching sun
come out and dry the garments on thels
bodies. | have seen them work through
the heat of the day, when the wild cattle
stood painting in the shade, and some of
them would st!ll be working when tho
sur went down, have seen father and
mother at work in the field at night.
in the moonlight. after their little nes
had gone 10 sleep. But SO long as hey
could work so long as there was a hops.
SO long as the crop was growing, ] never
heard murmer Of dissatisfaction. a
breath of complaint against their lot
If 1t were not for the farmers intense
~ of home, and the home life, his con-
uHf4t struggle for existence would be I'm
able, his failures would be crushing
2Fing the right to know dare assert
th7F one out Of every hundred farmers
are ever out Of debt 1t T. this condition
that makes 1t necessary for women and
makes u god crop mean so much, and a
failure to bring 50 many heart burnings-
yes. even tears.
No one but the thoughtful farmer can
ever more than half realize what it means
fer him to lose his crop To him 1t means
more than the loss OF time AMI labor II
means more than the price Of little COM
forts and Injuries it would buy It means
more than the loss Of warm garments ami
shoes for his wife and children. 1t means
more than proper food and medical at.
tendance in sickr css.
lie remembers then. and with pang
which only n parent can foel, how he
called his little ones from their morning
SAUNDERS. He remembers the tasks he
set thert in the field lie remembers
how their little necks and arms and hosea
hlistered. and hcw theii little backs bent
1t seems he can alnest feel tho hot sweat
pouring down their grimy faces. He re-
members how day after day they toiled,
not dumbly and despairingly hut with
many merry jest, and shout, and
laughter, Yes, when disaster comes he
remembers these things with keen pans
in his henrt for when he loses his crop
1t always seems to him as II go much u
his chlldren's lives went with It,
But even while this sacrifice is burn
ing around his heart he must begin the
struggle anew.
When hear man speak lightly, slight
ingly, Of the farmer. l know that that
man speaks without thinking. There Is
NJ one n 4ny Wa4.. o. me VINO mas more 10
contend with than the farmer He must
know every condition of earth, air and
sky, and take advantage of them all He
must study the birds of the air and the
beasts OF the field. and overcome the narm
they might do. He must learn the good
and the bad qualities OF every insect,
from the largest to the most Insignificant
a--,4 derry t.o4n as ,uIn them t. ais use.
His eye must read the mute pleadings of
The pale shoots from the seeds he has
planted as they break through the crust,
and attend to their needs. And | wager
there IS tenderer feeling in his heart.
and more solicitude for the welfare of
everything living about him than many
people believe.
And when / hear a man say that the
farmer is Independent | know that that
man speaks whereof he knows not for the
farmers success does depend on so many
things. / have heard him sing in the
field In the morning, and before night
his hopes and his harvest have been
crushed into the ground by a little cloud
coming across the sky bringing cloud
burst or a hailstorm. A week too mucf
OF sunshine might cut his crop In half,
and week too much OF rain might do
the same thing. season OF droutA mas
put him at the mercy of the merchant
and the money lender, and a season o
wet weather has put him and his on a
diet of cornbread and barley coffee. An
epidemic among his horses and cattle nae
taken every cent OF profit from his crop
hnla N m
of the next.
AVain. when I read the advice TO farm
ers given by men who have graduated
from the farm to the editorial sanctum,
am sure that these same men, had they
STAYED OH the farm, and practiced wnal
they preached would either have starved
to death or become objects OF charity
Every farmer knows this
There were never two crops raised ina
were planted and cultivated the pne Jrs
like the other. What "a planted deep on,
year may have 10 be planted shallow m
NEXT One time st is necessary TO culti'
waite the land fat, and the next time 4
may be lust as necessary to run the ridges
high Under certain conditions an extr,
blowing may increase the yield, and
+ under other conditions the blowing ma,
cut n short One year the crop ma,
grow too much TO weed and may have Il
he checked. and the next year II may b.
slow IN growth aud NAV have to be Ell
couraged. There can be no rule for these
things. Still the farmer likes TO reft
what the editor has to say about them
and pavs him to say Il
A ~
A good season generally repairs tn
harm done by bad one, but Edwi
Markham's poem, "The Man With tn
Hoe" has been the means ny which IN
4 u,i,lfuily ignorant has done the farmer 2
almost Irrepairable injustice. Ther
never was a poem written which wa
truer to It's subject 1t is true interpre
|, tation, the living voice OF the pictuf