Thoughts of a Farmer: X, On Pulling Weeds

Thoughts of a Farmer BY DR. JOSEPH M. TANNER X — On Pulling Weeds. In Alberta, the government appoints weed inspectors, whose duty and business it is to visit all fields and require the removal by the owners, of every noxious weed. A failure to comply may result in a fine, or the inspector may hire men and teams to plow the weed-infected fields. In Canada, whole districts of country have been ruined by noxious weeds, and sometimes farms had to be abandoned, because of the failure to remove them. A farmer may therefore organize himself, his boys and hired men, into a sort of weed brigade. Pulling weeds is a very simple process, whose success is measured to a great extent by patience. To pull weeds successfully, the entire root should be pulled from the ground. Young boys are seldom good weed-pullers. They give the weed a jerk, and as often as not break the root in two. To be successful, one should start the roots gradually, until one feels the entire rootstystem moving. Then the whole weed may be more rapidly removed and thrown to one side. I have occupied myself many days in the fields with my boys removing noxious weeds — such work has given me opportunities to teach them by comparison, and young people are quick to grasp the lessons thus taught by analogies. Such lessons are doubly helpful because they are pleasing and suggestive. Now, what are the lessons that may be taught while pulling weeds? We try in a way to pull the weeds out of the lives of others as well as out of our own lives. We thus become reformers. Patience is absolutely requisite in pulling weeds from the fields. It is equally so in removing evils from our own life, as well as from the lives of others. Did you ever see self-professed reformers go at others with hammer and tongs? They jerk and pull, scold and fret. They

THOUGHTS OF A FARMER 789 clear the surface, but the roots are merely broken off, and in time, the evils appear on the surface. We are all in some sense reformers, because we all feel the presence of evils of which we endeavor to rid ourselves. Weeding out evils, if successfully accomplished, must be patiently and thoroughly done. Hasty and impatient men are rarely good reformers, either of themselves or of others. Patience does not mean simply slowness or procrastination. Patience has in it the qualities of longsuffering and loving kindness. It is full of quietness and charity. It is willing to experiment, and is never dogmatically sure that its own methods are absolutely right. Patience leads men to examine themselves before they examine others. It is full of hope, and never loses courage. Does a field ever become absolutely free from weeds ? I never saw or heard of one. We contend with the so-called noxious weeds, weeds that take and control the field, and so destroy its productiveness. When we are successful in keeping down the worst weeds, the process by which they have been destroyed does much to rid the field of less noxious ones. Around great evils, numerous small ones cluster. "I knew you would break the roots of that weed," I said to my boy. "How could you tell?" he queried. "Because," I responded, "you did not get hold of it right. You should hug it closely with your hand." One may angle for fish, but not for weeds. To remove an evil one must be close to it, and be sure he has a good hold of it before he begins to pull. It is, in a large measure, a life and death struggle. There is another important comparison in weed-pulling. We never try to pull weeds from the field where the soil is hard and dry. The tops break ofif, and the work is of little value. As a rule it is useless to undertake the removal of evils from a man whose nature is hardened. He must first be made pliable — made to feel the warmth of love and sympathy of those who approach him. He may be softened by circumstances, and his better nature may be moistened by the dews of heaven. He may be cultivated and become like freeable soil, free and easy in the removal of evil growths. The same is true when one undertakes to reform one's self. The condition of the mind and body must be improved and cultivated before specific evils can be removed. CARDSTON, CANADA