“Right you are,” agreed Andy. “Come on, fellows!” But though the men returned to their several tasks, they continued to talk about the recent events they had witnessed.
Surrounded by the Porters, Mr. Hopkins led the way to the bough house.
“I hope the strenuous reception hasn’t upset you, ma’am,” he said, turning to the frail little mother. “My wife has been very much worried about you. You seem to be looking pretty well, though.”
“And I am,” smiled Mrs. Porter.
“All the excitement has really done Momsy good,” declared Margie. “There has been so much going on that she hasn’t had time to get lonesome for her friends back in Weston.”
“As if I could ever be lonesome when I am with my children,” protested the mother.
“That’s what I told Mirandy. You certainly have a family of which to be proud. I like what Andy has told me about the way the boys and the young ladies have taken hold.”
“Oh, we shall be all right provided our crops come out well,” said Phil. “I wish, though, that we could have planted ten days ago.”
“It would have been better, of course, in view of the fact that you are not experienced farmers. Nevertheless, by following the most approved and scientific methods, you will be able to force your crops. By that, I mean frequent irrigation and cultivation. You have one advantage over your neighbours who have migrated from farms in other regions. They are unwilling, or seem so, to realize that the soil out here, being drier than that to which they have been accustomed, requires a different treatment. On the other hand, you, having no experience and no prejudices, ought to be wise enough to realize that the government experts seek only to aid our homesteaders and to follow the recommendations for planting and cultivation they make, as a result of the most exhaustive experiments. Nine out of ten of the settlers, however, can see in their work only what they term ‘new-fangled theories.’ Bear in mind that you must rotate your crops. Follow corn with potatoes, potatoes with beans, alfalfa with corn. By doing so, you will conserve the phosphates and nitrates in the soil, whereas if you plant the same ground to the same crop season after season, you will soon exhaust them.”
“What should follow wheat?” asked Ted.
“That is difficult to say. I have heard some good farmers advocate potatoes and others beans. I, however, believe it is best to let the land lie fallow for a season, being careful to keep the top crust pulverized, and then to sow corn or alfalfa.”
“As you are the biggest wheat-grower west of the Rockies, I think we will follow your plan,” declared Phil.
Smiling at this praise, Mr. Hopkins said:
“If I were you, I should send samples of the soil from your different fields to the experiment station at Boscow, telling them what you have planted on each and asking their advice as to the best crop to sow next year.”
“We will surely do that,” assented the boys, while Ted added: “We will do it in a few days. It will be interesting to learn the opinion of the experts as to the seed we have already planted in the various soils.”
As the young homesteaders spoke, Mr. Hopkins smiled delightedly, turning to Mrs. Porter.
“There you see, ma’am, the advantage it gives men to be able to understand the benefits of scientific farming. Your boys have the ability to realize the value of expert study of soils. If they take the advice of the men at the experiment station, they will soon have a farm that will not only support you comfortably but will make money for you.”
“I say, aren’t you people coming out to see the raising?” asked Andy, putting his head inside the door. “We are all ready, and the fellows will be disappointed if you don’t.”
Quickly the Porters and the rich wheat-grower arose, and followed the new land agent.
When they reached the floor, they beheld the men divided into groups, each about logs that were to serve as uprights, ridge-pole, and crossbeams and rafters.
“Ready?” asked Andy, rejoining them.
“Ready,” answered the different groups.
“Then up with your timbers.”
With an ease which seemed remarkable considering the size and length of the logs they handled, some of the men raised the uprights and dropped them into their mortises; this done, others swarmed up them and fitted the crossbeams that were lifted to them into place, after which still others carried the ridge-pole aloft, and when it had been set, the remaining groups quickly fitted the rafters. And as the last one slipped into place, men and women cheered.
“Many hands certainly do make light work,” said Mr. Hopkins, as the Easterners voiced their amazement at the ease and rapidity with which the frame had been erected.
The work of fitting the roof and side logs was speedily accomplished, and after dinner, while the men chatted and rested, the women did their part in arranging the inside.
“Oh, we must have another dance,” declared Margie, when the house-raisers were preparing to go to their several homes. The suggestion met with instant approval, and though some of those with families left before dark, it was late in the evening before the last of the helpers departed.
The next day Jasper announced his intention of returning to his farm, but the Porters would not hear of it.
“You and Joy can live in the bough house, and we can go over to your farm from here,” declared Phil.
“Besides, your grass was all burned and your cattle would have poor grazing, while they can have a fine range on our west side,” added Ted.
It was Joy, however, who finally decided the question by declaring she would feel lonesome at leaving the only young friends she had ever had, and her father humoured her.
For several days the boys assisted the aged farmer in clearing up the ruins of his home, and then busied themselves building shelters for their livestock.
Each day the girls inspected the fields, and one afternoon, as the boys returned from a trip to Bradley for provisions, Margie greeted them with the cry:
“The crops are up! The crops are up! Every field is covered!”
So excited were Phil and Ted at the announcement that they could hardly wait to unharness the blacks and feed them before they ran to see the green shoots for themselves.
“Let’s take samples of each field this very day,” enthused Ted, and pressing their sisters and Joy into service, they took clouts of soil from the different sections, using aprons, dress-skirts, and handkerchiefs to carry them.
In the evening they wrapped each sample in paper, writing the name of the seed sown carefully on the outside.
“I’ll take them over to Chikau tomorrow,” declared the younger boy. “It’s my day to give Jennie a lesson.”
“If it weren’t for Peleg, I should like to have the poor little thing with us,” said Sallie. “I’ll never forget how she fondled and looked at my clothes when I unpacked them.”
“Well, why can’t she come?”
“Peleg would have to work if she did,” returned Margie.
“Which would be jolly good for him. Can I ask her, Momsy? I will arrange with Steve to make Peleg stay at home.”
Readily Mrs. Porter gave her consent, for her kindly heart had gone out to the poor little cripple, so lonely and forlorn. Indeed, she had even thought of suggesting that Jennie be asked to visit them, yet had hesitated in fear that her daughters might not share her views.
Accordingly Ted stopped at the lumber-camp the next day, and, accompanied by Steve, rode to the store and extended his mother’s invitation.
But had it not been for the foreman, Peleg would have refused to part with his daughter. As it was, he upbraided her as graceless for leaving him when he was so helpless with rheumatism, and carried on to such an extent that it required the threat of the loss of the position as storekeeper before he finally consented.
To Jennie the prospect of visiting the Porters seemed like a trip to fairyland, and they all enjoyed her delight at being with them.
Closely Phil and Ted watched their fields, noting each day’s growth.
“I think we ought to irrigate again,” said the latter, one morning.
“I don’t. The stuff is growing well,” returned his brother.
“Has been growing well, you mean,” corrected Ted. “For the last two days the plants have been at a standstill. Mr. Hopkins said we could force the crops, and irrigating is what will do it.”
“Irrigating and cultivation,” added Margie, for the girls had accompanied their brothers.
“But we can’t cultivate wheat and alfalfa while they are growing,” answered Phil.
“Oh, yes, you can,” announced Joy. “It is ticklish work and slow, but the growth is so short that by using hay-rakes you can break up the crust without injuring the plants.”
“Let’s ask Mr. Jasper,” suggested Sallie. “We will not,” said Ted, emphatically. “We can never succeed if we always depend on some one else. It’s for us to decide. What do you say, Phil?”
“That Joy knows more about farming than we do, so if she—”
“All right,” interrupted his brother, with a grin. “Get into your overalls, ladies. It will be some job to rake all these fields, mark my words.” The eagerness to make their crops grow rapidly, however, caused the young people to make light of the work, and for the next three days they were at it early and late, breaking the surface crust. When this had been done, they irrigated the broken sections, and the result amazed them. The plants seemed to jump upward.
“If we irrigate once a week, we’ll beat out our neighbours, after all,” said Phil, enthusiastically.
“Then we’ll do it,” declared his brother. “I’ve heard a lot of people say we wouldn’t have any crops to harvest, and I’ll work twenty-four hours a day to show them we can do more by scientific methods, as Mr. Hopkins said, than they can in their way.”