. "Make it your feeding ground," said my good genius, and
thus the wrath of Polly was made to glorify my plans.

This feeding lot of forty acres is all high land, naturally drained. It
was near the obvious building line, and it seemed suitable in every way.
I drew a line from north to south, cutting it in the middle. The east
twenty I devoted to cows and their belongings; the west twenty was
divided by right lines into lots of five acres each, the southwest one
for the hens and the other three for hogs.

Looking around for Polly to show her my work, I found she had
disappeared; but soon I saw her white gown among the trees. Joining her,
I said,--

"I have mapped seven forties; have you finished one?"

"I have not," she said. "Mine is of more importance than all of yours; I
will give you a sketch this evening. This bit of woods is better than I
thought. How much of it do you suppose there is?"

"About seven acres, I reckon, by hook and by crook; enough to amuse you
and furnish a lot of wild-flower seed to be floated over the rest of the
farm."

"You may plant what seeds you like on the rest of the farm, but I must
have wild flowers. Do you know how long it is since I have had them? Not
since I was a girl!"

"That is not very long, Polly. You don't look much more than a girl
to-day. You shall have asters and goldenrod and black-eyed Susans to
your heart's content if you will always be as young."

"I believe Time will turn backward for both of us out here, Mr. Headman.
But I'm as hungry as a wolf. Do you think we can get a glass of milk of
the 'farm lady'?"

We tried, succeeded, and then started for home. Neither of us had much
to say on the return trip, for our minds were full of unsolved problems.
That evening Polly showed me this plat of the home forty.

[Illustration:]

CHAPTER IV

THE HIRED MAN

Modern farming is greatly handicapped by the difficulty of getting good
help. I need not go into the causes which have operated to bring about
this condition; it exists, and it has to be met. I cannot hope to solve
the problem for others, but I can tell how I solved it for myself. I
determined that the men who worked for me should find in me a
considerate friend who would look after their interests in a reasonable
and neighborly fashion. They should be well housed and well fed, and
should have clean beds, clean table linen and an attractively set table,
papers, magazines, and books, and a comfortable r