Charlevoix county herald., 1914-05-16


red stumps, and here and there an oak
| grub, were left.
"Many attempted to cultivate the
land, little thinking about this hard
pan, with the result that in the spring,
or after a heavy rain, these lands
were flooded, and the crops drowned |;
or later in the season, when the sur
face moisture had evaporated, the
crops dried up because the capillery
waters from below could not penetrate
this layer of hardpan. 1t is like pac-
ing earth in tin basin, and burying
it in the ground. The water you put
into it may drown the plant because
there is no drainage, and if you cease
to put in water it will dry up, al
though the surrounding land may
have plenty of water.
"This streak of selfshness, as | call
it, must be broken up before we can
do anything with this sand, just as
truly as the streak of seltishness
which makes a man acquire money,
money, and more money, for his own
use and indulgence must be destroyed
before his life can produce the fruits
of love, hope and peace; but break up
this hardpan and you have made be-
ginning in the retaining of the Mich
igan pine barrens.'
"When l began l had only team
Of horses. That was before the days
of the big traction engine, and so
took the scraper and dug a ditch three
feet deep at one end, along the pond
that used to be down on No. IL.
"For years this land raised frogs,
and | could always tell when Spring
was coming by the noise the peppers
made down in that corner of the lot
| never attempted to drive a team
into it except after long drought,
but nothing would grow on that land
Zone day l asked the question,
why won't water run down hill when
it's on Lot 1922 / knew that lot was
II feet above Lake Michigan. The
land was sandy, and | had always
supposed that water would run
through sand, so l took a post-hole
digger, and went down to the margin
of the pond, and began TO dig. had
hardly gotten down ten inches before
the digger struck something hard. 1t
felt just like an old New York State
rock, but | knew there was not rock
within forty miles, so | kept on dig
ging, and finally | got out a chunk
of that red hardpan, and after digging
for some five or six inches the digger
suddenly went through, and down into
soft sand, and all of a sudden it came
to me why the water would not run
down hill on No. II. So | dug a big
ditch three feet deep, and four feet
wide, with a team and scraper,
thinking that | would drain the land
into this ditch, but by the time | had
Il
water to run into the ditch.
Nevertheless, | thought it was be-
cause of the dry weather, and so | cut
lateral bitches with the plow, through
the pond, which | could now go into
it come again, would run down these
bitches into the main ditch.
"a few days afterwards we had
cloud burst, and l went down to No.
II expecting to see the pond as usual,
but to my surprise there was not
drop of water in sight. That old
streak of selfishness had been broken
through, and | began new kind of
farming, for l realized the possibili-
ties Of that land.
"When we go in the house I'll show
you picture Of the old frog pond,
and the crop of corn we took off from
there "a few years later.
81 put on lime, as you can see in
the picture, sweetened the soil,
plowed the surface soil into the lat
eral bitches, and the hardpan on top
of it, thus completely breaking up the
hardpan, which disintegrated by the
action of the weather. and has never
| been seen since.
81 am simply telling you this to-
night because | want you to learn to
love the soil, and when you begin
work tomorrow, / want you to see
| beyond the sand, stumps and grubs,
the realities for which | am working
"We're going to tackle No. 6, so
that you can see the way / have de-
veloped these waste lands. It will be
hard work, but you will enjoy it if you
can see the faces behind the stumps
| and beyond the sod"
"What do you mean?" cried Sam
"have you got ghosts over there?"
"Not exactly, but every time ] sec
a stump come out Of that waste lane
/ seem to see a child's face smiling
and behind the next one is another
face saying Take me next.
'When l pillow the rough land, anC
the handles rap my ribs, hot wore
may hy from my lips, but then
think Of some little one, perhaps in ;
Chicago tenement, and he looks 81
hungry. with his big hollow eyes, tina
I speak TO the team as though ! wa
talking TO myself, and perhaps yo'
nav hear me say, Get up there boys
we've got to feed that baby"
"But how on earth arc you going t.
feed that babv?" said Sam, "by pillow
ing that rough land ?"
Just this way" said the Sand Far
mer, "the time is coming, il the PEG
pie continue to go from the coUntr.
/ TO live in the city, when this countr,
s will not produce enough food for all
and the poor children in the cities
? where often the fathers spend thei
money for drink, are the first one
TO suffer hunger. A proud young wifi
! may have gone to the city, expecting
great things. Her husband lost hi
! position, became discouraged, an
, went from bad to worse. They move,
from one section of the city to an
other, looking for cheaper, ever cheap
er quarters, until the home is de
a. A. I,,oc hroLon opI fka ~,