Norwich bulletin., 1909-06-19

iWritten Specially for The Bulletin)
It's been a somewhat arduous spring
TO this particular farmer, and, sus-
pect, to a good many others on NIL
farms of New England and the Mid
die Atlantic states. But at last we've
reached the place on this truck patch
where the sign says: stop and blow
a bit."--I wonder whether you ever
read chlidren's books? In the Water
Babies" of Charles Kingsley, it is re-
lated how Tom. in the course Of his
wonderful wanderings in search of
The Their End Of Nowhere, came to
the place marked STOP" So he stop
ped II you've got the saving spirit
Of boyhood still in you, il you haven't
forgotten what being boy was like, II
you are yet capable OF being carried
back to that strange world OF dreams
and hopes and fables that were truer
than mans truths-if you are this sort
and haven't read Water Babies" and
Carrolrs Alice" books, get them and
read them. If you've turned dry as
dust and sordid and selfish and stu
pid, LEI EN- alone. They'd be waste
Of time for you. But for one read
them oftener than any other books in
my library. II President Eliot doesn't
include them in his 'five-foot shelf"
I'm going to cut his acquaintance!
Well, when "Ton" came to the place
marked "sToP," he stopped, and it
was lucky for him he did, under the
circumstances. Likewise we've come
to the place marked: stop and blow
a bit, And that's why I'm stopping
this Jun0 morning to let the sunshine
have a chance on my hoed fields, and
to watch from my window the rows
of delayed vegetation Frightening in
color and stretching upward to the
pull Of the summer sun. Not that we
haven't anything to do.--Did ever
that time come on busy farm when
there was nothing to do?--But we've
elm bed most Of the hill, so that we
can see over the top into what seems
a fairly hopeful bit of level going.
have Q neighbor who one day came
out into windy, overcast morning
such as have followed each other so
persistently this spring, and looked
desperately up at the leaden sky. "The
potat toes ought to be planted" he So
hloqdxed; the corn-land ought to be
plowsd; the onion bed needs weedin';
the south meadow wants fixin; that
leaky barn roof ought to be patched:
the garden must be planted If we're
goin' to get anything out of it this
year;---dear, dear, there's so much
to do, ! d'know which way to turn.
B'gosh, I'll take day off an go fish
VA Anu Aio uAus
! haven't heard whether his decision
helped or hindered his agricultural OPP
erations. Nor do i know whether he
caught any fish. But sometimes /
think q day off, isn't necessarily a
day lost. They used to quote to me:
An play and no work makes Jack
mere shirk." It's just as true that
"All work and no play makes Jack a
dull boy" You can't keep your nose
on the grindstone all day and every
day without wearing the skin off.
Which results in a sore nose and
doesn't do the grindstone one little bit
of good. We've been working hard
whenever the weather would let us,
and sometimes when the weather
didn't want to let us. I've put in sew
eral hfteen-hour days, because it
semeed needful to take advantage of
all the time there was on the few
sporadic fair days vouchsafed us.
Haven't been fishing, yet; don't feel
like 1t, y day. Would rather spend the
time sa 5ntering around and watching
things grow; comparing today with
last week; specializing about possible
experiments in fertilization on one
patch or in cultivation on another;
wearing comfy shoes and clean clothes
instead of the heavy brogans and
muddied overalls demanded by seed
ing and wedding work; and between
times writing few lines Of desultory
chat with my fellow hayseeds.
I've talked a good deal, at one time
or another, about the influence of the
season on our crops. This spring has
been the most backward, with me Of
any IN about nine years. Thus far we
have had only two really warm nights.
The days have been mostly drizziy or
overcast; the rainfall. while not greatly
excessive in inches, has been almost
steady thing; the little sunshine we've
had has seemed to lack the git thar"
quality which II usually has in Nav
and June; and the nights while moi
actually frosty, have nearly all been
cold and discopraging to vegetable life.
doRt know what your experience has
been, but mine lads me to believe that
many plants grdw faster, gather more
Nigor, get moro real good out of
warm, brooding night than they do
from day of too ardent sunshine and
heat. And so most Of my crops. this
tina are way behind hand .
Last year / had my FIRST mess OF green
peas from my own vines on June IL
THIS year that date saw my vines in
ku1 blossom but without even a single
eslat' formed that I could discover
My early planted sweet corn is the
very worst ever had at this season
~nn1h, yellow, only half Of it I'D at ali.