Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / May 22, 1920, edition 1 / Page 17
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... .... - . ., , ,v . cv .J--".. A SUCCESS TAfcR ha :b : H,.:.r'-... :. - ;; FOR FARIAS BOYS The Farm Boy and His Recreation By CLARENCE POE - ; "SW : (17) : 1097 thought only of mighty. world-problems,, but Cot -t Roosevelt found a far keener joy in listening, to? ' "theri golden, leisurely.;;chiteinff;roEittlie:::; woo thrushes, chanting their vespers; the warble of the vire& and the tanager; the flight of the oven bird, " etc. And he wrote at the time that during twenty four hours he saw or heard the following birds : Little green her&n, qa&il, red-tailed hawk,- "ofr-lnH T MY DEAR Boy S - - - r - or-village where we know everybody, and there ,w"ne' blackbird, sharp tailed fincn, iparrwiv Viscount- Grey or' Lord Grey recently Am- CTery face ha,', mage and excis oar con, :VSrjT!aBr5CTdS bassador' from, Great Britain, to the.. United cern. ; We: know the- story of each man's life the ,et red-eyed"- vtrc. yenw warbler, bick-throatt Stat, MS ft M romancer and comedy .and tragedy of hcarW, "Recreation. I have decided to take the same and we are interested in what hels doinjr and topper juuow nd gcreech owL . ivu.il ae is oecommg. i ne tact that we , know t wonder how many of our grown-up American these people makes them interesting to us. - farmers liyittg all their lives in the country,: can ' ' recognize 6y sight or song is many rf their feat-' : Well, now; ia the Bfemn WT. An man wbIItk rar1 (Manila 1AAcMrl 4 ill: Irk (hie fc!irrfk WntV-. , ery boy snoum nave wmc ijrunvc lurm ot cxc- enrougn a hem nr the daytime and sees rocks, dirf,; four-hour period? : r ation a "hobby" which zest or color to. his weeds, wild flowers, insects,, birds and fish, and at . 1 ' Ute. i am j "j w uc ac! mc siars; DUl nane 01 tnese things TJ.- ... Akw jC fiwh - - eserve more discussion than I am able to give ' iMriiin this lfetter: For one thinsr vou should cul tivate a love for music, and if possible leant t subject for this month's letter to you. Fverv boy ought to play and to lore play: jitst ai trulv as he dught to work and Jove to work Ev- w" g"VT.t '-Ua'7v. " r. F.:rtJr-.?.J"P?!f,.fc- WW,dHA. than ramabte-Wie iastea oinjr v trnvv.. 4 vv n uuuicr man sees. a tock, ana it instantly wfcW ' bU letter For an thinir voti should cul j f nAttirvrfAc m in la in , tafi. L-T-.; . . .. J Xacm in tnis letter, ror one tning- you snouta cut muT ""ttHtftSrtZTtZ ,,Z' .w j? t qu , "f:.. " evtry farm home on winter nighta and summer er and as a boy I did-not gttr the time for huntmg, the other wonders of geology. He sees a weed r;i. h. whnle familv should: listen to the Sshing. swimming and claying I wish I had had. and, it tells- hmv Us name .and; how it grow,: an 3 JAtSKdS iiut conomous we: iwuu-uuw wm uicic' is nu uiosamsr now us pouen is. earned and its- seed i,,t is Mc Tt i scattered, or,how it differs from others weeds; He -afio. easily possible to, have in ny home now re sees a wild flower, and for him it too not only has producti0ns of the world's greatest masterpieces of ?A??r viJty---life-iiit..-itoty zll its af and l0 the cultivated mind the study of pic ownr A bird sings, and he recognizes? it as an ac- . .v e c i;ff,T Aa f rrw tion If, for cxamptfe, yotj; like-fishing better than quamtance ; - he knows from the note just how the, 'ation You should learn tK recognize Corot, Mil- oul.8 .. . y1 u...... ..i-wMu ic story ol ixs -fet;' .Reynolds, or Bonheur and appreciate the ,ze in fishing. Learn aU -about it. Talk with wanderings. A bee buzzes by,, and for this i special excellence of each. There are also many other fishermen and- find out what , they have man: it calls to mind fact abourtne learned. Get some books , on the subject and learn habits far stranger than fiction the truly marve everything you . can about -'.the different kinds of lous record as set forth in Maeterlinck's "Life of reason why you should not. find time for all theW forms of joyous recreation.- . , I repeat that you ihould have a nobby in recrea- fish, their interesting, habits; "and life histories. Lord Grey is such;; ran .enthusiastic ifisherman that he makes this awirsingcottfess book: "The best salmon and trout fishing in Great Britain ends mvptetelTheubes; salmon fishing begins rav.MarcWr very best of allis;?! beliad in March and April. In Octdbelpista ;'jfind'1nyseliQ0kr ' ing forward to jSUnJhin March and begtenintowpd niySpare tinte -thinking about it; . ' I lay kwake in bed fishing , in imagination the'pdols1 which I was not go ing to see before ;March-at theieariiest; till I felt I was spending1, too much time, not in ac tual fishing, but in sheer looking forward to it. I made, a rule, therefore,' that I would not fish pools-Hi imagination r beiretheAfiiist of Jan the Bee.' And when the stars come out at' night, this man sees them riot as mere specks of light on a blue backgrounds He; knows them by name .and there comes to his mind not only the romance of ancient legends about' Orion and Mars, Aldebaran and the pole star but also that lift of the soul which comes frojoi thoughts "of ten million Worlds - as large as our own, of . swirling isy stems andHburn ing suns, and of plan etsr dead? fori a million years but still spinning. thro'ugh space Under the com pulsion of some Power; beypnd' themselves. delightful indoor games in which the whole family can find recreation of a wholesome sort. And of . course I do not need to enlarge upon the pleasure of picnics, parties, pageants, and similar social oc casions. ' W--; , ... ..-v.' Lord; Grey mentions one form of recreation which I suspect will sound a little strange to you. "l mention for a high place in recreation", he says, "the pleasure of gardening.' Now the word, gar dening to youls!ttsjpect' calls to mind- mainly a. lot of hard work' under hot suns hoeing beans, potatoes, cabbage and squash; and if that is what - he 'Calls delightful recreation, you think Lord Grey ' Mot a mittfifv !flnpr irfpa nf "a crctnA tim". T?t Ntf-bther recreation I know will add more to the hA 'in Vrinrf J "crarif Atiin.a. in it mr F.nor- TT W V IV w aaa. w - w 0 happinett of a farm boy-.than the kind I have just suggested. Everywhere you go, you should recog nize an acquaintance and know what it stands for. A soil should not be so much dirt, but you should know its name,; its relative productivneSs and uary. so that'r'tnlit;xot:''SDend';more than two months of spare time ra anticipation alone." . h characteristics. If you see a hog, cow, or sheep,. , . r t - ja- ar .- y . you should know what breed it belongs; to, and fhe Hunting i a sport neariy evtrr man enjoys. If most significant qualities ad' characteristics of . you have never read Ernest Thompson-Seton's de-. the breed. And so. on -with regard to birds, fish, Hghtful "Trail of the Sandhill Stag!,' you ought to- insects trees, weeds, wild flowers, stones and stars, do so at your first opportunity. Irthrobs and thrills Mr. Roosevelt, for example,' was not only ' a with all a boy's tingling delight in the glories of mighty hunter but a great bird-lover, and before the chase. For my own part,-! have seldom en- he went to England in 1910, he arranged to take a . joyed anything, more than a fox', hunt on some long tramp with Lord Grey on purpose to see the gloriously cleat: and- frosty ::Hovetnber,-morning English birds and hear them sing. One might sup tne unrivaled music of a score of hurrying hounds- pose that two such- men ould have talked and echoing from hill to hill, and hard behind th- hounds a score of happy hunters on horses, almost as happy as their riders. And if you and your father love fox-hunting; be sure to read at your first opportunity John Masefield's, wonderful new Poem, "Reynard the Fpx.w In all our literature there is no other such ' vivid pen-picture of one of the noblest sports of our. people. L, -- - Everv hav . ... i 11 - lish sense the care and development of wonder-- f ul lawns and beautiful shrubbery and majestic shade trees and shapely hedges and-ancient vines and all the magic of flowers. About every old English home one finds; these ' things as I hope we shall some day find in America ; and gardening, in the sense of caring for these things, Earl Grey agrees with Lord Bacon in calling' "the purest of human pleasures." But "the greatest and" most satisfactory of all recreations what do you suppose it is, in Lord Grey's opinion ? "Reading he says; and he is right. Every man should have other forms, of recreation, but. no matter how many others he may have, he should have also the joy of reading. On winter nights, on rainy days, in solitude, in sickness, and when old age comes under such conditions all our favorite forms of recreation may wholly fail us or to practice them may be utterly ooy who can should play tennis. Every country school, in fact, should have both tennis court and baseball grounds, and they should be used not only aunng the school term but on Saturday after noons all through the year and by older people as well as pupils. , . v viway in America needs to make-an argument P0ER1S OF NATURE AND COUNTRY LIFE: "COUNTRY PEACE" rTHE spirit of God's own "peace that passeth out of the question. But under any and all condi f understanding breathes through this charming tions, so long as God gives us the use of our eyes rural ptcrure-poem, emitiea ,ouniry reace .- and minas, we can enjoy wnai 10 ra urey ngniiy calls "the greatest and most satisfactory of recre ations the use Of books for pleasure.' , . Sincerely your friend, CLARENCE POE. Countrv beace.the warbling birds, Friendly faces and friendly wordst Ja ba.sfbaU' Tennis has the advantage that-boys iiU fine anu ffirls rati a. .a.. w, j ia. - " Kaj ii wgcintr; ana a ucueve it 19 and Wnn1lcAm2a. it ' U nrl J a community td leani comradeship and develop "lendships on a tennis.court. - - sh 0 . 1 have spoken onTy of aporta, but you reaf- ' y na m?ans depend ott sports alone for rec lov c ' Grey lays spepial emphasis on a re of.nat1jre as on of lifeV greatest sources of . iuir- i ? haPPss;: and the farm boy has nvaied opportunities, for cultivating- this source ot enjoyment. . '.-'-,' "f J kn?w how it s whcnWValk through 'the - fa(.A V-of a strange cityt There are scores of fees, hundreds of faces, thousands of faces. But thPw no satisfaction from seeing- them because as flathine8."" On the other haftd, let - walk through the streets of our nearest town Grassy fields and tranquil streams, Cloudlands beautiful as dreams, Singing brooks that wander slow Where buttercups and daisies grow, Old barn-roofs where drowsy doves Sit in the sun and tell their lover, Robins whistling cleaf and sweet Over acres of swaying wheat Children playing among the flowers And sinffingjtway the sunny hours, Rosy country girls and boys Fitting the day with happy noise, Old-Hm& gafden-waiks that seem Haunts of reverie and dream, Poets'' books to read at ease . Under the bowermg apple-trees,. -Memories thaf wistfuf "go Back to the golden Long Ago, ' ,Faith that He who rules above , Encompasses thisr earth mtto love W 4 A Thought for the WeeK 'HN we are bored, when we are out of tune, when we have little worries, it clears our feelings and changes our mood if we can get in touch with the beauty of the natural world. . There is a quaint but apposite quotation from an old writer which runs as follows: "I sleep, I drink andeat, I read and jneditate, I walk -in -my neighbor's pleasant fields and see All the. varieties of nartural- beauty ... antv he who hath : so many forms of joy must needs be very much" in ' love with sorrow and peevtshnesa who loseth alt these pleasures and chooseth to sit upon his little handful of thorns.? Viscount Grey of FaHodon. Favcrile Bible Var$cs Faith that ' His mercies ' never cease- These are the joys of country'peace. . r rl a ' J Rvsstll Bays. M' ANY. are-IhcriKEctloas'of ' 'tlie rfehteotia; . but the;lsrd::etrv4eret&!htvout of them alt Psalms 34:19T.r 7 - :.v; - ',; . lvebeareth -all--' t!itni5 Sefiefci. ali-thio, hopeth all things; etidurtli aH thing?.! Cot. . i 9 4. i.B "5 -1
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
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May 22, 1920, edition 1
17
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