Norwich bulletin., 1917-06-01
THIS BACKWARD SPRING CELLS MORE THAN
 TT THRILLS
TT THRILLS

was nothing like it." Which Alice didn't venture to deny.
 "Did 'ie ever see such weather7T
 S'pose you never did: what then
 You've seen some quite as bad, quite as depressing. quite as irrftat- ing. That is, you have if you've lived long enough to appreciate Natures infinite capacity along that line.
 It may not have been cut from the that which she is fitting to our shrink ing shoulders now.
 But it galled around the collar and it pinched under the arms and it bound across the shoulders and we considered 1t du1nd poor fit and didn't hesitate to say so and to won der if there ever had been such a spring before.
 That was last year. And the year before. And the year before that And so on back to the last l1nn1es of our forgetteries.
 There were no two of them alike: just as this spring is unlike any of them.
 But, as I have said before, there Is no need of their being alike. Nature isn't so hunanly incompetent and limited in her scope as to be confined endless assortment to draw from
 And we poor farmers and garden CTS can take it as it is dealt out and please. Bless you, Natures doesn't care snap whether We like 1t or don't like it; whether it profits us or bankrupts us: whether cur seeds come up or whether they rot in the ground.
 Sns isn't running the weather nor any other of her departments to suit Ie- I-- ishing alteration of baseless self con ceit which leads anyone to think such thing.
 What her purpose is. if indeed she is only 3 vanity as pitiable as 1t is conten1ptible which allows any one of us half-e educated puppets to dream that we are, any of us or all Of Us combined, special objects CT her so- hcitude.
 What the 'efar-off. divine event'' may be towards which the whole ere aticn is said to move, we don't. yet
 But it isn't the welfare of my cab bage- patch, nor of your potato feid nor Of Jones l1aymeadow.
 They are all mere side issues and happenchances. If we are forehanded enough and lucky enough to fit our cabbages and potatoes and hay into the scheme, why we may pull some LnlnS out TOT ourselves. E1It the scheme isn't devised for the cabbages or the potatoes or the hay. Nor for us. We are not any of us nor all of us of enough importance to warrant any such ee1f-sufnciency.
 IF we can hitch our affairs on to the chariot Of the universe tr such fashion that the rolling of it's wheels will serve to grind our grist. that's our good luck. But the chariot wasn't designed for and isn't primarily used for 8 grist-niN, nevertheless.
 The winds don't blow solelv and es- pecially for the benefit of Maine lurl1- ber- -schooners. ratchiag down the 1Ieye England coast. never saw a skip per who pretended 10 believe thev did
 Springs aren't made solely and es- pecially for New England farmers If they were, they'd be vastly different of
 lust what the springs are calculated for, just why the winds blow as they Co, don't know: you don't know; we don't any of US know
 It does us little good to take eith- CT the winds or the weather or our selves too seriously. We aren't any of us necessary pintles for the uni verse to hinge upon.
 However bad 1t may be or seem to be at the time. we may be sure that all our wailings or grum blings won't help better it one title.
 According to esta blished public rec ords, there was Ice and snow sufficient for sIeighing every month during the summer of f916 in many parts of New England. According to records of my own family. the three summers of 1s36. '37 and '38 were so cold that 1t was impossible 10 riper1 tomatoes and ike ice made all over Western ATassacf1u- sets and Eastern New York one day in r1id-July, killing the tassel1ed corn over many counties. so that all next years seed had to be imported from elsewhere.
 The world managed to live through these adventures. and few people star1v- cd because of them.
 Perhaps we're going to have another cold. summer. this wear. If we are. the rest Of the world will have to hunt up something for us to eat. instead of cur helping It out.
 oS Ole Step-Mother Nature may change her mind, any minute. and turn on the heat again.
 The cniy thing for us is to get ready for the best so that if it comes, we can take full advantage of it.
 If, on the other hand. 1t is not the summer. then rye. having done our parts, shall bear no share of blame for the ig-resu1ts which we cannot con troI.
 Another thing: If we keep busy get ting ready for a hoped-for break to good weather. we shall have less time to grow blue and worrying over the tn- element present!
 THE FARMER.
 n7orvzv's first vessel built of steel and cement, popularly called 'the stone ship will be completed in Sep tember.