Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1870-12-29
Can an Educated Man Get Living
BY Farming!

matter, for lie was, and Is, married.
Can an Educated Man Get a Living
by Farming!
Other things being equal, an ed
ucated man can plough and SOW,
reap, NOW, dig potatoes, and husk
corn, or perform any other of the
various farm operations as well and
as rapidly as an uneducated one
He can make as much money; but
can he make as good a living? What
is wealth to the one mightbe poverty
to the other The one has wife
that will milk the cows, churn the
butter, rear the calves, feed the
pigs, plant, hoe, and dig potatoes,
and do her own work in the house
while the other, being an educated
man, has an educated wife, who
cannot and ought not to be expect
ed to do more than make his home
the abode of comfort and refine
ment for herself, her husband, and
her children, The family of the
one helps him to make money; that
Of the other not only does not do
this, but requires more money for
Its support, and for the education
of the children and the gratliica-
ton of their tastes. Can such a
man compete with the other, and,
if so, how?
We have endeavored to state the
question fairly. In the other indus
trial arts, we see men of iDtelli-
gence, education. and energy com.
peting with and leaving far behind
those not possessing these advanta-
ges. We see a blacksmith gradual
lv rise to the head of an establish
ment employing thousand men
shoemakers who report an income
of hundred thousand year; and
graduate Of Yale College com
mence small establishment for
the manufacture of scythes, that
ultimately made millionaires of all
connected with 1.-THE success Of
the whole being due to the intelli
gence and business energy Of this
one educated man.
Notwithstanding some failures,
it is an undoubtel fact that intelIi-
gence can compete with ignorance
in the manufacture of every thing
except farm products Is it be-
cause tact and judgment are required
in selling manufactured articles,
and in making such as are adapted
to the market; while farmers raise
only such things as require no ell
fort on their part to dispose OF, and
which must be sold at such prices
as those who can raise them the
cheapest, or who can live the most
economically, or of those who
know nothing of the cost of pro
duction, are willing to take?
A recent number of the London
Mark Lane Express, after ullnding
to the fact that English wheat is
now being sent to countries that
usually export wheat to EngI nd,
with France devastated by war,
-
Germany with short crop Of inie-
rior quality, and Russia waiting for
better tim S to send forward her
stores, adds: "America alone in
her prices seems illing to meet our
demands" Those of us who pay
from two to three bushels of wheat
for a days work to man who six
months ago only got twenty-five
cents a day in Germany or Ireland,
if we do not fully understand, can
at least feel the meaning of the
above sentence. 1t means that as
/ long as America is willing to send
4 wheat from Iowa to England, ant
sell it cheaper than it can he raised
anywhere else in the whole world
an educated man cannot get an ad
euuate compensation for his time
capital, and labor in raising wheat
Must we then abandon tie whole
field of agriculture to the uneducat'
ed cIasses-to men who do theil
own work, live in the plainest way
and are satisfied with one or two
hundred dollars annual income?
The railroads and other public
works are paying men from SIZE
to S1.75 per day. Farmers have
TO do the same. We are paying
men $3.50 a year, and furnish {
house, firewood, and garden, will
more or less apples snd milk be
sides. Such men are doing better
than a great many farmers, and dc
not work nearly as hard nor as
many hours. They have no cart
NOR anxiety, no interest money no
taxes to pay, and no animals tt
sicken and die.
This state of things cannot last
One Of three things must happen
~ Wages will be lower; or (2)
prices must advance; (3), we mus
learn how to make labor more Ell
Gent.
The prosperity of the nation de
pends largely, if not wholly OF
the prosperity Of the farmers an'
on Others employed in farming
And scarcely any greater calamit!
could befall us than for educated
men and women 10 be compelled t.
abandon agricultural pursuits
Where farming does notpay,nothinI
else will long continue to pay
Hearth and Home.