The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-11-21
Have you ever tried it?

 Have you ever tried it?
 |N Tried what?
 |l Why, holding a job in the city and \ |'Ipending your salary on a ''near-in'' Harm.
 |E If you have ever had the ambition (and |iffe) and never played the desire out, Then you have missed one of the greatest Pleasures in life All you can do is wIn |fir fail. And it's up to you to do the lhoosing.
 The writer. who holds a position as |tinotype operator on this Age-Herald |taper (and has for 16 years) finally got |lhe farm Dug" And nothing would lift |5he notion off my mlnd until I tried it Hut. I Cor rather we as my wife was |ilhe main factor in the undertaking did, End now have one of the incest near-in |Rcountry places in the county. It lies |lust above the Roebuck Spring golf Grounds between East Lake and Huff |Slan. It is free of debt well improved |Gyith vineyards, bearing fruit trees, ber- Mics. brooder houses. good cottage and Well fenced. But say, if you think we fhidn't put in many a hard knock on that |tllace. you have another think coming. lE Well, six years ago the past August, Fudge Zell Gaston. a big-hearted friend 1 If mine, who also farms" on the side |Eust across the valley from my little Harm, and myself went out to look at |Nome acreage. then practically undevel- Eiped. We liked it. All we could get was HP acres (note the good luck number). live struck & trade with an old darkey ' amed Alex Thornton. He needed money. Eve paid him a fair cash price and drew |1p the papers My friend took eight and :. took acres. Shortly after this Judge |Naston had chance to make 50 per cent |Nrof1t on his investment He sold, but Before he did I bought two more acres |rom him. This gave me almost a seven Here square on the corner of two roads, |ilne leading out from the golf grounds |fnd the other to Huffman. This left us |Sncrowded and off to ourselves. N What Next?
 N Well. "we'' now had the land. How Hbout the house. some fencing, we'll |spme outbuildings. chicken runs, a barn, Ind the various trimmings that go with line of these country places?" But re- |lember. I still had the aforesaid ''job" | ln The Age-Herald. making good money. Flight here it will be necessary to say a |Ford or two on mothers-in-Iaw. I have | 2,ne, and she is a good old soul at that. | If course she loved my wife. And it was Tot long before she saw we needed a I8ouse on this acreage very badly. She Inade the offer of a loan. We accepted. efore long we were "at home in Nice four-room cottage on the brow of x small hill about 200 feet back off the | pad. Once landed. it was easier sailing Itp do the other improving by piecemeal |uhere was a temporary" rail fence Itround the place, which we proceeded to Match up the best we could. One week | ge got a roll of wire and made a chicken l tln: later we added more. We cut some |Ipine sapplings'' and with the aid of Hid Ben Body Ca lazy negro), we made
 small log barn for the horse we didn't Have. But our hopes were high and we Expected to land a horse sooner or later Ishd wanted to be prepared. Nothing like Gf not national, then about [Ele farn).
 |EWell. with this new barn up and sew
 ral chicken runs and fall garden ''com- IHg," things looked more home-lille Knight here I better tell what we took | " the country with us. We had 10 Mixed hens and a rooster, known as Must chickens" We also had 10 Toulouse t9eese and about half a dozen dogs I've lived in Woodlawn, then, and hired Two large vans to move us. On one we led chicken GOODS and dog crates. When About one mile above East Lake the rear |Nxle on the Tive stock van broke, some IVA the crates fell off, the chickens got Elt, and seevral of the geese took to the 3|;he nearest field to graze. It was almost Mark before we reached our new home This was flying start, you might say, |f,t We were there. The dogs were all Night. And right here I might ask: |iyhat's a farm without dogs? This Constituted our worldly possessions, and | lith them we started things rolling. We