DECEMBER has its joys and its work as well as June. The stock are almost always shut up now and get only what you give them, either to eat or drink. Be careful to keep their troughs scrupulously clean, and occasionally feed both horses and cows a little molasses. To keep the stable well ventilated, take out a window and fit in a frame covered with muslin or cotton sheeting. This will help out the ventilation and shut out the draughts. If it is hinged at the bottom, so that it can be opened on clear days, it will be all the better. And now just a word for man’s other faithful friend, and the children’s guardian, the dog. He feels the change in the weather, too. If he should begin to scratch his ears or rub them on the ground, clean them carefully with lukewarm water in which bran has been boiled, and add a little white castile soap. When you have rinsed and dried them dust a little dry boric acid into them. He’ll be more comfortable and so will you. Stonehenge or Youatt “On the Dog” will tell you all about him. See that your farming tools are all well housed where neither rain nor snow can get at them. If you were too busy to thoroughly clean and oil them before putting them away, do it now. The long winter evenings will afford you plenty of time to read up on any matter in which you are interested. At the end of the year you will be astonished to find how much you have accomplished without being rushed or overworked, just because you organized your work and followed a definite plan. Like all other good things, it pays. When we are exhausted or rushed, it shows that either we have been doing the wrong thing, or doing the thing wrong. CHAPTER XXXIII. A FEW PRACTICAL “DON’TS.” Don’t imagine that you cannot do anything with a bit of ground. You can. Don’t run away with the idea that the farmer’s life is all fun or all labor. It isn’t. It is a mixture of both, and fun and labor are equally healthful and profitable. Don’t think that breaking up the surface soil for an inch or two is the same as plowing. It is not. The old proverb is good advice for the farmer—“Plow deep while sluggards sleep.” To plow in the fall is to lessen your spring work by at least a third. Spring plowing is easier because of it, and the work of the harrow is lighter. Don’t begrudge manure. All forms of life require food. If you want your plants to grow, feed them. Don’t plant tiny, tender seeds in hard, cold, lumpy soil and expect them to grow. They won’t. Pulverize your soil, warm it with sun, air and manure; make a cosy little bed for your seeds, and while they snuggle into it, they will be sending out little sprouts all the time to see what the rest of the world is like. Just as it is good business policy to treat your hired help as if they were human beings with feelings, instead of mere tireless machines, so it pays to make your seeds comfortable.