The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1876-05-04
Fancy Farmers.

The Chicago Times has few truthful
paragraphs describing fancy farmers,
which read as follows:
No class of men have been ridiculed so
much, and none have done so much good,
as those whe are denOminated fancy
farmers. They have been, in all times
and countries, the benefactors of the men
who have treated them with derisiOn.
They have been to farmers what invent
Ors have been to manufacturers. They
have experimental for the good of the
world, while others have simply worked
for their own good. They tested theories
while others have raised crOpsfor market
They have given a dignity and glory to
the occupation of farming it never had
before.
Fancy farmers have changed the wild
boar into the Suffolk and Berkshire; the
wild bull of Britain into the shOrt-horn !;
the mountain sheep, with its lean body
and hair fleece, into the SOuthdown and
the MerinO. They brought up the milk
of cows from pints to gallons. They
have heightened the sirlOin of the bull
lock, deepened the udder of the cow, en-
larged the ham of the hog, given strength
to the shoulder of the OK, rendered finer
the wool of the sheep, added feetness to
the speed of the horse, and made beauti-
full every animal that is kept in the ser
vice of man. They have improved and
fastened the development of all domestic
animals till they hardly resemble the
creatures from which they sprang.
Fancy farmers introduced irrigation
and understanding, grinding and cook
ing food for stock. They brought guanC
from Peru and nitrate of soda from Chill
| They introduced and domesticated al
| the plants we have of foreign origin
| They brought out the theory of rotation
| OF crops as a natural means of keeping uT
and increasing the fertility of the soil
They first ground up gypsum and bones
and treated the latter with acid to make
manures of a peculiar value. They frs
| analysed soils as a means of determining
what was wanted to increase their fertil
| ity. They introduced the most improved
methods of raising and distributing water
Fancy farmers or fancy hOrticulturisLi
have given us all our varieties of fruits
vegetables and flowers. A fancy farme
in Vermont few years ago originated
the Early Rose potato, which added mil
lions of dollars to the wealth of our coun
try, and proved to be a most importan
accession in every part of the wOrl,
where it was introduced. Another O
these fancy men originated the Wilson
strawberry, and another the COncOrt
grape. 1t was afancy farmer who brough
the Usage orange from Texas to the north
ern states.
Among the men in this country VIII
were classed as fancy farmers at an earl
day, were Washington, Jefferson, Frank
lin and Livingston. The first introduce
mules; the second, the cultivation of i'm
proved rice; the third, the use of Ian
plaster, and the fourth, the raising G
lucerne. More than any men Of thei
time did they add to the wealth of tn
country. After them came another rae
of fancy farmers, who introduced Ara
bian horses, Spanish sheep, and the in
proved breeds of English cattle and swine
These fancy farmers added immensely t
the wealth of the practical farmers of tn
country.