Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1911-12-08
NO. 40

mischief generally of any batch of
youngsters lately under my inspect
ion. must add that they do have
the best and the meanest lessons,
too.
Although my school is small, yet
I either keep or am busy. could
attend to 20 scholars almost as we'll
if classed as my present school is.
The school law here does not require
a teacher to hold his school more
than 6 or 7 hours day. And |
teach 20 days for a month. / COZ
slider that I drive better or at lea t
an easier business than to work in
the field at So per day. So that,
as l have no money to Spcr''''e
upon, I thought it best to teach ni-
tho ugh my school is small. The
mornings and evenings give me am
Pile exercise. Take up school be-
tween s and 9 o'clock and dismiss
between 4 and 5, walk home, eat
supper, and then with my telescope
in hand "a good thing used here to
look after cattle) start cow-hunt-
ing my COW Whitley" perhaps not
"ter hum," peep shrough my glass
and can see cattle for miles around
on the low hills-see some white
ones-think "Whitey' may he rn
of them-get nearer-fnd they Il
have long tails-Whitey's is sh"rt
feel disapopinted-walk myself: '
perspiration perhaps find 'whi'''
perhaps not-get home and milk.
if there is a COW to milk next at
tend to the calf, which is tied in
the pasture with a 70 foot rope
(the substitute for a calf lot here)
find the calf and rope and brush
tied and wrapped and twisted up,
in Convolutions inter convolved,
equal to forty-nine Gordian knots,
more or less go to work with knife
cutting brush and give the calf
more rope get home again near
dark-perhaps read until nine
o'clock, and-the day is done.
Up in the morning and doing
turns and small jobs general y
perhaps kill skunk and perfu me
the whole neighborhood = breakfast
then off to school again. And
the grammar, Geography, Arith-
metic, etc., thus round and round
the days 60 by. l must add here,
however, that as to my cow, | could
not stand her rowing habits any
longer, and l have recently put her
in bonds to keep her near home, in
Mr.. Dunkum's pasture. there
fore have less trouble and more
leisure.
l have worked half a day Qast
Saturday, my "playday'') helping
put up hay. 1t went quite natural.
It made me feel like | was in old
Va. This season has been very un-
favorable for making hay. 1t has
been cool and wet more than half
the time. | have no doubt much
hay will be spoiled and damaged.
, Such weather was not at all ex-
pected, and people say the like was
never known here before. As the
people were not looking for such
weather, the more harm likely to
be done to the hay. But perhaps
this will be more than made up by
tbs benefit the rains have done to
the pastures in prolongingits growth
and keeping it green. For my part
I think it looks more like living
than if everything was drying up,
as it was this time last May. The
rains have been excessive, but rath-
er in light showers. do not know
that the grass crops are any better
than last year. Mr.. Dunkum's
volunteer barley, which he cut for
hay, yielded well, but his grass was
only tolerable. The hogs (belong-
ing to his neighbors) injured it by
tearing and roofing, and much Of it
was weedy. The very best spot
of grass in his meadow last year
could not be cut this year at all on
account of the weeds and alder
bushes. A great portion of his
meadow = more than one-half-
he did not cut this year at all. The
labor is so high it would not pay,
unless cut by a machine. His bar
ley looks very fine. He will have
a large crop if nothing happens to