Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1901-10-26
SUPERSTITION ON THE FARMS
Odd Ideas Firmly Believed in by the Prosaic
Agricuturists.

Odd Ideas Firmly Believed in by the Prosaic
Agriculturists.
Superstition is more prevalent among
the American people than is generally
supposed said book agent, land even
the hard headed, intelligent farmers are,
to certain extent, aff1ictected with it..
4 remember asking farmer 60 years
old, man of more than ordinary intel
ligence, the owner of 900 acres OF fine
land, we'll stocked and who had several
thousand dollars in bonds and other Sc
curities, why he did not build himself a
better house. The one he lived in was
old, small, and dllapldated, a relic OF the
days When he was poor.
Afraid to- was the reply.
Afraid of whatT | asked.
Well you see, | have always heard
that when an old man builds a new
house he never lives long to use it,
Il laughed, but he was perfectly seri-
Gus, and | found that in that neigh
borh0Od the superstition was generally
believed in.
another saying " s common in the
same locality. "The man who plants a
tree generally lives to enjoy its fruit
The belief in these sayings was shown
by the number of poor farmhouses and
the number of fine orchards in that
neighborhO0d.
Seed corn shelled at night grows
best is another saying frequently used
in the corn belt A farmers son sug-
gested that it was invented by the old
men as an excuse for making the boys
work at night.
Things planted during the dark Of
the moon produce the best roots is so
generally accepted as true that yege-
tables like potatoes, turnips, beets. car
r0ts, and onions are planted during the
light of the moon by few people. Many
scientific farmers believe in this super
stition.
The farmer who refuses water to
travellers horse will see his own live
stock suffer from thirst before the
end OF the year is belief so common
in some localities as to insure courteous
treatment to all travellers.
Some farmers will wiring the neck of
a hen if she crows. They say a Growing
hen brings bid luck to the farm, and, as
| heard one old farmer remark, sets the
wimmen folks bad example,
Borrowed eggs always hatch is a
saying probably invented by some stingy
man as an excuse for borrowing, but it
is 50 generally believed in some neigh
uu uoOuS GlldI reg uldE SlSbblu Ol UOI-
rowing and lending is carried ON.
These and hundreds of other supper
stltlons are so generally believed in that
they govern the customs of communities
to surprising extent"
Il read in tO-days paper that pocket
book had been left here by some one who
had found it, and [ have called to ask
about it, I've lost mine," said a New
York woman in a newspaper office the
other day. "Yes MAN," replied the clerk
in attendance. "Will you please describe
the contents of the pocket book you
.ost?" well now-let me see. l think
| can name every thing that was in my
purse. There was dollar bill, two ten
cent pieces, a few nickles, some cOppers,
lock of hair, several postage stamps,
a lot OF silk samples, a pearl handled
glove butt0ner, little poem entitled
Baby's Bath, receipt for sweet pickles,
a car ticket, memorandum of things |
wanted to get, row of pins, clipping
OF newspaper joke, pearl button. q
brass tag, tiny pencil, Canadian
dime with hole in it, Il. r. time table,
an ad. Of a bargain sale Of handkerchief
pressed violet in tissue paper, and
other things. Oh, thank y0u-yes that's
my pocket book" And the pocket book
the man handed her was just three and
a half inches long by two and a half
inches wide and half an inch thick
Puck's Library.