The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1909-03-12

&c to 100 acres the city man. who k[M:0|
was wont to ask: why. that fellow ezSzz-
loafs all aday long over that corn
field, the crows and the farmers wife are sorry.
And they have reasons. too. The romancer who
mentally OF yards and yards Of poetry about the
pathetic plight of the guardian Of the chicken coop
and oat crop. must wend his way about the plan
tation of his country cousins in constant fear Of
touching a live wire and he has no more such
lifelike themes for his alleged poetic ability.
The small farmer is sorry to see his brother
Of larger worldly goods take step forward by
proclaimfng the scarecrow extinct
The city man may longer wonder at the art
of putting the sham together and his suggestions
about giving it touch of decoration" is positive
~ obsolete
As for the crows. 1t is the duty of every
mother crow. we'll as the father crow. to teach
Its young that the scarecrow is the friend of all
crows Hence. the silent friend Of winter and
summer can no longer be perched upon by the
young crows in learning to ny, and the figure
which was intended to be the crows god Of ILL.,
omen, but which In the eyes Of the dark-hued
mnions Of the air was an indication OF the
whereabouts OF edibles In the shape Of corn, usr-
ally, IL to be swept into oblivion.
The farmers wife hates to see the scarecrow
long summer days while she is alone, the men
and boys being OF in the fields, the silent stiff
armed policeman carries on = silent conversation
with her. and she has surprised city people by in
sorting corn husk in the scarecrows upper left
nd pocket 4 tribute to the vanity Of the
Illuminate farmland. Always absolutely safe to
talk to. never answering surlily. always silent
under the most scathing arragnment, is 1t any
wonder that the scarecrow will be missed by the
women folks?
Thus a score of years may see it extinct Amid
crashing Of teeth by the old-time agriculturist,
tears by fair conversationalsts, caw-caws by
crows seeking the cause of the new vogue. mourn
ing by the city folks and Others the curtain Is
to be drawn over this piteous individual.
The word scarecrow signifies its realm Of use
fulness which is to scare crows, hawks. rabbits.
squirres-in fact, most anything being which
is liable to infict grievous wrong upon Mr..
Farmer.
While the scarecrow itself may become extinct,
the art Of making scarecrows will always live,
crow Is a work of art. A touch Of realism here
and there will often chase away tramps in the
summer time-near-sighted tramps especially.
The scarecrow is purely an American institu-
ton, invented for the purpose of helping the
farmer protect his grains but reversed by thieves
and made ever-present food indicator. No
body knows who invented it and nobody cares
much.
One story which has found SO much credence is
that told by New England farmer, who remem-
bers the times before the war. At that time he
knew a farm hand in Maine who was by natural
instinct shfrker of work. His employer learned
this after the man had been in his employ three
hours. Seeing that he was practically useless IN
general farm work, he set him to watching prize
cornneld hoping thatby this method he might util-
ize the mans services and save his corn. for the
a1ows were hungry and there were lots Of them.
Ar two days this suited the son Of rest fine. for
he could lie down and doze, the mere> sight OF
~ soaring the crows for miles around.
The shirker. whose name cannot be divulged