Thoughts of a Farmer. VII. Leaders

THOUGHTS OF A FARMER. BY DR. JOSEPH M. TANNER. VII.— LEADERS. For the work on my farm I really need a small band of horses, and naturally I select the best that I can find, and match them for their work. But farm work is not all plowing and not all har- rowing. I live some distance from town. I must haul in large loads of wheat often, and sometimes back to the farm heavy loads of lumber. A single team will not always answer the purpose. I need two, sometimes three, span. I must have a span or two of leaders. I find them very, very hard to get. I have just really one good span that will do for a lead team, and even one of that span is not quite what he should be. If leaders shirk, they are of little value, they keep the wheel team back, render little or no ser- vice and would be better out of the way. A lead team should be easily managed and quick to move. It should be steady and con- stant in pulling. In such a team we [should have that excellent quality which good men possess, namely, conscientiousness. With the wheel horses it is diflferent. They are near the driver, they are within easy reach of the whip, they may be care- fully watched and guided without much trouble. What they are doing can be easily seen, and it is difficult forthem to shirk. Freighters or farmers are always proud of a good lead. The quality of leaders in a team is something they boast about, and so the farmer often says a lead team is "mighty hard to get." A good lead team must have a certain amount of nervous energy, must be high-lived, natural born workers. How is it with men? Is leadership common among them, or must men be worked 'on ' wheel." Must they be near the whip, and driven along by the force of circumstances, and compelled to do their duty?

THOUGHTS OF A FARMER. 529 There is another thing about a good lead team, it helps to give life to the wheelers. If the leaders go well, the whole team works to an advantage. If the leaders are slow the wheelers hang back. How true that is in the life of men! If I am a slow man, an indifferent man or lazy man, I ought to have, for my own sake, and for the sake of the load I am helping to bear through life, good leaders, intelligent leaders, spirited leaders, with a high nervous tension The next time you see a good lead team, examine it, look first at the heads of the horses. You will probably find a broad fore- head and a Roman nose. You will discover large nostrils, bright and full eyes. The horses will be well limbed; their hair is likely to be fine; Their heads are beautifully posed on uplifted and ele- gant necks; there is the air of leadership in their step. They be- long to the aristocracy of horse flesh; and though a lead team may be hard to find, a good wheel-team well led may render just as valuable service. The wheel-teams of life are the common teams of life. As you move about in life you scarcely see more than one team hitched to a wagon, so that there is really but a limited demand for lead teams, and they are found wherever there are heavy loads to haul. So it is among men. Great leaders are found only where the necessity of their services is apparent. In what kind of a team would you like to work, a big team or a single team? Can you move easily, forcefully and intelligently in the direction others should go? What are you looking at, the road in life to be traveled, or are you looking at others to see which way they go, so that you may follow them? How are you guided, by the thoughts and purposes of others, or have you before you some high moral aim, some distinct purpose in life? Is there a distant object you are aiming to reach? You may not be a leader and recognize the fact, but you may do good serviceable work on the wheel and carry your full share of the load of life, and you may need the whip. If you recognize its necessity, don't balk when it is applied to you. If you are a leader, you may need to be held in,for your own sake, and for the sake of others. Don't rare and pitch and sweat if the lines are drawn on you. Regulate your gait. There is really more chance for the lead team to go wrong

530 IMPROVEMENI ERA. than there is for the wheelers. They not only have to keep the right road, but sometimes must be guided where there are no roads to follow. One of the secrets of a lead team is its easy and intelligent guidance. We have a variety of teamsters. Sometimes we are driven by circumstances, sometimes by the responsibilities of men, some- times we are guided in life by an unseen hand, by an overruling- power. Whoever and whatever our teamsters may be, it is our good fortune if they guide us wisely and well. Every serviceable man in this world, like every serviceable horse, must be subject to guidance. He is harnessed both to his fellowman and to his. environments He must be harnessed that he may work. The so-called independent man, the unguiderl man, the unharnessed man, like the unserviceable horse, is wild —a child of the prairie. In the words of the horseman, he is an "outlaw." Alberta, Canada. THE EVANGELIST. Lines dedicated to the memory of the late Patriarch E. H. Blackburn. Born Sept. 17, 1827; died April 6, 1908. We'll sing the praises of one great And mighty in the Lord, Who passed from out this low estate And went to his reward. Not many in this vale of tears Were given such gift and power To bless, to heal, to aid mankind, Each moment, day and hour. And now his great career is passed, His earthly mission closed; His works were mighty, broad and vast; How sweet is his repose For thousands here have heard bis voice In blessings on their head. And through his words do now rejoice, Are nearer heaven led. All honor to this patriarch, This gifted man of God! To him there is great honor due, Because he served the Lord Tho' Zion mourns a brother gone, Erstwhile his praise we'll sing, For in our loss the heaven's regained A prophet, priest and king. Richfield, April 10, 1908. Annie G. Lauritzen.