The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1909-06-29
Farming For Fun
Southeastern Iowa Editor Relates His Experiences Along
Various Lines.

x&14400s III
rang we trembled lest some neighbor
would sarcastically inform us that
three hogs that looked like ours we're
engaged in spring blowing in their
yards. It was very aggravating but
the hogs were too small to sell and too
active to get fat. We tried to get
Brown to buy them but he wouldn't
look at them. William Courtney saw
them at distance and there was
nothing doing. Finally DR.. Hunt, who
lives across the street, offered lis $1S
for the three of them and we took him
up.
And there you are, with fair sam
pie Of successful farming. Paid $40
for colt Had it shod, bought bride
and saddle, had box stall put in the
barn for the tender thing, fed it all
fall and most of the winter with the
best OF hay, delicate warm mashes
and eighty cent corn, traded for three
minute shoats, fed them until the first
Of June, had meadow and hen pens
ruined, the neighbors prejudiced, and
closed them out for the original cost
Of the colt. Now If Jerry Picket can fig
ure out a decent living at that kind of
farming we want him to get at 1t
quick. Because the way we figure it
the loss on the colt has made the COW
stand us about $125, and the price
of milk has been cut down to five
cents quart.
There are two sides to this dairying
proposition they tell me, and we never
knew anybody about here who ever
got rich out of it. 1t is a good deal
like the fabulous fortunes that are
made out of the chicken industry, and
lures many man upon the rocks OF
disaster. The trouble IS with this milk
business and the chicken business, you
leave out of the calculation the big
gest item Of expense, labor Now out
at our house we have two items In our
milk account. On one side is the feed
and on the other the milk at current
prices per quart, and the balance is
the profit on the operation. But the
trouble Is with most Of us people we
forget that the stabling OF the COW
costs money, there is interest on the
investment we like to use this phrase
because 1t gives dignity to the busi-
ness insurance on the COW, deprecia-
ton Of the stock, wear and tear on
the buckets and pans, and last but not
least, the time and energy In taking
care of the cow WATERING, feeding,
cleaning stables, expense Of old clothes
to wear during chores. and the hours
and hours mother put in straining the
milk and keeping the things sweet and
clean. and the hours taken in a year
| to deliver the milk. All these things
| are not counted in the business.
But after all, Jerry can't under
stand that our farm is our vacation,
our recreation, our plaything, just as
Fred Crane has his auto and Senator
| Seeley his doddies, and Ed. Stall his
| chicken yard, and Art Higgins his
stocks and bonds. and DR.. Laird his
base ball league, and Frank Porter his
print shop. When we get home nights
from the hot, noisy office with Its
trials and disappointments, the little
eight acres look kind of comfortable,
and you can forget competition and the
struggle for a living and the hollow
ness Of business friendships, and the
days defeats, and wander about and
1 see how the potatoes are coming on
and follow the progress of the race
between the first peas you planted and
the last ones, and pick Strawberries
and cherries and currants, and specu
late on the raspberry and the black
berry crop and wonder how many
bushels the Jonathan trees will yield
or trim the hedge, or whitewash the
fences, and hunt eggs, and feed the
chickens, or, il the roads are good
hitch up and take an hours drive Out
over the avenue. And SO the way we
:un the farm is not profitable, as Jer.
ry locks at II. But neither is Fred
Cranes auto a dividend Garner, nor
4 will Or. Laird make anything out OF
his base ball. but it all gives flavor to
life, and makes the routine Of office
more endurable and the trials OF bust
1 ness easier to take care Of And in
this way perhaps 1t pays. Who knows
Saving the Heather.
{. Cedar Rapids Gazette: The murder
Of Elsie Sigel, young girl who was
engaged in mission work among the
celestials of New York city, will not
I encourage other young ladies to take