The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1875-11-09
CAPITAL AND SCIENCE ON
THE FARM. ,.,-n
some Extracts From the Address OF
she Iaen. ,. =. Mubbsll, ~ the Far
Of the oakland Ceunty Agriesslta-
raj society.
SPEND MONEY IN FARMING.

r~i S"essv' Nt. 49, ~
SPEND MONEY IN FARMING.
An old Roman wisely said, "whoevel
would devote himself TO tho pursuit oi
agriculture must summon to his aid
prudence in businsss, . faculty for
spending money, and q discrimination
TO work, and il strikes me, Mr.. Presi-
dent, that this would be good motto
to inscribe on the motto OF your socie-
~.
What farmers ought to cultivate as
asiduously as anything else, is facul-
| ty for spending meney on their farms.
With his profits the manufacturer is
sure TO enlarge his establishment and
increase his products, and the mcr-
chant to increase his business.
The capital OF each is always invest
ed in his business and oftentimes large
amounts of borrowed capital, but how
seldom is il that the revenue from the
surplus products OF the farm are de-
voted TO its improvement to any fur
ther extent than to apply them to the
erection of suitable buildings. CO
The ordinary farmer has not the fao-
ulty for spending money for the i'm
provement of the soil and he cannot
see how il he spends forty dollars in
draining an acre OF land which is too
wet and cold to produce anything of
value, and by the process makes that
acre produce annually from twenty-five
TO thirty dollars worth OF crops, that all
above ten per cent is so much addition
to his capital Hvr ururgar n
Can you point me to any other bus
ines uan who loans his profits wnen by
investing them in his business rs so
much new capital he can mako great
er profit? Y trow not.
DOES FARMING PAY.
The question is often asked, does
farming pay? @
That it does, will not, l think, admit
of doubt. 1t Is not speculative pur-
suit in which fortunes can be more cas-
lily lost than made, and the farmer can
not water his stock as do our railway
and other corporations, yet he can i'm
prove it in type, size and value, and by
availing himself OF the improvements
in the mode OF treatment, greatly in
crease his profit in their production.
Tia be satisfied that solid wealth may
be acquired by farming, one only needs
TO look over the country and ennmer-
ate the number, of thrifty farmers,
whose farms are adorned by substantial
and even elegant buildings, whose
home are surrounded by luxury, and
whose sons and daughters are promis-
ing, os well as cultured, and as we'll re-
ceived as any in the land; and then
look back for only few years to
sec how rapidly that number has in
creased. r--t
Who ever heard OF farmer who fol-
lowed his calling as legitimate and
only pursuit, failing in business? and
yet the statistics show that nearly
ninety per cent. OF those who engage
in mercantile pursuits become bank
rupt.
The highways Of trade and commerce
arc strewn with wrecked fortunes,
while not one can be found along tine
quiet retreats OF rural life.
As pursuit, il is SO certain and so
much aided by the wondrous agencies
Of nature, that in it q shiftless man
who sits for hours in the shade and
wishes his potatoes were hoed, can
manage to make both ends meet. How
thick you would such man succeed as
manufacturer or q merchant, and how
long would il be before o Bankrupt
Court would administer on his estate ?
Does farming pay? Why there are
in the United States three hundred
millions acres improved lands in farms
valued at ten Thousand millions Of dol
lars, on these broad acres are nearly
four hundred million dollars worth Of
farm implements and machinery, and
over one thousand five hundred million
dollars worth Of live stock.
There are engaged in it as pursuit
including both sexes, over seven mill
ions OF people, and the annual value OF
farm products is over three thousand
millions Of dollars.
As an industry, it is rolling mp a
mountain OF wealth SO enormous that
it cannot be counted, and yet people
ask il farming pays. ~
The vast wealth which this interest
represents has boen created and is in
the truest sense, the product OF patient
labor. I..rI -t
Farmers begin with the virgin soil.
Their capital consist Of barely enough
money earned by the days or months
work 10 pay for their land and team
and plow. The balance is made up by
a hardy constitution and n. boundless
energy, and the result is that within a
few years they acquire such n comps-
tency as not only places them beyond
the reach OF want but makes them fore
handed.
Why, farmers, the improvement OF
our rivers and harbors, the opening Of
canals, the discovery and application
steam and electricity, and the construc-
ton OF railways and canals have ami
hilated both time and space for your
convenience and profit and brought
the markets OF the world to your very
doors; while the growth OF towns and
cities and the rapid increase OF manu-
factures has created ceaseless demand
for everything you produce.
Science is but knowledge and accu-
mulated experience systematized and
reduced to general principles; and we
cannot afford to reject the experience
OF past ages any more than We can af-
ford to reject the improvements and
advantages OF the present; but we eau
afford by the aid OF the general princi-
pies that science has established to
''prove all thing and hold fast to that
which In good"
But some one viii say you are be-
liever in "book farming" Yes. 1 be-
lieve in book farming Just as much as
/ believe in book lawing or book doc
toring, il may be allowed the use of
such expressions as applied TO the
learned professions; but do not be-
lieve that books alone will make good
farmers aud more than they will good
lawyers or doctors.
A man may read law until his hair is
silverod Ger with age and he become
walking encyclopedia OF Jurisprudence;
he may commit to memory every word
in Chitty's pleading and be so full OF
technical phrases that every sentence
he utter shall commence with "For
an L.~.t-f