Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1915-08-14


and the wind bfowethA where II listeth
and the bugs and the bhghts appear
whenever their particular boss Beel-
zebub orders them to the front
None OF these things wait upon our
convenience They have no interest in
vacations or s1unketings- Almost any
thing is likely to happen to us al
most anytime. from thunder out OF a
clear sky to a couple of good hay
days in the midst Of a rainy week
Ono. of the differences between q
good farmer and g poor<one is that
the good farmer makes the most Of all
the chances the chance-fu11 seasons
offer him, while the poor farmer loses
some Of them. OF course there are
other differences But this Is one and
not one of the least, either.
Itgoes without saying that the farm
er who never Anows when he goes to
bed what sort of weather he'll wake
UP to in the morning can't possibly
take. advantage of the-lzind Of weather
that actually comes If he's three
thousand miles away from both farm
and weather when they meet.
The warm months are the farmers
working time. In winter he is pre-
Guided from working at his trade and
must necessarily lay off, more or less
of the time. But summer time the
bees make honey-if they can find it
and: the farmer makes money-if he's
ever going to. It's his hive-f1lling sea-
son; his one chance of the year; his
busy time.
TO advise him to throw away "a
month or six weeks of these pre-
cious summer work days seems to this
particular John Farmer about the
widest kind Of waste What was it
they used to say in your grandfather's
OF hi 70 he of fhaS
wi1fuI waste makes woefu1 want,
wasn't it?
And what was it that the Wise King
said? go to the ant, thou sluggard;
consider her ways and be wise; which
having no chief. overseer. or ruler,
provideth her meat in the summer
and gathereth her food in the harvest"
Please don't understand me as hold
ing that the farmer should never take
a breath or have a rest. All work
and no play makes Jack a dull boy
whether on the farm or elsewhere. But
''to everything there is a season and
a time to plant and a time
to pluck up that which is planted;
time TO mourn and a time
to dance; a time to cast away stones
and a time to gather stones together;
time to keep and a time to
cast away
The farmers time to plant and work
and to gather is the summer time,
when alone the natural conditions
which he cannot control but under
which he must serve permit him to
labor proftably. The very season
when our friends from the city take
their annual vacation is our busiest
work time. The very conditions which
make the country a beautiful play
ground for them in summer are max
ing it our workshop and compelling
our noses to the grindstone. We must
work while it is day since the night
Cometh wherein no man can work; we
must make hay while the sun shines
since we cannot make it in the rain;
we must do our work when Nature
makes it possible for US to do it, else
the work will not be done. and we
shall deserve the condemnation which
is due to unfaithful workmen
Really we farmers of New ENGLAND
have but a perilously short growing
season, at the best. From a hundred
to a hundred and fifty days out of
the year three hundred and sixty-five
are about all we can depend on for
growing weather" have known
seasons which gave me but just nine
ty days between the last killing frost
of a coming winter. To ask us, even
to suggest the possibility of our Civ
ing up a whole month out of our al
ready pitifully short summer Is to
transpose common sense and stand it
on it's head.
When we have done the very best