HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1948-9-8, Page 7Red Paha
By
KATIII.EEN GWCIIRIST
The >laziug sun shucked the air
into ri >pling waves .of heat that
emphasized the starkness of Ed
Higgins' bare barns, In contrast
to the unpainted barns was the
neat little bungalow, with its bright
green paint and white trimmings.
From behind Inc spotlessly cur-
tained kitchen window Marty Rig-
gin' gazed outside, liter thin face
Molted drawn,. but her cotton dress
was as fresh as her kitchen, She
shook her head at the memory of
Doc's parting words that morning.
"I've done all 1 can, Marty," he'd
said, "If Ed won't fight for him-
self---',
"I can't understand his giving in
so easy." There teas more disap-
pointment than sorrow in Marty's
voice. "Stubborn old fool, he gave
me enough trouble any time I want-
ed hien to do anything, goodness
knows, and now to let pneumonia
down him without a lghtl"
'1'hc brown collie beside her raised
questioning eyes. Ile cocked one
ear expectantly toward the bedroom
door behind which Ed lay, his sunk-
en cheeps under unkempt whiskers
mute evidence of the ravages of the
first serious illness of his robust
.life. How unlike the gaiety of
their courtship days)
"Twenty years, Rusty, and now
when he's needed most he quits."
Marty gazed past the ugly struc-
tures of naked wood to the wheat -
covered vastness of prairie beyond.
The sun was beginning to turn, its
greenness into the golden ripeness
of harvest, _
Rusty wagged his tail. It was
seven years since he'd come, a
furry pup, to live with Marty and
Ed, and this was the first truce in
the battle that had started twenty
years ago, when first Alarty had
stated her plans for a home.
"Painted buildings on a prairie
farm. What's the matter with 'ens
the way they are?" Ed scoffed,
"You don't hear my cattle wantin'
new barns with paint on 'em, do
You, and they seen to manage,"
"But I'm not one of your. cattle,
Ed, and I want a decent home with
paint on it, even if they don't,"
Marty had replied with aggravating
sweetness, "1f you want to live
with then, go ahead, but I'm hay-
ing my house the way I want it."
"Just naturally contrary. If I
didn't leant you to paint them, you
would. You'd think that we were
paupers instead of successful farm-
ers," Marty often repeated in ex-
asperation as one unpainted struc-
ture after another was raised to
house Ed's increasing cattle.
The dog watched Marty carry
the tray into the bedroom, to return
with its contents scarcely touched.
The sun was sinking in a blaze of
golden glory when she returned to
the window, tinting even the bare
wood of Ed's barns with a pearly
beau ty,
"Wonder what Ed would say if
We painted them pink, Rusty? The
twinkle shining through the weari-
ness in Marty's eyes suddenly
sparked, She crossed to the bed-
room door.
"IIow're you feeling, Ed?" There
was a challenging note but Ed,
listless on the pillow, viii not notice,
"All right, I guess,°
"114," she said, "I've decided that
Since you're -5n set on dying, I may
as well begin managing the farm
my way now as later."
"Eh?"
"Yes, Ed, and the first thing
I'm going to do is paint those barns
bright red. I've stood them for
twenty years for your sake, but if
Pee to carry on, alone:I'nt going to
do it my way."
"Over my dead body1 Whatever
gave you the idea that I'd leave
you to run the place to suit your-
self? Red paint, on my barns—"
Ed lay back, sunken eyes flashing,
Marty retreated, There was a
sudden brightness in her eyes, Rusty
stopped to lick the pale .face of Itis
invalid -master before following.
Ed's voice rose in angry protest
against the added indignity,
"Red paint—drat you clog! Marty,
bring me an eggnog or something.
Red paint! Time I got up to see
that them barns are painted a re-
spectable color—hurry tip, I'm han-
gry I"
The End
Ilaik is a scarf -like piece of cloth,
usually of coarse hand-woven Wool,
worn by Arabs, Moors and other
Mohammedan peoples,
THE FARM FRONT
„Jot.,
Canadian. farmers should make
, fuller use of their grassland areas
and realize 11151 many fields, too
stoney and rough for regular crop
rotation, can be turned to profitable
use by improving their pasture
value.
This was the main thence of an
address made to a large audience
of f a r to e r s by Professor N. J,
'Phomas, soil specialist from the
Ontario Agicultural College, at a
grassland field day held this summer
at 1Ccniptville, c.Jitt.
For pa:,tures in a badly rundown
condition this expert advised loos-
ening the top tlu'ec inches of soil
with a clisc or spring -toothed har-
row, then drilling in fertilizer and
seeding with some recommended
pasture mixture. And even well-
established pastures, lie said, can
be much itnproved by Fall fertiliza-
tion with phosphated manure,
In most Canadian localities the
best results will be obtained if the
fertilizer is broadcast before' the end
of September, as this provides the
necessary time for it to 'be absorb-
ed into the soil, so that grasses and
clovers will be in a healthy state of
growth before the freezeup arrives.
In addition, a sufficient supply of
plant food is built into the' pastures
to give them a good start in the
spring and to carry them through-
out the grazing season.
In this connection it is well to
note that rest periods also help
pastures. Temporary fences can be
used- to divide the pasture into
several parts, then each portion can.
be pastured and rested in turn. This
rotation not only produces more
grass per acre but aids the health
of livestock. For control of sheep
parasites pasture changes are an
absolute necessity.
* *
Those of you — and there are
probably many — who are intend-
ing to attend the International
Plowing Match to be held in Vic-
toria County front October 12 to
11 had better make note that there
has been a slight change in its lo-
cation.
It was originally scheduled for
the Kaynlur Farm, one miles from
Lindsay. Bunt the interest shown
has been so tremendous, and the
entry list has grown to such a size;
that it was felt there mightn't be
suff lent acreage there for all the
plowing classes.
So, after a survey of all the avail-
able areasr the local committee has
selected a new site just four miles
west of Lindsay and a mile off
Highway Number 7. Farmers in
that locality have placed close to
.600 acres at the disposal of the
promoters of the match,
Headquarters for the match will
be on the farm of Jack C. Chambers,
where there will be plenty of room
for the extensive exhibits of farm
machinery and equipment which is
always a big feature of these events.
The plowing will be done on ad-
joining farms, so that the setup will
1,e compact. The match will be
officially opened at 2 p.m. on Wed-
nesday October 13 by Sir Andrew
Jones, head of the British Food
Mission to Canada,
'
* * *
Hundreds of speeches have been
made, hundreds of articles have
been written about the real dangers
of soil wastage all over the world,
and especially on the North Ameri-
can continent, where in a few score
years improper farming and forestry
methods have caused damage it. may
take centuries to repair. But none
of them were more eloquent -than
a recent editorial in the New -York
ONTARIO BLIND ENJOY PROGRESSIVE SUMMER CAMP
Conversational Bicycles—Charlie Randall, Belleville; and Bill
Jarvis, Waterford, blind campers rode around the camp guided
by sound and instinct. The real purpose of the bicycle is to
allow one rider with sight to accompany the blind rider.
Thnes from which—on that chance
that some of you may have missed
it—I quote, in part, as follows:
"Stand on the bank of a river,
brook or creek and watch the land's
rich, brown blood swept onward to
the sea. Not in the Northland
where the hills are wooded, not
where sloping fields and pastures
are thicic with strong - stemmed
grasses. Not where plows turn
ribbons of soil on the curve follow-
ing the natural contours and where
intervening bands of green check
the running water. Here earth is
thick with humus and stitched solid-
ly by trailing roots,
"Go to the open arenas where
great sheets of churned soil stretch
upward from the thickened water.
Go to the slopes where the furrows
run up and down, and provide man-
made gullies, where the rade can
deepen the furrows, and the humus
slowly natter during half a million
years can be swept quickly, ruth-
lessly downward to John the water
that takes man's most precious heri-
tage to the distant ocean,
"Three centuries ago a ten to
twelve inch layer of loans lay wait-
ing for ratan to use wisely as he
built a new nation. Today it may
average six inches. For three hun-
dred years the clean cool waters
have been muddied as man has
torn the soil apart and mined its
goodness. A start has been made
toward rebuilding the soil, in which
our welfare is anchored,' But it is
only a beginning. From the banks
of ten,thousand streams one can see
the land's rich, brown blood sweep
onward to the sea."
Surely, after reading that, every
than and woman who can possibly
do so will join in the fight against
an enemy far more deadly, in the
long run, than any nation or coali-
tion of nations ever dared to be—
the enemy that is slowly but surely
stealing our children's and grand-
children's bread, butter and meat—
soil erosion and wastage.
My Mistake
"What a lovely coat that cow
hast"
"Yes, it's a Jersey."
"Good heavens, I though It was
its skinl"
SIDE GLANCES
By Galbraith
'"".i�i
40 p0 NEM1 855510, Ma, t. M. 505.41.
"1 think the war wpm responsible for changing our children's
language—most of the things they say gent to be in some kind
of a Private dode't
A Promised Land But
Not Promised "Free"
Conservation does not mean, as
opponents or muddled people af-
irm, a restriction of use, but a wise
exploitation with a minimum of
waste, a maximum utility for all
purposes, and a maximum replace-
ment of such resources as
are replaceable, says The Royal
Bank of Car da's monthly letter
which deals with Canada's natural
resourc.s.
A ton of coal can produce more
mechanical energy than a thousand
then, the letter goes on to say,
Aquabatic Bobs—Two blind campers, Bob Storey and Bob
La Rose, of Brantford, enjoy themselves on the diving board.
Guided by the voice of the sw mining instructor these boys
were able to do running dives'from this board.
but not all the nearly one hundred
billion tons of coal buried under
Canada can contribute as much
planning or inventing, or the men-
tal urge or spiritual feeling of a
single human being.
Canada is the home of thirteen
million people, including men, wo-
men and children who became
Canadians out of 46 other national
groups. Whether born here or
elsewhere, all Canadians are heirs
to the freedom of this democratic
country, in which they find, or are
building, a standard of living second
to none in the world,
Canada has risen to her present
position of influence and prestige
through the enterprise and charac-
ter of her people and their energy
in using intelligently the resources
she has provided. By exercising
foresight and using our heads and
applying our capacity for work we
can assure that this country shall
have ample and diversified re-
sources and industries for genera-
tions to come.
There are always impractical
people interested in Promised
Land, but she does not promise
things free. All she says is that
she will provide the raw materials
in abundance if we will do the work
needed to turn them into usable
goods,
Your Back Aches
Because You Shrink
Most backaches are d
forces whlch make a personcausea balbyl
to three-quarters of an inch shorter
at day's end than he is in the morn-
htg, two University of California
medical researchers report,
The main source of trouble is
the telescoping effect of body
writrht and motion on the shock
abs,>rbers in the spine.
The spinal shock absorbers are
the layers of cartilage between the
vertebrae. Doctors call these layers
inter -vertebral discs.
Each layer has three parts—an
outer capsule, a soft centre which
is 80 per cent water, and a set of
firm, elastic fibers called ligaments,
which bind the disc to the bone.
The real shock absorber was
found to lie the ligaments.
Normal presure on an interverte-
bral disc in the lower back amounts
to about 30 pounds even when a
person is lying down, the research-
ers reported. When upright and
active the weight and motions of
the body can increase this pressure
to "astounding figures."
This pressure squeezes some of
the water out of the soft cores. The
compression shortens the spine. A
European researcher found this
compression shortened adult men as
much as three-quarters of an inch
and women as much as a half an
inch after a day of activity.
Under high pressure the ligament
springs may begin to squeak. Weak-
ened by fatigue, they cannot snap
back. Their tissues may bulge here
and there, The result is pain. Or
they may be worn due to age; may
lack resilience and become painful
because they are no longer equal to
the load put upon them. They are
highly sensitive to pain, the re-
searchers say.
The experimenters reported that
doctors should look often at the
discs for the cause of back pain.
Catgut is the name given to the
cord made from the intestinesof
the sheep, ox, horse, mule, and ass
—but never from those of the cat.
THE
IILam. P
U ri.SUIT OF
IN
s
0 0 033
No man can enjoy a true life and truo liberty, or pursue a
genuine happiness, without first conceding the right of his
fellow man to do the same. The extent of our enjoyment of
these rights depends entirely on our unselfish willing.
ness to keep our own pursuit of happiness from interfering
with .that of others. The moment the use of our own liberty
restricts that of another ... we are abusing the ideals
our forefathers fought to maintain.
The Rouse of Seagram believes thai
moderation is the key to the successful pursuit of happiness
... moderation in our thinking, in our actions, and in our
personal habits. That is why, in the use of whisky too, the
House of Seagram has repeatedly said, "Drink moderately,
or not at
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THE HOUSE OF SEAGRAM