Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1910-10-29
THE FOE-FIGHrING FARMERS FULL REWARD

written Specially for The Bulletin)
According to the old hymn dogs
delight to bark and bite because it
S. their nature to. When you come
right down to hard-pan, it's in the
nature of most men to love fight.
Dogs aren't the only animals of that
sort. In fact, the inherent human
fondness for lighting has been recog-
nized r. all students of human nature
for years, and many philosophers
have gone so far as to defend it.
They find in war the hard and siren
uous conditions which weed out the
weak and Incompetent and develop to
its utmost the Vigor and vir1lity which
are. after all. the only hope for the
race.
But war, while strengthening the
sturder qualities of those who survive
Ats rigors is nevertheless wantonly
destructive of all that civilization
holds most valuable. 1t depopuiates
and destroys II turns homes into ash
heaps and fertile valleys into death
swept wastes. While, possibly, some
good thing may be said for it in its
ultimate results there is no lack of
evil things to say of it in its harsh
and cruel processes Some econo-
ynists have gone so far as to ask if
there wasn't some way in which man
kind could be trained in the same
fighting lustihood-could be given the
same sta mins-could be touGhened as
stubbornly as by war, without having
80 go through so much hideouS ravin
and slaughter.
I've been much tickled by an article
in The Outlook for October 10 in which
Francis f. Clark soberly advocates
the occupation of farming as a moral
equivalent for war" He intimates that
there clearly is need of something to
save the gilded and idle youth who
spend their time speeding automobiles
or lolling on piazzas, leading 'frtvol-
Gus or vicious lives. menace to so
s.iety and the nation" He alludes to
che fear some have, lest when wars
shall utterly have ceased the race
may deteriorate, manly muscles and
manly virtues both grow flacctd, and
she breed Of heroes die out. Then he
adds.
DO not be afraid of this, my friends
while farms remain 10 cultivate, and
weeds grow. and worms wriggle. and
moths fly. Let no one deceive himself
on this point. The Creator has fur
nished for any one who owns or Gull
that a healthy man needs to keep his
lighting edge keen and bright
Mr.. Clark evidently approached his
last springs agricultural operations
with a somewhat fresher mind than
most Of US ancient hayseeds, whom
tong addiction TO the pillow and hoe
handles has made acquainted with
grief he tells the story of his sea
son with a highly engaging candor,
didn't expect all the fighting he got,
but rsat he met It with properly
squared shoulders and doubled fists,
and really won some fun as well as
some good out Of it.
-. L., l. IL
he explains that he fancied only his
family and a few neighbors knew
what he was doing. But / was mis-
taken. Ten thousand little beady eyes
watched my manoeuvres, ten thousand
wrisgling creatures congratulated
themselves on the coming victory"
First the crows from all crowdom
came to breakfast on his nicely plant
I'd corn. Then the eutworms finished
what the crows left. and, incidentally,
etc UP his cauHflower, Brussels
sprouts, etc. BY that time the bat
tslions of the air descended on his
orchards. the gypsy moth, the brown
tail moth and the cooling moth. leaf
lice apple maggots and tent caterpil-
lars: San Jose scale and oyster shell
scale and scurvy on the bark; May
beetles. rOsebugs and brown rot on
his cherries slugs AID blight on his
pears. cudculio and gorgers on his
plums: yellows and rosettes on his
peaches. Listen once more to his tale
OF woe
Not only does every tree have its
own enemies. but every part of the
tree has its foes. The bark has its
borers and its scale the leaf it's lice
Rnd curriers'. the blossom it's moth, the
fruit its oorers. Each enemy knows
exactly the weakest part Of the Cit
sdel he has to attack. He knows the
exact moment when his attack will
be most effective. He has the ac-
cumulated experience of a thousand
ancestors behind him. He never makes