Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1873-02-21
Who Should Be Farmers.

with who have, as they phrase it, a
notion of farming At present they
are engaged in other avocations.-
Perhaps their great object is to
make money enough to buy land
Or, from some cause or other, they
cannot at present carry out their
wishes. Some day, however, they
mean to farm.
Such persons usually have the
most crude and visionary ideas
about the business they look for.
ward to with SO much enthusiasm.
They think farming is thing any
body can do; that no apprentice.
ship or training is needed for it,
and that it is just pleasant, indie.
pendent, outdoor life, of nice
bracing exercise in the fresh air
and green fields. Farming, indeed,
is like preaching, in this, that it is
looked upon by multitudes as the
easiest thing in the world until they
come to try it. The most romantic
IDEAS are entertained by many about
it; it is invested with all the glow
and charm of poetry, and entirely
divorced from such realities rs
blisters Oh the hands, aches in the
back, dung on the boots, and hay
seeds in the hair.
For the cdification Of such, and
for the guidance of young men who
have not yet settled on their future
line of action, we propose to discuss
for a little the question who should
be farmers.
!. Those who are fond eff farm
ing:
To succeed well in any avocation,
there should be taste and prefer
ence for it. One reason why many
farmers do not get on better is that
they do not really choose their bus
mess. 1t has been thrust upon
them. They have come into it as
into q rut, out ofwhich they cannot
get. They would be something else
if they saw their way to it. How
many look upon farming as y dull,
wearisome occupation, and are al.
ways thinking i'll of it! Yet there
is no line of human activity where
an intelligent mind may find more
to interest and awake enthusiasm.
To watch the processes Of growth,
to be constantly abroad among the
beauties of nature, to be working
out great principles Of agricultural
chemistry, to be at the base Of
Livingstone of the aliases upon
whom the world rcsts--surely there
is enough hero to inspire any man
who has soul capable Of enthusi-
asm. A degree Of success may
doubtless be achieved by "sitting
down doggedly to any kind of
work." as DR.. johnson advises men
to do in regard to literary work.
yet, for the most part we require
and do much better
with it than We can possibly do
without it, We must be cen
thused."
.. Fitness for farm life is nccos.
sary Us well as fondness for it. A
delicate weakling may do well in
some lines of business, but the
farmer must ego in on his MUSCLE"
if he is to win the race. ga sound
mind in q sound body" is desirable
in every occupation; in farming it
is indispensable.
''Ile that by the pillow would thrive,
Himself must either hold or drive"
1t does not pay to depend wholly
on hired help in farming, unless one
has large farm, plenty Of capital
and lots of stock. Common farming
on fifty or a hundred acres of land
can only be made profitable on the
that the farmer does the
butt end Of the work himself, hiring
only on special occasions, such as
seedtime and harvest. There are
of men who have ply
sique enough for lighter occupation,
who cannot stand the brunt OF farm
ing, yet it is astonishing how many
Of these frail creatures, who need
care, nursing, diet and regularity,
fancy themselves giants, and are
quite sure they would make excel
lent farmers. 1t is quite true that
from the multitude of labor-saving
and the numerous APP
plications of science to agriculture,
even farming is daily becoming
more matter of brain work, und
less matter of mere manual labor;
but there are still numberless de-
mands for muscular effort, such as
render this business prc-eminently
requiring bone, sinew, pluck and
endurance. As 4 general rule,
farmers must be strong and stalwart
men, though to this, as to all other
general rules, there may Of course
be exceptions.
3. Those should farm who know
how. Farming is as much a bust
ness as blacksmithing, shoemaking,
Or bricklaying; it is therefore gov
erned by the same great principles.
TO know how to do anything that
has an art, or even what we call
'knack" in it, requires training and
practice. Those who doubt that
.hese arc necessary to successful
have only to try their un-
.raincd and Impractical hands at
The business to discover, as disap-
pointed thousands have done, to
heir sorrow and cost, that they are
utterly unqualified for it. It'll quite
possible in any business to begin in
ignorance, and after series of
losses and failures, to re-
rieve, and by learning in the dear
school of experience, to master the
+ ing and ultimately succeed in it.
But very few have the indomitablc
Energy necessary for this, and even
f they have it, it would be much
better to spend that same energy in
diligently, and in such a way as to
secure the best returns from it
We say then most emphatically, to
Ill and sundry who have notion of
do not think of going into
t until you have learned the bust
ness. How to learn farming we
nuSt discuss hareafter.