There were chairs
also, with straight backs and seats of basket-work, a spinning-wheel,
an open cupboard, and various other similar objects, which, being
so different from the articles of furniture which Marco had been
accustomed to see in the New York parlors, attracted his attention
very strongly. Marco went and took his seat upon the settle, and the
dog rose and came to him. The dog gazed into his face with an earnest
look of inquiry, which plainly said, "Who are you?" while Marco patted
him on the head, thereby answering as plainly, "A friend." The dog,
perfectly understanding the answer, seemed satisfied, and, turning
away, went back to his place again under the table.
[Illustration: WHO ARE YOU?]
One of the farmer's young men carried the trunks into a little
bed-room, which opened from the great room; and then the farmer sat
down and began to enter into conversation with Forester and Marco
about their accident. Forester told him also about the sailor, who
had tumbled off the coach a mile or two back, and been left behind.
Forester said that he should like to know whether he was hurt much.
Then the farmer said that he would let him take a horse and wagon the
next morning and ride back and inquire. This plan was therefore agreed
upon. Marco and Forester ate a good supper with the farmer's family,
and then spent the evening in talking, and telling stories about
horses, and sagacious dogs, and about catching wild animals in the
woods with traps. About nine o'clock the family all assembled for
evening prayers. After prayers Marco and Forester went to bed in their
little bed-room, where they slept soundly till morning.
In the morning they were both awakened by the crowing of the cocks, at
an early hour. They also heard movements in the house and in the
yard before sunrise; so they arose and dressed themselves, and after
attending to their morning devotions together in their room, a duty
which Forester never omitted, they went out. Marco was very much
interested in the morning occupations of the farm. There was the
milking of the cows, and the feeding of the various animals, and the
pitching off a load of corn, which had been got in the evening before
and allowed to stand on the cart, on the barn-floor, over night. The
cows were then to be driven to pasture, and the boy who went with
them, took a bridle to catch a horse for Forester and Marco to have
for their ride. Forester and Marco went with him. It was only a short
walk to the pasture bars, but they had to ramble about a little while,
before they found the horses. At last they found them feeding together
at the edge of a grove of trees. There were two or three horses, and
several long-tailed colts. The boy caught one of the horses, which he
called Nero. Nero was a white horse. Marco mounted him and rode down,
with the other horses and the colts following him. They put the horse
in the stable until after breakfast, and then harnessed him into the
wagon. When all was ready, the farmer told them to bring the sailor
along with them to his house, if they found that he was hurt so that
he could not travel.
When they were seated in the wagon, and had fairly commenced
their ride, Marco asked Forester, what he meant last evening by a
_grass_ farm. "You told me," said he, "that you wanted me to see
a great grass farm."
"Yes," replied Forester. "The farms in this part of the United States
may be called grass farms. This is the grass country."
"Isn't it all grass country?" asked Marco. "Grass grows everywhere."
"Grass is not _cultivated_ everywhere so much as it is among
the mountains, in the northern states," replied Forester. "The great
articles of cultivation in the United States are grass, grain, and
cotton. The grass is cultivated in the northern states, the grain in
the middle states, and the cotton in the southern states. The grass
is food for beasts, the grain is food for man, and the cotton is
for clothing. These different kinds of cultivation are not indeed
exclusive in the different districts. Some grass is raised in the
middle and southern states, and some grain is raised in the northern
states; but, in general, the great agricultural production of the
northern states is grass, and these farms among the mountains in
Vermont are grass farms.
"There is one striking difference," continued Forester, "between the
grass farms of the north, and the grain farms of the middle states, or
the cotton plantations of the south. The grass cultivation brings with
it a vast variety of occupations and processes on the farm, making
the farm a little world by itself; whereas the grain and the cotton
cultivation are far more simple, and require much less judgment and
skill. This is rather remarkable; for one would think that raising
food for beasts would require less skill than raising food or clothes
for man."
"I should have thought so," said Marco.
"The reason for the difference is," replied Forester, "that in raising
food for animals, it is necessary to keep the animals to eat it, on
the spot, for it will not bear transportation."
"Why not?" said Marco.
"Because it is so cheap," replied Forester.
"I don't think that is any reason," replied Marco.
"A load of grass" - said Forester.
"A load of grass!" repeated Marco, laughing.
"Yes, dried grass, that is, hay. Hay, you know, is grass dried to
preserve it."
"Very well," said Marco; "go on."
"A load of grass, then, is so cheap, that the cost of hauling it fifty
miles would be more than it is worth.
