The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1913-09-19
The JOY Of Owning a Farm

lhC OOy VI ONHHR ~ EuTIu
Well, in the first place there is
the joy OF ownership. The farm is
ours. Meadow, orchard, woodlot and
brook are ours. Banks may fail,
cities burn, stock exchanges go mad
with panic, our acres will remain Sc
rene and unruffled, end our apples
and hay will grow just the same. AS
we walk across stubble field or brown
plowed land, we tread upon our own
ours deep down TO the center of the
earth and up to the blue sky. This Is
our magnificent elm; these are our
stone walls. The wonderful forces
of life that are evident on every hand
are working for us, and, within these
eighty acres, for us alone. They
never strike, they never ask for more
wages, they respond maTvelously to
the slightest attention. We are king
and queen of happy domain, where
the only wars are with coddling
moth and potato bug. In other
walks of life you may scorn my poor
abilities, you may spurn my efforts,
you may insult my low estate; on my
farm you must seek an audience with
the monarch of the realm on my
own land | am beyond the reach OF
intrigue and pickering and jockeylng
for place; am established
Then We are engaged in u work of
salvation. Thus far it has not ex-
tended TO the poor inhabitants of the
hills back of us; the souls we are
just now fighting for are the souls
of trees-the old derelicts of a mis-
spent orchard life. They cried for
food, and we gave them nitrogen,
phosphoric acid and potash in the
form in which they were best able to
assimilate them. They were choked
with the growth of years of neglect,
and with saw and pruning shears we
let the sunlight in. Decay had eaten
into their hearts, and with chisel and
cement we healed them. A thousand
plant and insect enemies attacked
their weakened defense; we fought
their battle with spray pump.
| do not counsel anyone to follow
in my steps; they are faltering at
best, But know that which | have
learned-that happiness and content
ment are not built upon such things
as may take unto themselves wings
and fly to the uttermost parts of the
through the revolution of society;
for me 1t lies in the owning of a bit
of brown earth and the planting OF
a tree, together with such service as
earth. For your salvation may come
| may be able to render my fellow
men from that vantage ground.
If still you do not comprehend, go
with us some clear September morn
ing and stand upon our hill overlook
ing meadow and orchard, wood lot
and pasture. Here are our vigorous
young white pines, drawing life and
beauty from yellow sand. There is
our low nesting farmhouse and our
friendly barn, with the lofty elms
and shady naples, and the four stall
wart hickories beyond Where the
elders and willow shrubs wander
down toward the ravine Is our music
brook, where our strong Reh
is being watered. The ripenipg APP
pies hang thick from the pFopped
and groaning boughs,
The hour of fruitage Is at hand;
the spirit OF fulfllment and accom-
pllshment bToods owe the farm; the
seed has brought forth fruit after
his kind; great, God-given year IL
being rounded out to completeness.
And far over yonder, beyond the
town with its homes and its college
towners. lie the mountains in their
blue serenity. symbols Of the ever
lasting power that brings the sea-
A