The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-03-08
"a Fancy Farmers.

The Chicago Times has a 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 who are denominated fan
cy farmers, They have been, in all times
and countries, the nefacters Of the men
who have treated them with derision.-
They have been to farmers what inyen-
tors have been to manufacturers. They
have experimental for the good of the
world, while others have simply worked
for their own good. They tested theo-
ries, while others have raised crops for
market. They have given dignity and
glory to the occupation of farming it
never had before.
Fancy farmers have changed the wild
boar into the Suffolk aud Berkshire the
wild bullsofs Britain into the short horn ;
tlfsmountain sheep, with its lean body
and hair fleece, into the Southdown and
the Msrino. They broupht up the milk
cows from pints to gallons. They have
heightened the sirloin of the bullock,
|-deepened the. .udder Of the COW, enlarged
the ham-o 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 beautiful
every animal that is kept in the service
Of man. They have improved and has.
tened the development of all domestic
animals, till they-,hardly resemble the
creatures from which they sprang.
Fancy. farmers introduced irrigation
and Undertaking, grindings and cook
ing food for stock. They brought guano
from Peru, and nitrate of soda from Chill.
They introduced and domesticated oil the
plants we.have 1of fofeign origin. They
Brought, out the theory, of rotation of
crops ash natural means soft keeping9up
and increasing the fertility Of the soil.
They first ground up gypsum and bones,
and treated the latter with acid to make
mauures ,ot,a peculiar value. ,. The first
analyzed soils, as a means Of determin-
ing what was wanted to increase their
fertility. They introduced the most i'm
proved methods of raising and distribu-
ting water. .s;
Fancy farmers, or fancy horticulturists,
have given us all our varieties of fruits,
vegetables and flowers. A fancy farmer
in Vermont, a few years ago, originated
the Early~Rose potato, which added
millions of dollars to the wealth Of our
country.a and proved TO be q most impor.
'tant accession in every part Of the world
where it was introduced. Another of
these fancy men originated the Wilson
strawberry and another the ] Concord
grape. 1t was fancy farmer who broug bit
the Usage orange from Texas to the:
Northern States. a
Among the men in this country who
were classed as fancy farmers at an early
day, were Washington, Jefferson, Frank
lin and Livingston. The. first introduced
mules; the second, the cultivation ofim-
proved rice the third, thsuse flandpiass'
ter, and the fourth, the raising of flucerne.
More than sany men of their time did
they add to the wealth of the country.
After them came another race of fancy
farmers, who introduced Arabian horses,
Spanish sheep, and the improved breeds
of cattle and swine. These fancy far
imers added immensely to the. wealth of
the practical farmers of the country.