The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1908-08-21
Edgertons
Farm.
a New Style In Agriculture.
copyright. 1908 by James A., Edgerton.
This matter must not be reprinted with.
out special per1nission.l

faTAuS are SOOu LOT OL0er t0lngS be.
sides raising potatoes, corn and cab
bages. On American farms we have
raised a large crop Of presidents.
About all of them were country boys
except Roosevelt, and he made up by
becoming a cowboy.
A farm is also a good place to raise
Joy, honesty, c%ontentment and the sim.
pie life. Since l acquired a side hill
of my own I have been not only cul.
tvating these, but have also grown q
crop Of tan, mosquito welts and en-.
thusiasm. Later l plan to raise straw.
berries, grapes, apples, hens, a mort.
gage and some goats. I have already
harvested a large yield of anticipations
about what l am going to harvest ir
future.
The particular piece of real estate
on which I now have the privilege OF
paying interest and taxes consists OF
twelve acres. In consequence l con.
template a book on "Twelve Acres
Enough" The only reason the title
will not be "Fifteen Acres Enough OF
''Twenty Acres Enough is because
there is not that much land in this
place. I have observed that most men
think the world should be regulated by
their own regulating machines and
measured by their measuring sticks.
There are more our grape philos-
ophers in this world than is generally
admitted. A whole lot Of people are
proud Of what they haven't got. That
Is on a par with folks putting on airs
over having had what they didn't
want. The most conspicuous case of
this on record was an exclusive social
set composed Of those who had sur
vived smallpox. And how those folks
did look down on the poor unfortu-
mates who had not been thus distin-
guished! They ever shifted at vari-
oloid victims. 1t. was like a boy who
is proud of a stone bruise. There was
no wild rush of outsiders, however,
who sought to make themselves eligi-
BILE to membership in the smallpox
club.
To be perfectly frank, l do not know
how much land is enough for n nan
but suppose it is what he can pay for
and is satisfied with. Anyway, the
question is not up to me-, and I refuse
to- decide it. l am not going to write
that book after all. Instead l propose
to become author of q work entitled
cones Own Affairs Enough" 1t is
none Of my business whether the other
fellow owns twelve acres or twelve
thousand.
:. This farming proposition Is fine. Out
here a man can not only eat his
own vegetables, but think his WI
thoughts. Moreover, he is master of
his own time, having no boss except
his wife. The only thorn in the flesh
is the New York Central railroad.
That is too modern and citifed for q
strictly rural effect, besides being too
noisy for high thinking. It is as
though his Satanic majesty should
disturb paradise by making a frequent
noise like shoveling coal.
This is not much Of a farming Sec
ton, but has plenty Of scenery and
history. Every morning can hear
the drums and guns at West Point.
where the shoulder strap blossoms
and they raise crops Of men for the
harvest Of war. Within sight three
poets wrote-Morris, Willis and Drake
but they are all: dead. All the great
poets are dead. A poet never gets to
be great till after he dies, and some
not even then.