Putnam patriot. [volume] (Putnam, Conn.) 1872-1962, 1915-04-09

this i.,; year :, a. .,un
,laimed Mrs. Powell. smiling. What
ever put that notion into your head.
sam? | thought we'd had enough of
farming"
sam Powell and his mother and a
sister a year younger than Sam lived
On the outskirts of town and made a
scanty living from the sale of butter
and milk afforded by two cows and
aggs and poultry produced on an acre
lot. In addition to this income, the
family also lad the rent from a little
farm of twenty acres. which was stu
lted four miles from town. The
mount of the rent. however, was SO
small as to be hardly worth mention
ng. Year after year the land became
poorer, and slothful and ignorant ten
ants let the weeds take the crops.
Sam was sixteen and he ana his sister,
Florence, attended the public school
n town. Their father had been dead
four years. Before that time the fam
ly had lived on the farm just men
toned But Mr.. Powell had been no
more successful than his neighbors or
the tenants. Not that he hadn't work
I'd hard for there had been no harder
worker in the community than Ed
ward Powell But something was
acking He had been unsuccessful
and the family had suffered many pri-
nations and hardships.
At first the area of the farm had been
100 acres, but as the farmer got deep
ar and deeper in debt he sold it off,
piece at a time, till there were left only
the house and twenty acres. Consid-
ering that there was no possibility of
making a living on this amount of
ground, Mr. Powell would have sold it
also had he been able to find buyer.
No buyer being at hand, though. the
Hisheartened farmer moved his family
10 town and left ii. Two months later
he was stricken with fever and died.
Then the struggle fer living fell on
Mrs. Powell and the two children. for
Sam and Florence were large enough
TO be of much help t. their mother.
So it was with much surprise that
Mrs. Powell heard sam express the
wish to 20 back to the farm. They
lived hard nov, it is true but then it
had been worse Her own memories
of their days on the farm We're any
thing but pleasant and she knew that
Sam had not forgotten. Much as she
liked stock and growing things, she
didn't want to 90 back to that life
again.
1t was Saturday afternoon, and Sam
had just come in from town. His eyes
were bright with the new idea he had
In mind.
It's this way. mother said Sam,
replying to Mrs. Powell's question and
comment. "Since I've been going to
high school I've learned Il whole lot of
new things about farming. They are
not new things, either-just the sim
plest facts about agriculture. Our
teacher says they are the \ b C's of
the business. but never heard of
them till our class began studying The
Elements of \ griculture. "
That's what they cali book farming,
Sam, said Mrs Powell, land how
farmers would laugh at you if they
heard you talking about it
Some farmers might. but not all OF
them" Sam reslied. Bill Googe and
Miles Pagan would. because they don't
know anything about it, That's JUS
how it is. mother. The ones that make
fun of scientific farming don't know
what they're talking about"
We'll, Miles Pagan is a hard work
tr, and so was your father. l don't
believe anybody ever worked harder or
could do more than them two.'
ITS not all in hard work, though.
The main thing is in knowing how to
work. We are just now learning how.
Some don't know how yet and won't
try to learn. 1t wasn't fathers fault
that he failed. because no one knew
anything about the new farming then.
Put that's why father failed, and Fa-
gan is farming just like father did.
He's got the chance TO learn better
but won't do it. Bill Googe won't
work much. of course, but he'd do lot
better if he tried the new way"
What is this new wayf | Thought
farming was farming"
at would take a long time to explain
II ell" said sam. ''but II mosti5 lie
pends on what kind of soil you have,
how you plow it and how sou plant
and cultivate your crops
Did YOU learn all this ont Of the
book on farming:" asked Mrs. Powell
We'll. I've learned good deal from
the book" sam explained, "but not all
know. The government has appoint
ed an agent for this county, and be is
going 10 spend part Of his time here
next year instructing the farmers and
the bows. | heard him make two talks
downtown. He's anxious for me TO go
out on our little place this year. He
says nearly everybody out in that
neighborhood is like Bill Googe and
Miles Pagan, and he wants me to show
them a thing or two. He says he'll
help in every way he can"
II do like the country" said MIS-
Powell, land would like TO go back on
the old place, but the lands worn out