The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-01-24
THE FARM BOY
IN OLDEN TIMES
When 10 Years Old Got UP Be-
fore Day and Worked
in the Field.
From tho Rural New YORKER.

" LIZ 49, 49,"
What would the boys of today think
of the way the boys lived tn
and 20 years ago. or even 40 years ago.
when the writer was q boy? At the
age of 6 we boys q speak more espec-
tally about boys. DIS there We're no girls
IN our family began to have our reg
ular chores to do. At Z we began TO
milk. and at the age OF 10 we were eX-
pected to be out at 4 In the morning
and do our share of the milking, feed
the pigs and calves. eat our breakfast
and away 10 the field Ono compulsory
educational laws in those dayS) drlNlng
oxen to pillow or narrowing with an oln
40-tooth drag: hoeing corn, for 1t must
be hood at least three times. We boys
at 10 were expected to hoe a hill and
skip n hill to keep up with the men:
fetch the water for the men to drink
and ride the Old mare TO cultivate. for
the man who held the cultivation must
have n boy to ride the horse. but he
must not let her step on a hill of corn.
for if he did the whole field was thought
to have gone to ruin. [ wonder what
the farmers of those days would have
thought to sec the farmers of today
gliding through the corniields with a
,~two-horse, double ROW. ultiNator doing
the work of six men.
The boys OF those days had to work.
The majority of farmers seemed to
think that all a boy was created for
was What work they could get out of
him; that Il boy ever became tired was
something against the laws of nature.
if he Jagged he was lazy. The school
days of the farmer boys Of those times
We're from about December l to April
j. but mind you, we We're expected to
go to the barn evenings N husk corn
until the husl1ing was all done. After
that was done, then for the apples, for
about IS to 100 bushels must be pared.
quartered and cored, and strung On
strings with the rib of an old umbrella.
for n needle. and hung up behind the
kitchen stove to dry. This work was
all done evenings. About two or three
bushels were considered to be a fair
evenings work. Oh, yes. We used to
have corn %huskings and apple parings.
1t broke the monotony and we young
sters had lots OF fun, but guess the
tame sport, for now the hotels and sa-
looms have more attractions. The aver
age farmers boy of the goth century
has more money to spend on him in
n year thar the boy of 30 years ago
had in his entire boyhood days. There
was not even a $1,000 boy in those days.
"At the ages of 9 and 10. respective
~. my brother and | rode our old bob
tailed mare. slippery IL to school.
a distance of two miles. What would
the boys of his age think to see two
such youngsters ast,ide of one horseY
But as we became a little older we
drove her hitched to l~..tler's old pung.
In connection With this l never shall
forget an incident, although it Was a
very common occurrence for boys of
those days to be left alone With the
care of the premises. My brother was
10 and l IL years BID. We came from
school one very cold, stormy night in
February. We stopped on our way to
leave a girl who lived at a neighbours
and who rode to and from school with
us. The neighbor was q relative of
the family. and he told us that our
people had all gone away carly in the
day, as a near relative OF the family
had died. M that we must hurry
nome and do up the chores. which
consisted of about 40 head of cattlo
to care for, also horses. hogs. hens
and various other things. Our neigh
Dor relative told us TO hurry bone, do
up the chores; eat our supper. be care
full of fire. and get to bed carly. and
get up early next morning, do up tho
chores. give our cowhide boots a fresh
co&t of grease and maxi ready to go
to the funeral of the relative where's
our people had gone the day before,
Well, we trudged home as fast as we
could hurry the old mare. the snow
was falling fast and u. stiff wind was
coming up in the west. OUR home was
a mile from the main highway and
Dor. and i'm the very shadow of the
heavy timber. We arrived home to
find 1t deserted. except for our old
shepherd dog. Jim, and the house as.
cold as an iceberg. You can bet we
were not very long in doing up those
chores and getting ourselves tucked
away in bed. 1t seems that l can hear
now the wind howl aroun that old
fashioned Dutch house up there on the
hill that cold and stormy night. The
early to make ready for our journey.
some five or six miles away. Our