The Monticellonian., 1908-05-14

and he planted that ons stalk in hill. six feet apart each way, pc cause. he said, "corn must have air in the South, and he got more air than corn, and not enough for supplies. John said "farmin don't pay but he went on year after year in the same old way and plowed the land right up to the windows for cotton. and took his holidays in bed with fever anu ague
 One spring. however, he and his wife took a rare holiday by invita-. ton of his cousin. the Hon. James Crakore, who lived in pretty home in a Northern town suburbs. surrounr- ed by a beautiful farm, with gravel walks. shrubbery. trees. and flowers. John and his wife had never farei so sumptuously in their lives There was running water in the bedrooms, and fine porcelain bath-tubs in the bathroom. which was heated by a ra- diator from the kitchen range Soft carpets covered the floors. and the beds had soft mattresses made from cotton felt. John and his wife felt like living in Paradise. Then the table was supplied with fresh meats, with green peas. snaps, tomatoes. cucum- beFs. and a profusion of vegetables of all sorts John wondered where they raised all these things. and was told that they came from the South where he lived, and that they had to buy them at fancy prices, and they said How fortunate you are to live in climate where you can have all these things long before any of them can be had here. You must be happy to live where such luxuries can be had so cheaply for the gathering. We would love to live on a Southern farm and enjoy these blessings that cost so much here'
 John got to thinking. Said he; Wife. We are not going to be Crack CTS any more, we are going to be Crakores" And they went home, and John went to work and laid off a space around his house for lawn, and sow ed it, and planted some trees and shrubbery, and laid out flower beds for his wife. He took The Southern Farm Gazette and learned the value of a farm rotation. and changed his farm ing till he made more cotton on one fourth of his land than he had before made on all of it. He haa corn to sell, and oats for his mules and hay as well, and bacon and mutton and beef. Then he did not forget the vegetables, but started a garden, and studied the best in variety. The old house was painted and a broad porch added as his farming began to pay. His children began to take an interest in the home, and they, too, read the farm paper, and went into the competitions offered for farm boys and girls, and often beat John himself, and made him think. A windmill and deep pipe well and tank soon gave them water in the house fer range and bath and fever was no more.
 Some years age his cousin the Hon. James Crakore and his wife, came down for a visit in the South in late winter, and they were so delighted with everything. especially with the fresh headed lettuce from the glass covered frame in the garden, which was so crisp and fresh that it made the lettuce they Rad been buying North seem worthless. They We're so pleased that the Ron. James deter mined to buy little place in the same section for a winter home to es- cape the rigors of the North. and to have fresh vegetables from their own garden instead of the stale shipped stuff
 Moral: Get away from home. John, and see how other people live. and you will realize that you are not living up to your opportunities, and that there is something more in farming than getting supplies" for growing more cotton merely; that farming pays, while planting does not. and that beau tiful surroundings make life better worth the living, and that in real home your children will grow up in- telligent and worthy citizens, leaders in improvement rather than treaders in the tracks of their grandfathers.- W F. Massey. in (Starkville, Miss.) Southern Farm Gazette.