The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1857-09-19
WILL FARMING Paw.

WILL FARMING PAY.
This is an ell important question, and v,
answer, yes, farming will pay. 1t will not
however, pay those who are ssmaking haste
to be rich;"i it will NOT pay those who desire
speedily to become wealthy regardless of the
means. It will not pay those who are seek.
ing transient and unmerited honors. 1t will
pay the man who is satisfied with honest
gains in an honorable calling. 1t will pay
anywhere in our country, and everywhere;
onthe rich prairies of the West and the more
sterile soils Of the East. There is no part
of our country and scarcely aud soil or elm
ute, where crops cannot be raised ut fair
profit, If they are wisely adapted to the cir
cumstance. The same skill and foresight in
adapting crops to soil, climate, demand, &C.,
Ms is exercised BY the merchant in selecting
his goods to suit the demand, and, tho prob
able changes in the market, and the mech
anic in manufacturing such articles as will
be needed, will insure success under circum-
stances that may be considered the most un-
favorable. Much loss, doubtless, results
were little stubborn on this point. A far
mer raises wheat. or some other crop, and
by change of climate, deterioration of soil,
or some other cause it becomes Improbable.
Instead of changing for something more
profitable, many continue to plant the same
crop with logged perseverance that would
be creditable was there no better way. At
the late Trial of Implements at Syracuse a
gentleman from Kentucky said, speaking of
the farmers of his own State, 'swe are wiser
than our neghbors of Virginia, for as soon
as our land will not grow tobacco probably
we put in something else that will pay, hav-
ing an eye also to the resuscitation of the
soil, while they grow tobacco until the soil
will not grow that or any other crop.''
Whether this remark is applicable to the
farmers generally Of either State, We cannot
say; it certainly indicates wise foresight
on the part Of the farmers Of Kentucky.
We have seen farms So sandy that they
were once considered almost worthless. and
that would not sell for one-quarter as much
as others few miles distant, made notori-
ously profitable by the cultivation of peach.
ca and potatoes. We have seen, in few
cases, swamps that were considered nusi-
ance, made saere profitable than any other
part Of the farm by the growth Of willows
and cranberries. We have seen rugged
looking hillsidcs bring their owners a for
tune from the cultivation Of grapes. A lit
tie enterprise, a little thought and pcrseyer.
.ance, little tact in adapting ourselves to
circumstances, is all that IS necessary to s,,c.
coed in farming in almost any position
Perhaps it is the possession of this tact that
causes mechanics and merchants to succeed
generally in farming, when they engage in
it in earnest as a business. Wehave known
SDut few mechanics and merchants, who have
r really engaged in farming for a profit, who
zoe ave not made the most enterprising and the
!. ost Successful farmers. is far different,
N scsera' o'A~'n the; srey undeftakefsrm.
''es that we Estimc. Farming is business
to lat requires wise head and diligent hands,
and those who undertake to make play of it
generally find it an expensive game, and are
mot long in coming to the conclusion gener-
ally that they are 'paying too dear for their
whistle"
Some fifteen or twenty years ago farming
land here was worth from thirty to forty dol
lars an acre. Wheat, which was then almost
cash, was worth about seventy-ive cents a
bushel, potatoes eighteen cents, and othe,
things in proportion.
Then it was difficult to make farming pay
and farmers were often heard to say if they
could only get dollar bushel for wheat
and twenty fve cents for potatoes they could
desire no better business. Now double these
prices are obtained, and the cost of cultiva-
ton has not increased by any means in the
same proportion.
In conclusion, we will say that the same
enterprise that gives the merchant a chance
Of success, only, insures success to the farm
or. The merchant may labor for years with
well directed enersy-ho may spend his
nights in devising wise plans, and his days,
in their execution-yet disasters that the
most searching ken could not foresee, nor
the greatest skill prevent, leaves him pen
nyless in an hour. Gains from cultivatine
the soil are not rapid-the farmers &C.
foundations are slow but generally sure
Losses occasionally occur, but they are
neither large nor overwhelming.