Evening star., 1941-07-16


sides. The average American Of
l94l seems as firmly convinced that.
land Will be the only thing worth
a nickel after the war is over as he
is that mixing watermelon and whlS-
key will kill you and that toads viii
give you warts.
Among my acqualntances alone
there are enough prospective "Gt']e's
farm buyers TO use up all the soil.
between here and the Continental
Divide They. like thousands Of
others, have the feeling that if they
can just get their hands on a few
acres of ground and semi-ram-
shackle house that has Chlmnev
with real smoke curling out of II
they can defy the world until Satan
goes ice skating
Real estate brokers tell me that
never before has there been such an
interest in farms. that they have
as many inquiries about them a.
they do about tWo-roOm apartments
with kltchenette and bath. Thr
would-be rusticS. land broker told
me, have no particular interest ire
where the farm is located, or what =
shape it's in. They don't inquire
about the quality of the soil, the
condition of the house or what they d..
could raise on It,
All they want Is farm.
Need More Than OverallS
Come the revolution I hs,a
heard a score of city dweIlers So.
in the past few months, come
the revolution, Ill be on my farm.
thank goodness. and you guys who
weren't smart enough TO sock your
money in some land will have to
take the kicking around
Ny guess is that If a revolution
comes. it will come as a result Of
these urban folk being turned loose
III the country, There viii be lone.
word censored 10 pay when they
quires more of a man than that he
own a pair Of overalls. has taste
for clotted cream and fresh butter
and knows how TO hang a mosquito
netting.
The regular farmers Will have 70 all.
but abandon their own work 10 assist
their new neighbors from the city
adjust themselves to rural life. Not
one of my friends who plans to buy
a farm has what is known as the
green finger In fact, just the
opposite.
The biggest crop any one OF them
has ever planted and supervised is
single ivy plant on the living room
mantlepiece This bit of agriculture
all but drove them crazy, as they
were always forgetting to water isor
give it any sun or do whatever yoU
are supposed to do with an ivy plant
Big Talk, Small Crop.
They never worried much though
when the ivy plant died. A crop
failure simply entailed a trip to the
10 cent store for a replacement
One fellow I know. who has made
a down payment on a little place
that is going TO support me anC
mine when the trouble comes h2
had window box failure after window
box failure. II diStreSSeS me 20 hea'
another friend. who could not kee0
alive cactus plant during his wife
visit to her parents last year. talk
of crop rotation. harvestS. and the
more scientific side of animal hU--
bandry. His knowledge of anima'5
was chiefly gained through walkirc.
his poodle in Central Park twice {.
day.
I may be just plain Jealous be-
cause I haven't a farm of any sort.
but it seems to me that it will be
better to be near grocery store. p
even if the clerks are revolutionist -
than to trust myself to raise an
IllIIlS Vain Oll q ldl lils
Each Need a Farmer.
My experience with farms is slight ...
but I know enough about them to
realize that vegetables Just don't
grow themselves, that livestock has
TO have a helping hand once in 4
while. and that no matter how
tumbled down and quaint a farm
house may be, it loses some OF its
charm during a raInstorm or in the
dead of winter. It's difficult to keep
warm or dry with atmosphere"
when the real atmosphere is act
ing up.
Nobody likes the thought Of living
on farm better than l do.
But I insist on having farmer
on any farm I move to.
A farm isn't quite the same with
out one.
MY idea is to board with farmer
intsead of getting bored with a farm.
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