Part 10 (1/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: How They Harvest Wheat on the Prairies.]

It is interesting to watch the work go on in the fields, it is so different from that of the old days before the thres.h.i.+ng and binding machines were invented. It seems almost like magic to the watching children as acre after acre of waving grain is cut down, bound into sheaves and threshed, almost in the ”twinkling of an eye.”

Then away it is whisked in big wagons to the flour mills in the town near by from which it is sent far and wide to be made into delicious bread for hungry boys and girls.

The Cornfields.

In the northern part of the prairies wheat grows best because it can bear a great deal of cool weather. But corn is different; warm, moist nights suit it well. So, although we can see corn growing all over the eastern part of the United States, it thrives best in the southern part of the prairies where the weather is much warmer than in the north.

Corn is very fattening, so the farmers who raise this grain usually keep herds of cattle and many hogs. He stores much of the harvest in the barns to feed the ”live stock” and raise them for market.

On a Cattle Ranch.

The boys of the prairie help their fathers, not only in the wheat and corn fields, but also in raising herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, and great numbers of hogs.

Beyond the prairies, yet east of the Rocky Mountains, are wide stretches of land called the Western Plains. Gra.s.s grows on these plains, but the soil is not so rich as on the prairies and is therefore not so good for farming.

As the people moved farther west, settling on the prairies, they began to think what use could be made of the plains beyond. They decided that cattle could be raised there. But first the tribes of Indians who were roaming freely about must be forced to stay in certain parts of the country which the government of the United States reserved for them.

Sad to say, many a little red child growing up on such a reservation had hate in his heart for the white men who had seized the land that was once the free hunting ground of the Indians. Again and again the red children watched their older brothers and fathers go out to attack the men who had ventured into the ”wild west.” Again and again the soldiers of the United States were sent against them.

It was a dangerous life for the ranchmen, so that many of those who undertook to raise cattle on the Western Plains, left their families behind them. It was not a safe place for women and little children. The ranchmen had to live in the roughest manner. They had immense herds of cattle which were allowed to roam for miles over the gra.s.sy plains and were rounded up from time to time by ”cowboys,” as they are called.

These cowboys were bold and daring fellows who carried pistols at their belts, rode half-wild horses called mustangs, and were ever ready for danger, since at any moment a stampede might arise among the cattle.

Imagine a herd of untrained cattle feeding together. An unusual sound is heard which fills them with a sudden fright. They toss their heads, kick up their heels and dash wildly away. This is called a stampede. Now, if the cowboy in charge is not quick to use his wits he will be knocked down and trampled to death by the hoofs of the fleeing cattle.

On Lake Michigan, one of the Five Great Lakes, is the large city of Chicago. The children who live there grow up in the midst of noise and bustle, for a great deal of business is going on about them all the time. Every day long trains of cars come rolling into the stations bringing wheat and corn, cattle and hogs. All of these have been raised on the plains and prairies south and west of Chicago. Many of the animals are killed and dressed in the city and then sent away to be sold in the eastern markets. Others are loaded on big steamers waiting at the wharves and sent on a long journey through the Great Lakes and St.

Lawrence River and across the ocean to Europe.

Down South.

The children who live in the southern part of the United States have warm weather nearly all the year. They need few of the woolen garments or the furs which feel so comfortable in winter to the people north of them. Their clothing is mostly of cotton or linen, and they eat less meat and more fruit than their northern brothers. Their homes require little heat, and even the cooking is often done in a small building separate from the house so that it shall not be made uncomfortably warm.

Let us make a short visit to a cotton plantation ”down south.” We shall be made welcome, without a doubt, because the southern people are very hospitable. The planter has been told when to expect us and a low, comfortable carriage drawn by a span of beautiful horses is at the station when we arrive. A black coachman in livery helps us into our seats, cracks his whip, and away start the horses at a lively trot. We pa.s.s forests of yellow pine trees, and possibly some tobacco fields. The air is fragrant with the odor of flowers and we listen to the songs of the blackbirds and mocking birds. All too soon the horses are turned into a driveway shaded by tall trees, at the end of which is a large house with broad verandas. Our host and his family are awaiting us and give us a cordial greeting.

After we have rested and eaten a delicious dinner, the children of the home show us over the cotton fields where Negro workmen are busy among the long rows of plants. The cotton would not ripen in a short summer.

It must have months of heat and moisture. Then the flowers will go to seed and long fibers will reach out and wrap them in blankets of cotton.

The cotton is separated from the seeds by the work of a machine, called the cotton gin. The seeds are ground into meal which is used in fattening cattle. Many herds of cattle in the south are fed on cotton-seed meal which takes the place of the corn given them in other parts of the country.

As we walk about over the fields the children of the planter tell us many stories of the Negro workmen, what fun-loving creatures they are, and how fond they are of good things to eat. Water melons please them especially and a group of ”darkies” is never so happy as when they can sit around a pile of the juicy melons and feast to their hearts'

content. In many of the Negro cabins there is sure to be some one who plays the banjo, to whose music big folks and little dance merrily when the day's work is over. Once the Negroes were the slaves of the white planters, but they are now free and support themselves like other workmen.

Our little southern friends ask us if we have ever seen 'possums, as the black people call the animals. After everyone on the plantation has gone to sleep, then the cunning opossum steals from his home in the woods to pay a visit to the hen-house. He springs up and seizes one after another of the fowls on the roost, whose blood he sucks till no more is left in their bodies.

The Negroes are very fond of a 'possum hunt. Soon after dark they arm themselves with clubs and axes and go into the woods with a few dogs to scent the game, carrying torches to light the way. The axes are used to chop down the trees where the animals climb to get out of the way of the hunters.