The Green Forest tribune., 1908-05-15

and he planted that one stalk in hill, six feet apart each way, be cause" he said, "corn must have air Ill 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 and 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 a pretty home in a Northern town suburbs, surrounu- ed by a beautiful farm, with gravel walks, shrubbery, trees, and flowers John and his wife had never fared so sumptuously in their lives. There was running water in the bedrooms, and fine porcelain bath-tubs in the bathroom, which was heated by 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 l living in Paradise. Then the table | was supplied with fresh meats, with green peas, snaps, tomatoes, cucum- | bers, and 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 a
 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 sc
 much here"
 John got to thinking. Said he: | Wife, We are not going to be Crack
 CTS any more, we are going to be i Crakores" And they went home, and l John went to work and laid off 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 OH one | fourth of his land than he had before
 made on all of it. He had 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 we'll and a tank soon gave them water in the house for range and bath and fever was no more.
 Some years ago 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 50 crisp and fresh that it made
 the lettuce they lad been buying North seem worthless. They were so pleased that the Ron. James deter mined to buy little place in the same section for 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.
 Neral: 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 ill 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