Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1872-11-09
When Should Farmer Sell Ills Pro-
lucc.

One of the most successful farmer,
and merchants that ever lived in thi,
vicinity-long since dead-is credited
with having said that a farmer should
sell his produce as soon as il is rcady 10,
mdrk,L The principal reason he gave
was, that wheE the farmer held the pro
ducc over from one season to another
or even for II shorter period, that he
| then became aspcculator in addition to
his being II producer, and that the two
are inconsistent. The farmer raises his
produce for the market, and when it is
ready for it then is the time to sell. The
money he realize, for Il crop can always
be used to an advantage in some other
way than that of holding grain 1t re.
p,iircs the very finest mind to become a
successful spcculator.
writer compares the educated mcr-
chant to Isaac Newton. He SAYS the
same understanding Newton had to cal
culate the motions of the staIs, the mer.
chant exc Is in tracing the actions of
the commercial people that fcrtilize the
earth. His problems are the most diff
cult to solve, rs the circumstances are
not derived from the invariable laws of
nature, while the systems of the geome.
trcians are. The problems of the mcr,
chant depend upon the caprccs of mon.
and upon the certainty or uncertainty
of a thousand events. lie takes in at
one view the whole world, and directs
his operations by an infinite variety of
considerations, which it is seldom the
province of .hc statesman or ph1loso-
phcr to estimate. Nothing must escape
the trader. He must foresce. the inilu
encc OF the season upon the plenty, the
scarcity and quality of commodities. He
must know the effect of political affairs
upon those of commerce., the changes
which war or peace must necessarily oc,
casion in the prices and direction of
merchandise, in the quantity and choice
ofprovisions, in the state of the markets
in the cities and parts of the world. He
must look to the stacnation or impetus
that may be produced by the blocking
up or opening of some channels of in
dustry or wealth. lie must learn the
reciprocal connection there is between
most branches of trade, and the mutual
assistance they lend, by the temporary
injuries they seem TO inilict on each
other. He must know the proper time
to begin, and the time to stop, in all
undertakings. In a word, he must POS,
scss the art of making all other nations
tributary to his own, and to make his
own fortune with that of his own coun
try, or, rather, to enrich himself by cx-
tending the general prosperity of man
kind.
These are the objects which constitute
the profession of the true merchant.
If, then, these are the characteristics
of the merchant, cannot every one see
how much the farmer undertakes when
he becomes both II farmer and mcr-
chant-when he speculates on what he
produces We know a farmer of Fay
ette county who refused ten dollars per
hundred for his hemp crop, because he
said it was not enough and he would get
more; but he was mistaken, and after
ward sold the same crop for five dollars
per hundred. He lost fifty per cent. of
the price offered and one years interest
on the capital. In nine cases out of ten
a farmer who holds his produce over
will meet with a similar result We are
thoroughly convinced that the time to
sell produce is when it is ready for mar.
lSet.-FdrmcrS' Home Jomnal