The Washington herald., 1914-03-11
rHE WILD Lon.
ny EMoRY b HAYxrs.

NJ EMORY J. HAYNES.
These are the days, by the almanac
when one is planning about his countr,
place.
The most fascinating farm task is II
subdue wild, ugly piece of land. lie
it be bog and overflow from the river
Let it abound in unsightly lodges o.
primordial rock, and be sprinkled witt
broken stone. Let only dwarfed tree:
be there, gnarled and twisted. The un
tanned, Towering swamp grasses are al
ready and always beautiful. These yot
will utilize. There is a certain rugged
beauty about the struggling acreage. Blu
taken all in all it has provoked you tc
indignation for years. You resolve tc
clean it up at any cost.
At first thought you see only vexa'
tious expense. Certainly no amuse,
ment in the task. But the moment yor
sit down to plan what might be, that
moment the thrill begins. If you have
the money, and if you are wise enough
to reject all thought of a professional
landscape gardener. and begin to think
this conquest over nature out for your
self, you have FIVE or ten years of the
most engaging rural occupation possible
right at hand.
When the fen waters retreat down
your bitches and the fertile soils will
take plow, and give you back crop
you seem to yourself creator. You
are making new earth. You cannot
dream enough over its possibilities. You
make lakelets that shine like embossed
silver. Yet the lakes were mostly after
thoughts.
Indeed II is the almost infinite variety
of plan that changes in its possibilities
every month, that constitutes the charm.
Probably nothing ever undertaken by
man has such an unfolding of limitless
adventure as this work. 1t is the one
novel labor on an old earth that often
seems to us outworn The endless pic
turesque is in the ledges. The frag-
mentary stones spring into romantic
walls and buttresses.
Terraces of green, like the kings
tunic. are thrown around gigantic
bowlders. The wind-twisted trees, poor
creatures of centuy's neglect, be-
come curiosities for which you care by
iron bolts and preserving collars. Each
season the lines of your conquest are
pushed further.
The keenest relish is for the straw
berries that you have grown from what
was once worthless morass. There
never were dollars that looked so big
as the price of hay sold from what was
once a contemplate bramble lowland.
The new drives that can be laid out
on such a rescued area are always a de-
light. Where you could hardly walk be-
fore now you roll smoothly. with many
an ingenious turn in the road. II is a
rejuvenation of an old estate. as when
one transforms an aged colonial man
sion with his own new architectural
ideas, while he preserves the antique
and emphasizes it.
Most happily the quail and other wild
birds remain, as if glad in the blossom
ing world. Yonder are grazing sheep
where never before was aught but
punches of thorn bush and dwarf pines.
And all the while YOU have the con-
sciousness that you did it. You are i'm
patient TO do more and more. Infinite
is the road to perfection. There is no
end to this JOY.
Fortunately your task is never done.
Yet the hope of completion enslaves
you like an enchantress' dream. Your
visitors are always more entertained BY
such an achievement than by any other
thing about your country place. Your
sense OF triumph over those who said
it never could be done is delightful
mental sensation.