The Farm Home

By Mrs. A.J. Wilder, Rocky Ridge Farm

The snow was falling fast and a cold wind blowing the other morning. I had just coming from feeding the chickens and was warming my chilled self when the telephone rang.

“Hello!” said I and a voice full of laughter came over the wire. “Good morning!” it said. “I suppose you are busy making garden today.”

“Making garden?” I asked wonderingly.

“Yes,” replied the voice, “you said some time ago in the Ruralist, that you enjoyed making garden in the winter time, beside a good fire, so I thought you’d be busily at it this morning.”

“Well,” I replied defensively, “the vegetables one raises in the seed catalogs are so perfectly beautiful.” And with a good laugh we began the day right merrily in spite of the storm outside.

So after many days my words came back to me and the thoughts that followed them were altogether different from those connected with them before.

We do grow beautiful gardens beside the fire on cold winter days as we talk over the seed catalogs and our summer gardens are much more of a success because of these gardens I our minds. We grow many other things in the same way. It is truly surprising how anything grows and grows by talking about it.

We have a slight headache and we mention the fact. As an excuse to ourselves for inflicting it upon our friends we make it as bad as possible in the telling,”Oh I have such a dreadful headache,” we say and immediately we feel much worse. Our pain has grown by taking of it.

If there is a disagreement between friends and the neighbors begin talking about it, the difficulty grows like a jimson weed and the more it is talked about the faster it grows.

When there is a disagreement between workmen and their employees the agitators immediately begin their work of talking and the trouble grows and grows until strikes and lockouts and riots are ripened and harvested and the agitators grow fat on the fruits thereof.

The same law seems to work in both human nature and the vegetable kingdom and ideas with the changes caused by them, as well as peas and cabbages grow by cultivation, by keeping the soil stirred up about them.

Now it isn’t enough in any garden to cut down the weeds. The cutting out of weeds is important but cultivating the garden plants is just as necessary. If we want vegetables we must make them grow; not leave the ground barren where we have destroyed the weeds. Just so we must give much of our attention to the improvements we want, not all to the abuses we would like to correct. If we hope to improve conditions, any conditions, anywhere, we must do a great deal of talking about the better things.

If we have a headache we will forget it sooner if we talk of pleasant things. If there is misunderstanding and bad feeling between neighbors we can cultivate their friendliness by telling each of the other’s kind words before the trouble began. Perhaps a crust has formed around the plant of their friendship and it only needs that the soil should be stirred in order to keep on growing.

In the matter of labor dispute which so nearly left the county to freeze this winter, I think everything possible has been said against conditions that would allow such things to happen. The time has come to give our attention to a better way of settling such disputes than by strikes and lockouts. One plan proposed is the establishing of an Industrial court for the hearing of both sides of any dispute between laborers and their employees and a fair settling of the same. If such a court would stop the disturbances which have become so common and from which we all suffer, the plan is well worth attention. By talking about it we may help to secure it.

Mrs. A.J. Wilder. "The Farm Home." Missouri Ruralist (January 5, 1920): 41.

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