One player, chosen to be the farmer, is seated. The remaining players, standing at a distance, select a leader who taps some of them on the shoulder as an invitation to go with him to the farmer’s orchard for apples. Thereupon they leave their home ground, which has a determined boundary, and approach as near to the farmer as they dare. The game is more interesting if they can do this from various sides, practically surrounding him. Suddenly the farmer claps his hands and all players must stand still, while the leader calls out, “The farmer is coming!” The players try to get safely back to their home ground, the farmer chasing them. He may not start, however, until the leader has given his warning. Any player caught by the farmer changes places with him.
For the parlor or class room.–This game adapts itself well to indoor use, the farmer sitting on a chair in the middle of the room if in a parlor, or at the teacher’s desk if in a schoolroom. The players are home when in their seats, and the farmer, to catch them, must tag them before they are seated.
This is a particularly enjoyable game for an older person to play with children, the former enacting the farmer.
Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium by Jessie Hubbell Bancroft