Enterprising farmer makes farming really pay without working
In the May 13, 1923, issue of The Oklahoman, an unnamed writer produced an item about an enterprising farmer.
While writing of the ingenuity of the farmer, he added a bit to his own to the report.
His crop of corn’s not extra good, his oats are somewhat seedy, but still his table groans with food and he is never needy. And as you pass this farmer man, take off your hat and doff it, for he is the owner of a plan that yields him heavy profit.
His farm is on the Britton road, hard by a mudhole deep, where motor drivers rail and curse, and frightened women weep. But on the farming land beside, right past the muck and mire, the farmer’s built a goodly road, and fenced it off with wire.
“You cannot cross my farming land, it ain’t no use to holler. You can’t get ‘round that sea of mud, unless I get a dollar.” This is his ultimatum plain, he maketh no exception; he stoppeth every motor car that comes in each direction.
One hundred cars a day at least, from morn ‘til after dark, pay tribute to this farmer man, this keen financial shark. He lets potatoes go to rot, his wheat gets no attention, and yet each night his pockets bulge with bills of large dimension.
The drivers call him “robber,” “thief,” they hail him with a curse, but every time they use his road they’re thinner in the purse.
There is no moral to this tale, unless, by devious ways, some folks may argue that farming really pay!
While the recent rains have caused intermittent street flooding, increased potholes and occasional detours, there have been no reports of private toll roads appearing on the over 3,500 miles of public streets maintained by the Oklahoma City.