The Red Cloud chief., 1878-02-21
DOES FARMING PAY.

At a Farmers Institute. held recently
at Marshall Michigan, Prof. Fair
childs delivered "A lecture upon the re-
turn which farming gives To those ell
gagged in this pursuit. He said this
was intended To be a review of the sub
ject from the standpoint OF a student
OF political economy, giving principles
Of u~ndoubted certainty, and each to
carve out his own future by applying
them.
The question, Does farming pay?"
is %variously answered by farmers them
selves. There is no doubt Of a SURF
return for labor on the farm, but
whether the return is as great as in
other employments can be settled only
by "A strict inquiry into all the elements
of cost. Cost is made up OF exertion.
All that nature does for us without
our eXertiOn is without cost or value,
however useful il may be. Thus exer-
ton is both present and past-the
present being made up of physical.
~.rnental, and moral energy, and the
past including all the savings Of pres
ent labor, capital, skill and discipline.
These have "A varying proportion IN ali
accomplishments, and AS civilization
advances, the mental and moral ele-
ments OF cost, AZ we'll IS all past effort
must increase. This tendency leads
sometimes 10 division of laborers into
classes, from the operatives, busted
with details alone, TO the executives,
busted with oversight, and the specula-
tive class, busted always with plans
for supplying the future anti of man.
One of these can seldom estimate fair
ly the share of another in production.
or his Efforts; and in farming where all
are found together, there may be a
wonderful difference in the amount of
each kind of Labor applied, and SO "A
vast difference in cost. The one who
thinks most with his toll Ices the
most, and gets the most pay. Too often.
with the Investments of a iirSt-claSS
farm, the best directed energy is waut-
ing, and frequently the best exer,ions
are trammelcd for want of investment
along with them.
But actual cost gives no basis for
prices; products sell for what they are
worth, and worth is expressed by AN
estimate of average cost within a given
area, and a gwen time of supply. IL is
according to III. G.. Carey, 1.-The cost OF
y ~, 81. ,. .,t a..
natural price, above which the market
price varies according To 1.-The higgling
of the market" under the adjustment
of ability to sell To ability Ia buy. or
supply aud demand. The better the.
information possessed 10y both buye'
and seller, the easier and fdIrer the bar
gain. London gives the MAJ ket price
of grain to the world, because therein
gathered the fullest information.
in which it will not do to lag behind.
If any farmer will hold his own he
must apply the principles of his busl-
ness, raising such products as keep
pace in price with their increasing
p cost. by reducing cost by improved
methods and maciii.,S , AS he can al
ford th,,n, l,idinS i.ot To IL btcady line
of prodrcgi"n that involves least waste
of machinery aid i. siSt useless capital,
with the eyeSt lille days; and finally,
bringing himself with highest intelli-
gence and Zral 10 his work. Then he
need mo- fear that other callings will
out strip his " i'll wealth. honor,
comfortable lie E" "a good old age, OF
Il peaceful rest az last.
Attite recent arniers institute meet
ing iii Michigan, Mr.. ID. Hubbard
read "A paper on the meat supply, etc.
He showed that he was an earnest
champion at l0ng-wool shsep, and
especially the hlack-faced, and in the
audience where manv admirers OF the
merinos, and upon taking his seat, a
running fire arose along the whole line.
Colonel Dicky believed more money
was to be made i'm raising merinos for
wool than in raising long-wooled sheep
for mutton, characteriZing that meat
as coarse and fat. Mr.. Hubbard af-
firmed that wcol could not be grown
in Michigan to compete with the Texas
grower who could raise it for : cents a
pound. The idea. however, seemed to
Toe that for the English market he
lnng-wooIed sheep and grade Durham
cattle were preferable. Mr.. Miller
thought a good deal depended upon
the farmer himself: that one could
make money OF one kind of sheep, and
another on another breed. For him.
self, he had tiled long-wools and failed,
and had made money on merinOS.