The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-12-02
CHAPTER VI.
Some Close Figuring.

>oAA Wv h>"' S"s ~ >>AN'
having hired Abe Lincoln for
~ two days on that work, but the
other day was charged to the cotton.
which was not a contest crop: work
scraping fertilizer from the lot, 40
cents. His father did not charge him
for the fertilizer, offsetting the graz
ing of the horses on the rye and some
work Joe did against it. The break
ing Of the acre cost 50; seed rye, So:
turning it under. 81; a hundred pounds
Of commercial fertilizer. $3.50; seed
corn, 81; total, $3.50.
As the rest of the four acres was not
in competition Joe hired Abe Lincoln
whenever he needed him, which was
constantly now. Abe had got inter
ested.
"You know, Mister Joe," said Abe
Lincoln one day, "whut's de matter
wild us niggers is, we dom know moth
in, en- eff we does know we's too lazy
to do muffin wild hit"
"Lots Of white folks in the same fix"
answered Joe.
"Yasser, l knows dat, but l been fig
germ on all dis yer doin's, an l made
de chiren at home help m tote leaves
an trash, an fertilizer from de stable
an COW lot, en- l got me er acre too.
I specs ter have somethin' some er
desc days merse'f."
"That's exactly what l am going to
do, Link, and If l car help you in any
way
"Oh, you helps me by hirin' me l
goes home an does whit you does"
"What are you going to plant on
your acre, Link?"
"Well, sub, rs a plumb fool erbaut
sweet taters, desc yer sweet, honey
like yaller mes dat jes' melts in yo'
mouf Wen dey's cooked wild er nice
fat possum, an plenty er dat rich
gravy ter sop EN- in. Man, rs gwine
ter try ter eat up dat whole acre er
taters merse'f"!"
you'll have quite a job. You ought
to follow the potatoes with turnips
this fall"
"Yasser. l is-en er good patch er
collards too. Den next year dat groun'
gwine ter make a bale er cotton sho'"
The acre Of cotton was planted a day
or SO after the corn. Then began the
rush to get the snap beans to market.
Thirty bushels at $1.4O. with an ex.
pense Of SIP for picking, Grating. haul
ing and commissions, left a profit of
$50. This added to the amount received
brought the total on the sweet potato
acre up to $161, and the commission
merchant wrote to Mr.. Somerville de-
string to handle the next years crop.
saying that he had never had a nicer.
fresher or more desirable lot of vege
tables.
Joe exhibited the bank book to his
father with a good deal Of pride.
well, by gum. Joe. half Of that's
yourn, amt it"
Eyes, sir; I've cleared 5000 as my
part of that acre, and we will get a
good crop Of potatoes off it too"
"Why. my gracious, you've made
more money off that acre of truck than
an acre of cotton brings around here
yes, more'n three times as much!"
The pea vines were pulled up, the re-
mains of the radishes and the bean
vines were fed to the pigs, which were
thriving wonderfully in a large dry
pen built by Mr.. Weston.
The vegetable rows were then plowed
up and bedded into rows five feet apart.
Joe had bought a bushel of the rich
yellow yams-"pumpkin yams" they
were c~alled-earlier in the season and
bedded them in a dry, warm place to
Bprout. He took the sprouts of as they
showed above the ground and got three
rows.
In a few weeks they commenced to
make vines and owe the spaces be-
tween the rows. One cloudy day when
1t looked like rain Joe and Link began
to cut the vines into two foot lengths:
then, placing. the ends together, the
cuttings were doubled into the ground
about six inches deep, and the remain
der of the acre was planted. A gentle
rain fell all that night, and in a few
days roots sprang from every leaf joint
beneath the soil, and the acre was
planted without further cost for seed.
About May 10 Joe went over his corr
with q hoe and pulled from each hill
the two weakest stalks. A hard rain
packed the soil a few days later and
necessitated another working to break
the crust.
Then Joe and Link had to "chop out"
the cotton. The seed was planted
thickly to insure .'stand." and the
object Of the chopping out was to re-
move the surplus plants, leaving one
about every two feet in the row.
As soon as this was done the oats
were ready to cut. and the two boys
tackled the job with hand sickles.
twisting q few of the oat stalks about
each bundle and turning the ends IN
der SO as to tie them. Five hundred
and fifty bundles Of oats al. 4 cents a
bundle brought 500 mora. Then Joe