News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1915-04-07

time no less than II bale would b,
gathered When the last struggling
locks OF the patch had been gathered
sam found that his crop mad yielded
one bale 70 the acre. The hve bales b,
sold for $3.50 and stored away 15l
bushels of seed for feed
The four acre tract of corn yielded
seventy bushels to the acre, or tota
Of $50 bushels. all of which Sam pu,
IN the barn with that from the one
'cre. He didn't intend to sell any OF
this crop. AS he could make more by
feeding it to hogs.
The crops were now about all gath.
cred. There remained the peas and
! the pumpkins that had been sown
among the corn and the turnips. which
were not yet ready to be gathered.
Sam hauled out many loads of big
! golden pumpkins with the one horse
wagon. There was not much market
for pumpkins. but he managed to sell
nbout 100 at cents each, or a total of
So worth. And still he had more
pumpkins than he knew what to do
with. He knew, however, that what
the family did not use would be fine
feed for the hogs and cows when the
cold weather of winter came on. So
he carefully stored them away.
With the black eyed pea crop it was
the same. Sam thought that he had
never seen so many peas in all his life.
He sold $40 worth. gathered what
would be needed at home, and then.
the vines still full. he turned in the
hogs and cows for weeks feast
According to agreement. Bill Googe
rame over when the stock had cleared
out most of the pea crop and set to
work with large pillow turning under
vines, stalks and all. The cotton stalks
were large, and Il great many of them.
rs well as some cornstalks. were left
above ground. But when Sam sowed
the ground with winter oats and rye
and had Googe follow him with disk
it cut the stalks to pieces and left the
soil smooth and unbroken.
Soon after they finished sowing
gentle rain began falling, lasting for a
day. 1t sank into the soft soil and
seemed to touch the planted grain with
magic. In very short time the field
from end to end was one long carpet
Of green.
The year was growing old. and the
great bulk Of the work was done. Sam
now had more leisure than he had had
at any time during the year. OF morn
ings there was sometimes a hint of
frost In the air. but the days were yet
hot and sultry. Sans friends, Fred
Martin. Joe Watson and Andrew
White. had visited him several times
that they had worked. But he had
something that he thought would make
a pleasant surprise for the boys, so he
invited his neighbor, Bob Pagan, and
those three from town to visit him on
Saturday. Sans surprise was some
large watermelons, the last of the sea-
son, that he had covered up with grass
and kept fresh and sound The melon |
crop had been gone for a long time.
and this would be treat worth Civ. (
ing on what would probably be their
last visit this year. Even Bob Pagan
would be as much surprised as any. for {
they never grew melons on the Pagan
farm and knew nothing about keeping
them until cold weather.
The boys came. and the day proved
70 be suita BILE for the occasion. 1t was
4 hot. sultry day and seemed to belong
more to midsummer than to autumn.
First the melons were carried to the
.reek near the swimming hole and
Jumped in clear pool to float round
md round and cool. Then the boys
were off on a hunt for wild grapes and
oceans They found both. Winter
grapes and fox grapes they found
hanging in thick. purple clusters from
ines that ran along branches and
rom tree to tree. To get them the
boys generally had to do a lot of
climbing. but they liked this, though
hey had to be careful about getting
90 far out on weak limbs.
The pecans' bulls were popping open
md dropping their fruit to the ground.
o they had little to 60 except to pick