Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-07-05
Farm and Household.


From an address ny Al eminent agriculturist'J
To me the prospects of American agricul-
tire never were 40 bright as at the present
time There is pieHtgot ,rork Ia he d0Hc. The
greatest curse that can bcfall a man or nation
is voluntary or involuntary idleness Moth
ing to do" means poverty and misery The
less "a man does the less he is inclined to do.
The more he does the more he can do. Idle
ness leads to weakness and inability. Work
gives strength and skill it banishes despond-
eucy and brings in hope. and hope leads TO
continued effort If we fail one year we try
again We have got faith in the soil and IN
ourselves. We have 10 compete with our
brother farmers and with the farmers of the
world We feel that farming is no child rs play,
aud we must try and acquit ourselves like men
and be strong OF our many blessings there
fore, not the least is the fact that We have
now and shall have for years to come, plenty
Of work to do on our farms.
Many of MS who reside III the older settled
stat,a think We cannot compete with the
cheap. rich lands of o. West. And no doubt
this competition demands our best thoughts,
and will tax our skill and energy. We may
have to make many and frequent changes IN
our rotations and general management. But
we need not despair. We shall be able TO make
living. There is no paradise Oh earth. by
the sweat Of thy face thou shalt eat thy bread.
There will be found advantages and disadyau-
tages in all sections. More depends on the
man than on the situation.
/ read 80 remark few weeks ago, in one Of
our leading papers, That owing to the enOr-
nous amount Of land in this country. 1t would
be 2jO years before there was any real necessity
for scientific agriculture. The writer evident
ly attached some technical and definite mean
ing to the phrase scientific agriculture The
truth is. however. that what would be scien-
&, I's,plaf
farming i'll America what would be scientific
farming in New England or New York might
not be scientific farming in Kansas or Califor-
mia. He is the scientific farmer who makes
the most of his labor and capital. And there
is lust as much necessity for scientific farm
ing to-day as there will be 2iO years hence.
And true scientific farming will Ice Just as
profitable at the present timc as 1t over has
been in the past or will be in the future. l
greatly mistake the signs of the times if
in the near future, we shall not find as
many and rs true scientific farmers in Amer
lea ms are to be found anywhere in the
world
American farmers, as class, work harder
than any other farmers in the world. We
occasionally find q drone in the hive, but
on the whole. we are Il nation of workers, and
it makes a great difference whether man is
working for himself or for others. We all
know what a difference II makes III the amount
of work done. whether n man is at work by
the day or by the piece. Last autumn l had
men digging potatoes 10y the day; paid them
Sl.2j per day. Digging, picking up aud pit
ting cost me over six cents per bushel. then
told two of the men | would give them 1--WE
cents bushel TO do the work. They took the
job, and these two men dug and pitted 100
bushels every day, and then went home; they
sometimes got through by four o'clock in the
afternoon l got the work done cheaper, and
the men earned double the money Now Just
think what this means. These men earned ) -
per day. If we assume that it cost them 81
per day for family expenses, they made TWEEN
ty-tive cents day. Now. with little more ell
ergy and skill they earned -. - per day, and
instead of making twenty-five cents over and
above expenses. they made S1.jO, or six times
ms much. In other words, they really made as
much money in one day as they previOuly
made in one week.
l mention this merely to illustrate my idea
in regard to the great advantage it is to us as
Il nation to have such II large proportion of
those engaged in agricultural pursuits directly
interested in the results of their labors. They
are the owners and occupiers and workers of
the land Self interest calls out all their en-
ergy and skill They make every stroke tell.
A nation of such farmers ought to be rich
milton