The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1905-04-15
WHAT SHALL IT PROFIT A MAN"

outlines of a story which to the narrator was a
proud boast. but which to me seemed a confess
sion--a tale Of aims so sordid, life-history so
pitifnl, that 1t was tragedy. He was man in
the full prime Of life-ffty, perhaps man I'M
trained in any wisdom of books, but well taught
In the hard school of life and experiences man
ofsplendid physical mold and as his story proves,
man of remarkable native powers Of mind. a
man whose story shows that in the hard struggle
for supremacy, he had beenable to fight his way
to the top.
We were discussing the old question: docs
farming pay in a financial way, and what chance
does II. offer the young man who takes it up as
his life work p Then he arose. willingly, en-
Enthusiastically. with ring of pride in his voice,
and told the story of his life. He had married
young, and begun life on farm Of 70 acres and
that heavily mortgaged. That was more than
30 years ago. Yes; he had worked hard. harder
than his neighbors he had paid little attention
to weather or hours; he had never expected
ease or luxury. If anything remained undone,
he tried to do it before he slept. Life had been
question of working, and planning to do more
work next day. He had been willing to toll
nightly, and had he not made most conspicu-
GUS SUGGEST Did he not own $40 acres of land,
all paid for. and was he not milking 20 cows on
the home farm2 Yes. He had all the improved
machinery. including gasoline engine, and he
handled this plant with very little extra help.
His boys had always been good boys to work.
and his wife was worth any man he could hire
when it came to milking. His family had always
worked-worked hard. and had they not received
abundant reward?
He had two sons, one of whom sat near him; q
rather heavy-eyed young man whose frame filed
out his red sweater with the development of
young Hercules. He was the type of the farm
athlete-a man who. you felt, could walk all day
with the tireless swing Of steel mechanism.
Physically he was a splendid animal. and that
was all.
So this farmer told. with the air of a proud
parent, of his boys. They had been well brought
up, these excellentsons. They had early realized
that to win in life you must sweat for it. They
followed his footsteps. One of them had set up
for himself on a farm of 100 acres. He was mar
ried, and MIXED 20 COWS. He hired no help
whatever, save a very few days in harvest His
woman" Save the name y had been good help
mate. for she always assisted with the milking.
incidentally, within a very few years she had
borne him three babies. What outlook is there
in such life for motherhood and childhood and
the gentle graces of the homer And what
picture it conveys of the young wife bearing the
heavy burden of household cares under physical
dIscomfort starving the possibilities of her soul
in an atmosphere where there was only room for
work feeling hope and enthusiasm and love and
girlishness slip away from her; growing into an
old, hopeless, embittered woman This it seemed
to me was the browning touch Of pathos in the
whole sad recital. But through 1t all rang a
note of triumph, as of man who had no doubt
that he had worked out his highest destiny on
the earth.
Why had the maR chosen to mold his life
thus2 Doubtless in the beginning there had
been the necessity of severest economy and
struggle. but that was in the past. He had be-
come man of substantial wealth. Why had he
not learned to use this money rationally-in rest
from too arduous toll, and leisure for thought,
in books. in pleasant surroundings for the home
why had he put every additional dollar into
more land II Why had he not given those sons
an education before he sent them out to wrestle
with the problems Of the soil ? Why had he
failed to realize that a mans life ''consisteth
not in the abundance of the things that he pos
sesseth p He had grasped the shadow. but the
substance had eluded him. He had succeeded
In life-yes. Measured by his opportunities, he
had succeeded wonderfully, but in the winning
he had failed. for he had lost the ability to en-
joy.
We went out into the cold Of the steely winter
night, and wrapping ourselves in the robes,
talked of the boast-or was it the confession p
we had just heard. The spirited team, chilled
by waiting and impatient for the stable, fairly
dashed down the road, bearing US back to the
tran and as the fields slid behind us in the
moonlight, there came again to me that stern
bit of philosophy from an old book: what
shall it profit man if he shall gain the whole
world and lose his own soul?"
Seasonable Hints About Gardening.
The following, says an exchange, are some of
the things necessary to success in the garden
CD careful preparation of the soil; ~ liberal
ferlilisng; {3)good seed az good tillage (5)
eradication of weeds. By observing these
points we always have a profitable garden.
To have in their season plenty of fresh vegeta-
bles for the table and a surplus to sell at good
price makes the garden as profitable as any por-
ton of the farm. The possibilities of the gar
den are great, and no farmer can afford to
neglect it. Instead of few rows of beans,
corn etc., scattered over the farms Gas if land
for a garden were begrudged, the vegetables
are planted in plot set apart for the purpose,
in orderly rows, hills, ETC. The weeds are kept
out the soil well cultivated; the profit begins
with the first green peas, continues until beets
through the winter while these last. We prof
itabIy market our surplus peas, beans, beets,
sweet corn, cucumbers, onions, etc. And last,
but not least, as profit from last years garden
ing we have just dug quantity of fine large
parsnips for the market, besides having plenty
for home use. There is plenty of satisfy when
we want to use it. By planting with liberal
hand and bestowing all necessary care and
labor, our garden is always success.
ONE OF the leading commercial magnates in
New York said a few days ago: Every month
there is poured into Wall street brokers' offices
10000, 900 by the people throughout the coun
try who are anxious to pick up a little some
thing for nothing on quick gamble. Of this
vast sum more than 80 per cent. clings to the
brokers' fingers and the rest dribbles back to
the investing suckers, only to be sent to the
street again with an additional supply. The
public not in They are always in-but pos
sibly not always up to their necks." Now
something like this has been said over and
over again these many years. A swindle in
Philadelphia has just been exposed, and yet if
another starts up tomorrow it will have its
dupes, simply because idea of getting rich
quick" is a mania with thousands of people.
The desire to get something for nothing or not
for its real value puts every adulteration on the
market and every swindle adroitly advertised.
When people realize that their gullabiity feeds
the few who blaze like meteors in the stock
market, then will Wall Street settle down to
legitimate business and all other kinds of gam
bling perish from the land.
A CONTEMPORARY makes a very good sug-
gestion relative to the practice of naming coun-
try homes. It is beautiful custom among
farmers to give their homes name which is
worthy the place. In fact it will make them
feel much more like they are really living
somewhere. 1t might induce some ofthe FAM
lily name to stick to the ancestral homes.
When farms change hands frequently it is not
much worth the while to name them, as they
will never have permanent one. Still, as we
have said, a name even for a short time makes
one feel he is living somewhere.