In the days of which we write there was a strip of prairie land between Honey Creek and the Mayfield slough, down in Washington Township, which serves as a duplicate of the author's model. Beyond was the Chariton River with its low land and fringe of native wood. On either side the defined limits running back to the north for miles and miles. Today it is the location of many of the best Lucas County farms but then it was the resort for the domestic herds and in the summer time thousands of feeding animals covered the plain. This was in the day before the mowing machine and in the autumn this tract furnished an abundant hay supply for the long winter season. The haying season was one of merriment and the echo of the scythe stone, as it beat its tattoo against the steel blades can yet be heard in imagination, and the "swish" of the blades as they closed upon the succulent growth of native grass and wild pea vines are still vivid. This haying operation represented a sort! of communistic interest in which all the farmers nearby, together with the women and children, joined. Long win rows were swept up and the broad expanse was soon covered with shocks, presenting a sight for the landscape painter. There was seldom rain at this season of the year, so the hauling and stacking could be performed at leisure -- but how the fall winds did blow, requiring skill and tight booming. Sometimes the meadow of shocks was left unguarded and the marauding cattle would pounce down upon them with their horns and create havoc in the hayfield, but it was not often this lack of precaution was taken. This is an autumn scene from a boyhood memory with numerous escapes from snake bites left untold. * * * * * * * * To Be Continued . . .Part 3