Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1909-08-12
HARVEST TIME.


The Devils Lake Journal has a
prose poet, whose sketch of Harvest
Time deserves republication:
In North Dakota the thought of
harvest is ever present. 1t tarries
with the townsman as ever with the
dweller on the farm. 1t is the alb
sorbing problem of the politician
the basis of the business mans plans.
As harvest time draws nearer there
are anxious looks at the fields and
the townspeople take their drives in
to the country to look over the
stretches Of green, later turning to
gold. The next day at the street
corner: Il. drove, forty miles yester-
day and never saw the W heat more
beautiful. It is going to be good
crop" To be sure there were years
when the. story was less roseate,
when there were tales of bare fields,
when the stand" was not good in
some townships, when heads were
shaken and advice was given to take
in sail on business operations. But
nothing like that has been known
for a decade. Each year with the
regularity of the summer sun has
come the glory Of the wheat, and
each year the tide Of prosperity has
risen with the richness of the har-
vest. When the final scene comes,
when the binders and headers have
gone rafting through the streets to-.
ward the farms, when an army. of
immigrant haryesters has dropped
OF the night freights, when the
farmers drive sweaty horses to the
machinery houses and throw heaps of
binding twine into the wagons, then
hurry away to the country-it is the
climax. Not much doing in the
North Dakota town in harvest time.
The streets are deserted by farmers
teams. The high school aud the
college boys have gone to the coun-
try to earn their little 81 a day to
gain a handsome coat of tan on faces
and arms. The townspeople furnish
the audience for the moving picture
shows, and the band concerts. The
business activity is in the country.
When a farmer comes to town on an
errand he is surrounded by eager
questioners. "How is the wheat
turning out?" tt..Pretty well-going
twenty bushels : to the acre in our
section" The, merchants smile. The
bankers nod their heads with approx
al. The newspaper men take an
item. It means that there will be
money to spend for luxuries during
the autumn and winter. It means
that the town stores will sell big bills
of goods It means that there will
be another year of good times-for
as long as the rain falls and the sun
shines at opportune periods there al
ways will be, good times in North
Dakota. On Sunday the automobiles
of the townfolks are putin order2for
long runs. The roads are dry and
the sky clear. Ali aboard for the
country to sees the harvest. Out
over the hills and valley, where the
wheat Is In shock. -~-.v .:,.,
Here it is that one sees the beauty
of hayest. The car climbs to- the
high road, and stretching tor miles,
is the undulating prairie cut into
squares Of green and yellow. Here
and there a patch of corn Just in it's
summer vigor. The kheat is outlin-
ed like great spots Of deeper sun-
shine. Stacks Of hay, shocks, bum
dies Of grain and yet waving acres
that reflect the glory Of the day, are
spread as far as the eye can reach.
IT Is the most beautiful picture the
plains can give. Here and there an
anxious farmer has considered It no
Dissertation Of the Sabbath,s sanctity
To gather his waiting grain. = The
hum of the binder, borne far in the
summer breeze, adds q touch OF life
to the presentment. "A silent thresh-
ing outfit stands ready for its Whirr-
ing task IN the early morning. Il is
not alone the money value Of the
wheat tl1hat makes harvest beauti-
full. The influence Of the picture is