Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team HIDDEN TREASURE THE STORY OF A CHORE BOY WHO MADE THE OLD FARM PAY BY JOHN THOMAS SIMPSON COLORED FRONTISPIECE BY E.H. SUYDAM AND 16 ILLUSTRATIONS PHILADELPHIA & LONDON 1919 PREFACE A few years ago the author visited the farm in Western Pennsylvania on which he had lived for a number of years when a boy. Much to his surprise there was not a boy of his acquaintance still on the neighboring farms, many of which had passed into other hands, and in some cases even the names of the original owners had been forgotten. He bumped over the two short miles of road, still deep with mud, between the town and the farm, and could scarcely recognize in the weedy fields before him, with their broken-down fences partly concealed by undergrowth, the fertile acres of his boyhood. The orchard, once kept so neatly pruned, was now with trees that were gnarled and broken--while rich bottom land, so productive in years past, was foul with all manner of rank growth. The lane leading up to the house from the main road was in such bad repair that he had to leave his automobile on the main road and complete his journey on foot. Investigation showed that many of the farms in the neighborhood were in a similar rundown condition; that farm work was generally considered unprofitable or uncongenial; and that the boys and girls born in the country usually took the first opportunity to leave the farms, often for harder and less profitable work in the cities. In the hope that many boys and girls now living on farms, as well as others, who, if they knew of the advantages of labor-saving machinery and modern farm buildings (to say nothing of the interest of outdoor work), would take up this, the most profitable and independent of all occupations--FARMING--this story of Hidden Treasure is written. THE AUTHOR FEBRUARY, 1919 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author begs to acknowledge his indebtedness for valuable information to: A.A. Drew, Superintendent of Agencies, of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, Newark, New Jersey, for Constructive Banking and Life Insurance. Bucyrus Company, South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for Trenching with Steam Shovels. Waterloo Cement Machinery Company, Waterloo, Iowa, for Concrete Mixing Machines. Hercules Powder Company, Hazleton, Pennsylvania, for Progressive Cultivation and Trench Digging by Dynamite. International Harvester Company of America, Chicago, Illinois, for Tractors and Farm Machinery. George M. Wright, owner of Indian Hill Farm, Worcester, Massachusetts, for Holstein Cattle, Dairy Methods and Poultry Raising. John W. Odlin, Publicity Department, Wright Wire Company, Worcester, Massachusetts, Wire Fencing. C.P. Dadant, Editor American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois, Bee Culture. The Sharpies Separator Company, West Chester, Pennsylvania, for Milking Machines and Cream Separators.