Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1871-01-13
Unsuccessful Farming.
From the Western Rural.

From the western Nura!.
Farming, like every trade, profess
sion, or vocation, has its proportion
Of unsuccessful followers. This
may be attributed to number Of
causes, some of which we propose
to notice. The man who is about
to engage in any vocation should
first make himself thoroughly ac-
quainted with the wants Of it; then
canvass his talents and know his fit
ness for it. Students shape their
education to meet the demands of
their professions; so should the
young farmer prepare himself to
meet all the requirements Of his vo-
cation. Many professional men
fail from want Of knowledge Of their
professions; so do many fail from
lack of knowledge Of their business,
and no ambition or desire to gain it
by experience. Colleges are more
numerous for the education Of pre-
fessionals than they are for farmers,
for the reason that the mind needs
more cultivation to accomplish
alone as much as the mind and body
can together. There is no school
better than Il well managed farm, to
prepare the young farmer for his
duties. Our agricultural colleges
are valuable institutions in advanc-
ing the student in the primary
branches, but the farm only can
give the diploma, and make the
farmer.
Farmers do not fail so much from
lack Of knowledge as they do from
want of action. If their knowledge
is not applied to labor prompted by
energy and perseverance, it will &C
complish nothing. Book-learning
enters largely into the success Of
farming when it is properly applied;
though there are many successful
farmers who scoff at what they call
book farming, yet there are thous-
ands Of others that can attribute
their success in great measure to
that source of knowledge. 1t is
necessary that the farmer should be
well acquainted with the different
compositions Of the soil, and know
the wants of every plant, 50 that he
may apply the proper plant-food, or
SOW his seed where the proper ele
ments exist necessary to make the
crop success. We have known
farmers of many years experience
to pillow up old, rich pastures of our
rich prairie soil, and SOW the same
to wheat, and still continue planting
their corn in fields that are exhaust
ed of the elements that are required
to make the crop. The result was
there was tremendous growth Of
straw with little wheat, and Il light
crop of corn; while, fthe fields had
been employed yice rerso, there
would have been n heavy crop of
corn, and a fair yield Of wheat.
One of the plainest indications of
unsuccessful farming is to see the
manure unemployed and going to
waste. When we see this there is
no need of looking beyond the sta
bles and yards to find out the condi
ton Of the farm, drudge accurately
of the success Of its owner. We
recently saw a farmer scraping the
manure out of his yards into the
highway with road-scraper. Ada
cent the yards Was a field Of com
that told pititul tale of want.
One fourth Of our Western farmers
make little or no use of their ma
nure, most of whom think that it
don't pay as it makes the weeds
grow; they aim to get their soil in
such condition that it will not sus
tain the life Of weeds, not thinking
! that it will have the same effect on