Again I advertised for two farm hands.  I selected two of the most promising applicants and brought them out to the farm.  Thompson discharged one of them at the end of the first day for persistently jerking his team, and the other discharged himself at the week’s end, to continue his tramp.  Once more I resorted to the city papers.  This time I was more fortunate, for I found a young Swede, square-built and blond-headed, who said he had worked on his father’s farm in the old country, and had left it because it was too small for the five boys.  Otto was slow of speech and of motion, but he said he could work, and I hired him.  The other man whom I sent to the farm at the same time proved of no use whatever.  He stayed four days, and was dismissed for innocuous desuetude.  Still another man whom I tried did well for five weeks, and then broke out in a most profound spree, from which he could not be weaned.  He ended up by an assault on Otto in the stable yard.  The Swede was taken by surprise, and was handsomely bowled over by the first onslaught of his half-drunk, half-crazed antagonist.  As soon, however, as his slow mind took in the fact that he was being pounded, he gathered his forces, and, with a grunt for a war-cry, rolled his enemy under him, sat upon his stomach, and, flat-handed, slapped his face until he shouted for aid.  The man left the farm at once, and I commended the Swede for having used the flat of his hand.

In spite of bad luck with the new men we were able to plough and seed 144 acres by May 10.  Lots Nos. 8, 12, 13, and 14 were planted to corn, and No. 15 sowed to oats, and the 10 acres on the home lot were divided between sweet fodder corn, potatoes, and cabbage.  The abundant water in the soil gave the crops a fair start, and June proved an excellent growing month, a rainfall of nearly four inches putting them beyond danger from the short water supply of July and August.  Indeed, had it not been for the generosity of June we should have been in a bad way, for the next three months gave a scant four inches of rain.

The oats made a good growth, though the straw was rather short, and the corn did very well indeed,—­due largely to thorough cultivation.  Twelve acres of oats were cut for forage, and the rest yielded 33 bushels to the acre,—­a little over 1300 bushels.

The alfalfa and timothy made a good start.  From the former we cut, late in June, 21/4 tons to the acre, and from the timothy, in July, 21/2 tons,—­50 tons of timothy and 45 of alfalfa.  Each of these fields received the usual top-dressing after the crop was cut; but the timothy did not respond,—­the late season was too dry.  We cut two more crops from the alfalfa field, which together made a yield of a little more than 2 tons.  The alfalfa in that dry summer gave me 95 tons of good hay, proving its superiority as a dry-weather crop.