new-sown

Updated: June 26, 2025

As the seeding time came on, enormous flocks of pigeons, in clouds which almost filled the sky, made it necessary for some one to sentinel the new-sown grain, and although I was but nine years of age, my father put a double-barrelled shotgun into my hands, and sent me out to defend the fields. This commission filled me with the spirit of the soldier.

Hamlin Garland - A Son of the Middle Border