The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1908-08-27

keep hired man most Of the year
! az S35 per month. This means more
work, and we keep a girl at three
dollars a week, when we are able to
fnd cne l work great deal hard
e. tran I ever did before. l have
had to buy more horses and mach
! inlry, and to tell you the honest truth
| am not making as much money as
| made, when | was running the 100
acres. I am going to sell this extra
farm just as soon as / can, and Maria
and are both going to take Life cas-
ier."
We examined the mans crops, and
while he had some that were very
fair he showed us a piece which he
had not time to plow and upon
which he merely ran the drill. This
is hardly worth the cutting.
Boys Not Used Right.
A few days ago we were talking
to a husky young chap who lives
on farm not far from Minot. "son-
ny, how does q North Dakota farm
strike you?' we ventured to ask.
The lad didn't answer for a minute
and then replied: "Weu, I can't say
as l just like the way dad farms.
Dad is a good man alright, but ever
since | was six years of age, l have
had to work in the fields most Of the
year round. First Dad set me to
hoeing the weeds out of corn back
in Indiana. where we used to live
The corn was too thick in spots and
l and some of my brothers and sis
tiers had to go out with the men to
| thin it out. Dad seemed to forget
that kids like to sleep in the morn
| ing, and I guess he forgot that he
ever was youngster. Anyway, he
got us out at break of day and we
| worked, I'll tell you, till we were
so tired and hungry that we didn't
care whether school kept or not
"How much did your father give
you for this work." we asked. ooh,
Dad didn't give us anything. He said
he had to feed us and clothe us,
! but our clothes didn't costmuch.
| Dad was ever for buying us kids
the biggest shoes that he could get
| for the money. Said he wanted to
get his moneys worth and didn't
want us to outgrow them. Once
Dad gave me calf and two runty
pigs. The calf was one Of the weak
est OF the bunch and I took a great
deal of care of it. I fed it milk sep
| arate from the rest and soon had it
fine and fat When the calf had
grown to a two-year-old, Dad sold it
to buyer for s26 and kept the mon
ey. The pigs wouldn't grow so we
had to knock them in the head"
That boy has lost interest in farm
work, and no wonder. Why couldn't
that farmer have given the boy an
interest in the crops and in the
stock? 1t doesn't take a great deal
to interest boy and make him think
that farming is the noblest and best
business and that farm life is the
most independent life On earth. But
you can't do it by giving him calf
and S1en selling it when it has
rownto be OF some value, and not
even thanking the lad for taking
care of it. No wonder the boys
leave the farm.
That's a fine hay meadow" we
said to a lad one day, pointing to
wide expanse of the most beautiful
grass that the sun ever shone upon.
eyes, and I've got to cut it., and
rake it, and help stack it too the
lad replied. The boy had been work
ed so hard that he simply couldn't see
anything pleasant about the farm.
Contented Boys.
On a beautiful farm in the Mouse
! River Valley not more than six miles
from Minot, you can find one Of the
most contented lots of bays tjlat
YOU would ever care to talk to. Their
father is engaged in another line
| of work but the boys have been
reared on the farm, and they have
been brot up in such way that they
| love the work. You never hear OF
them planning on leaving the farm
when they are older. The father
gives them an interest in the work
They each have their horses and
buggies, and their best girl. They
take a great interest in the farm
work. Everything is done like clock