THE FIRST VISIT TO THE FARM
It was the 8th of July, 1895, when I contracted for the farm; possession
was to be given August 1st. On July 9th, Polly and I boarded an early
train for Exeter, intending to make a day of it in every sense. We
wished to go over the property thoroughly, and to decide on a general
outline of treatment. Polly was as enthusiastic over the experiment as
I, and she is energetic, quick to see, and prompt to perform. She was to
have the planning of the home grounds--the house and the gardens; and
not only the planning, but also the full control.
A ride of forty-five minutes brought us to Exeter. The service of this
railroad, by the way, is of the best; there is hardly a half-hour in the
day when one cannot make the trip either way, and the fare is moderate:
$8.75 for twenty-five rides,--thirty-five cents a ride. We hired an open
carriage and started for the farm. The first half-mile was over a
well-kept macadam road through that part of the village which lies west
of the railway. The homes bordering this street are of fine proportions,
and beautifully kept. They are the country places of well-to-do people
who love to get away from the noise and dirt of the city. Some of them
have ten or fifteen acres of ground, but this land is for breathing
space and beauty--not for serious cultivation. Beyond these homes we
followed a well-gravelled road leading directly west. This road is
bordered by small farms, most of them given over to dairying interests.
Presently I called Polly's attention to the fact that the few apple
trees we saw were healthy and well grown, though quite independent of
the farmer's or the pruner's care. This thrifty condition of unkept
apple orchards delighted me. I intended to make apple-growing a
prominent feature in my experiment, and I reasoned that if these trees
did fairly well without cultivation or care, others would do excellently
well with both.
As we approached the second section line and climbed a rather steep
hill, we got the first glimpse of our possession. At the bottom of the
western slope of this hill we could see the crossing of the
north-and-south road, which we knew to be the east boundary of our land;
while, stretching straight away before us until lost in the distant
wood, lay the well-kept road which for a good mile was our southern
boundary. Descending the hill, we stopped at the crossing of the roads
to take in the outline of the farm from this southeast corner. The
north-and-south road ran level for 150 yards, gradually rose for the
next 250, and then continued nearly level for a mile or more. We saw
what Jane Austen calls "a happy fall of land," with a southern exposure,
which included about two-thirds of the southeast forty, and high land
beyond for the balance of this forty and the forty lying north of it.
There was an irregular fringe of forest trees on this southern slope,
especially well defined along the eastern border. I saw that Polly was
pleased with the view.
"We must enter the home lot from this level at the foot of the hill,"
said she, "wind gracefully through the timber, and come out near those
four large trees on the very highest ground. That will be effective and
easily managed, and will give me a chance at landscape gardening, which
I am just aching to try."
"All right," said I, "you shall have a free hand. Let's drive around the
boundaries of our land and behold its magnitude before we make other
plans."
We drove westward, my eyes intent upon the fields, the fences, the
crops, and everything that pertained to the place. I had waited so many
years for the sense of ownership of land that I could hardly realize
that this was not another dream from which I would soon be awakened by
something real. I noticed that the land was fairly smooth except where
it was broken by half-rotted stumps or out-cropping boulders, that the
corn looked well and the oats fair, but the pasture lands were too well
seeded to dock, milkweed, and wild mustard to be attractive, and the
fences were cheap and much broken.
The woodland near the western limit proved to be practically a virgin
forest, in which oak trees predominated. The undergrowth was dense,
except near the road; it was chiefly hazel, white thorn, dogwood, young
cherry, and second growth hickory and oak. We turned the corner and
followed the woods for half a mile to where a barbed wire fence
separated our forest from the woodland adjoining it. Coming back to the
starting-point we turned north and slowly climbed the hill to the east
of our home lot, silently developing plans. We drove the full half-mile
of our eastern boundary before turning back.
I looked with special interest at the orchard, which was on the
northeast forty. I had seen it on my first visit, but had given it
little attention, noting merely that the trees were well grown. I now
counted the rows, and found that there were twelve; the trees in each
row had originally been twenty, and as these trees were about
thirty-five feet apart, it was easy to estimate that six acres had been
given to this orchard. The vicissitudes of seventeen years had not been
without effect, and there were irregular gaps in the rows,--here a sick
tree, there a dead one. A careless estimate placed these casualties at
fifty-five or sixty, which I later found was nearly correct. This left
180 trees in fair health; and in spite of the tight sod which covered
their roots and a lamentable lack of pruning, they were well covered
with young fruit. They had been headed high in the old-fashioned way,
which made them look more like forest trees than a modern orchard. They
had done well without a husbandman; what could not others do with one?
The group of farm buildings on the north forty consisted of a one-story
cottage containing six rooms--sitting room, dining room, kitchen, and a
bedroom opening off each--with a lean-to shed in the rear, and some
woe-begone barns, sheds, and out-buildings that gave the impression of
not caring how they looked. The second group was better. It was south of
the orchard on the home forty, and quite near the road.
Why does the universal farm-house hang its gable over the public road,
without tree or shrub to cover its boldness? It would look much better,
and give greater comfort to its inmates, if it were more remote. A lawn
leading up to a house, even though not beautiful or well kept, adds
dignity and character to a place out of all proportion to its waste or
expense. I know of nothing that would add so much to the beautification
of the country-side as a building line prohibiting houses and barns
within a hundred yards of a public road. A staring, glaring farm-house,
flanked by a red barn and a pigsty, all crowding the public road as
hard as the path-master will permit, is incongruous and unsightly. With
all outdoors to choose from, why ape the crowded city streets? With much
to apologize for in barn and pigsty, why place them in the seat of
honor? Moreover, many things which take place on the farm gain
enchantment from distance. It is best to leave some scope for the
imagination of the passer-by. These and other things will change as
farmers' lives grow more gracious, and more attention is given to
beautifying country houses.
The house, whose gables looked up and down the street, was two stories
in height, twenty-five feet by forty in the main, with a one-story ell
running back. Without doubt there was a parlor, sitting room, and four
chambers in the main, with dining room and kitchen in the ell.
"That will do for the head man's house, if we put it in the right place
and fix it up," said Polly.
"My young lady, I propose to be the 'head man' on this farm, and I wish
it spelled with a capital H, but I do not expect to live in that house.
It will do first-rate for the farmer and his men, when you have placed
it where you want it, but I intend to live in the big house with you."
"We'll not disagree about that, Mr. Headman."
The barns were fairly good, but badly placed. They were not worth the
expense of moving, so I decided to let them stand as they were until we
could build better ones, and then tear them down.
We drove in through a clump of trees behind the farm-house, and pushed
on about three hundred yards to the crest of the knoll. Here we got out
of the carriage and looked about, with keen interest, in every
direction. The views were wide toward three points of the compass. North
and northwest we could see pleasant lands for at least two miles;
directly west, our eyes could not reach beyond our own forest; to the
south and southwest, fruitful valleys stretched away to a range of
wooded hills four miles distant; but on the east our view was limited by
the fringe of woods which lay between us and the north-and-south road.
"This is the exact spot for the house," said Polly. "It must face to the
south, with a broad piazza, and the chief entrance must be on the east.
The kitchens and fussy things will be out of sight on the northwest
corner; two stories, a high attic with rooms, and covered all over with
yellow-brown shingles." She had it all settled in a minute.
"What will the paper on your bedroom wall be like?" I asked.
"I know perfectly well, but I shan't tell you."
Seating myself on an out-cropping boulder, I began to study the
geography of the farm. In imagination I stripped it of stock, crops,
buildings, and fences, and saw it as bald as the palm of my hand. I
recited the table of long measure: Sixteen and a half feet, one rod,
perch, or pole; forty rods, one furlong; eight furlongs, one mile. Eight
times 40 is 320; there are 320 rods in a mile, but how much is 16-1/2.
times 320? "Polly, how much is 16-1/2 times 320?"
"Don't bother me now; I'm busy."
(Just as if she could have told in her moment of greatest leisure!) I
resorted to paper and pencil, and learned that there are 5280 feet in
each and every mile. My land was, therefore, 5280 feet long and 2640
feet wide. I must split it in some way, by a road or a lane, to make all
parts accessible. If I divided it by two lanes of twenty feet each, I
could have on either side of these lanes lots 650 feet deep, and these
would be quite manageable. I found that if these lots were 660 feet
long, they would contain ten acres minus the ten feet used for the lane.
This seemed a real discovery, as it simplified my calculations and
relieved me of much mental effort.
"Polly, I am going to make a map of the place,--lay it out just as I
want it."
"You may leave the home forty out of your map; I will look after that,"
said the lady.
In my pocket I found three envelopes somewhat the worse for wear. This
is how one of them looked when my map was finished.
[Illustration:]
I am not especially haughty about this map, but it settled a matter
which had been chaotic in my mind. My plan was to make the farm a
soiling one; to confine the stock within as limited a space as was
consistent with good health, and to feed cultivated forage and crops. In
drawing my map, the forty which Polly had segregated left the northeast
forty standing alone, and I had to cast about for some good way of
treating it. "Make it your feeding ground," said my good genius, and
thus the wrath of Polly was made to glorify my plans.
This feeding lot of forty acres is all high land, naturally drained. It
was near the obvious building line, and it seemed suitable in every way.
I drew a line from north to south, cutting it in the middle. The east
twenty I devoted to cows and their belongings; the west twenty was
divided by right lines into lots of five acres each, the southwest one
for the hens and the other three for hogs.
Looking around for Polly to show her my work, I found she had
disappeared; but soon I saw her white gown among the trees. Joining her,
I said,--
"I have mapped seven forties; have you finished one?"
"I have not," she said. "Mine is of more importance than all of yours; I
will give you a sketch this evening. This bit of woods is better than I
thought. How much of it do you suppose there is?"
"About seven acres, I reckon, by hook and by crook; enough to amuse you
and furnish a lot of wild-flower seed to be floated over the rest of the
farm."
"You may plant what seeds you like on the rest of the farm, but I must
have wild flowers. Do you know how long it is since I have had them? Not
since I was a girl!"
"That is not very long, Polly. You don't look much more than a girl
to-day. You shall have asters and goldenrod and black-eyed Susans to
your heart's content if you will always be as young."
"I believe Time will turn backward for both of us out here, Mr. Headman.
But I'm as hungry as a wolf. Do you think we can get a glass of milk of
the 'farm lady'?"
We tried, succeeded, and then started for home. Neither of us had much
to say on the return trip, for our minds were full of unsolved problems.
That evening Polly showed me this plat of the home forty.
[Illustration:]