The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-12-04
TOPICS FOR the FHRM.

The Farmers Outlook above
caption is a very common one nowadays,
when the papers are full of the prom
ises which we Americans have to be
thrifty and get rich if we will only lay
hold of the opportunities which the
times offer.
The chances are that we are on the
eve of a prosperous day, aud the ques-
tion that occurs to us as the most i'm
portant to the farmer, is what shall be
done during the forward movement to
make good times permanent thing
with him. The farmers outlook should
cover more than region of immediate
prosperity, brought TO view by the
good prices of his products this year.
To the enterprising, thrifty, though
ful, educated farmer, the outlook is al
ways good in this coantry. The mis-
take is generally in tho standard of
measurement. Most farmers measure
by the value of q bushel of wheat in the
market The standard should be the
maximum yield per acre at the minimum
cost. 1t is not the large price Of wheat
that makes go I'd outlook. but the ca
pacity to ra sc bushel of wheat 30 that
the margin received upon selling it is a
good one. There are men in our ac-
gu aintance raising great crops, and SELL
ing them at good prices, who, are IL
creasing the aggregate Of their debts
annuaiir Tho promises of the times
wilifnot help them; they will not be
benefited by the I" agricultural BOOM"
! their outlook is dark. -iy rsi.l-f
But to the man who measures success
| by the right standard, who has taste for
agriculture, and genius for work, the
outlook is good one. Land can be
purchased upon reasonable terms; labor
can be employed at living rates; the
not affect him, and there will be con-
tinuous demand for p oducts of the farm
at living prices.
What better outlook can we have?
And still the majority of farmers will
not. it is to Be feared, make the mo 1T OF
their chances. The good prices for pro-
duets will stimulate them to increase
their acreage, at the expense of the
to produce the best return at the ex-
| pense of the rapid deterioratton of the
soil and oftentimes the loss Of a years
toll because OF the failure vf the crop.
The good farmer will be a successful
farmer, and to those alone who are will
ing to put their minds into the farm
management is the out'oox for farming
a rich promise.
An intelligent man who was brought
up on farm and farmed it until foI y
years of agr, when he Went into mer-
chandising and was very successful, r.
marked to me yesterday: "If were to
be in life over agair, would be far
ner and nothing else. thought there
was more to be made in merchandising,
and have made money! but it is sim
ply the results of mere calculation, mere
business ability and mere capital put
into the business. The fault is, farmers
do not see the necessity of looking SO
well after their Investment as the ner-
chant They let it lie idle too much.
With the same ability put into farming
that the successful merchant puts into
his business the farmer will in almost
every case do the best
This is truth plainly stated. The
farmers on the average do not put SO
much mind into their busines as the
merchant. The latter makes his busi-
ness his study, while the farmer too
often sees no use for study in his voca-
tion- evidently acting under the belief
that Providence has charge of his busi
ness and if the man acts and thinks
sharply he will 60 against the manager
and the result will be a bad season,
ruinous crops and disaster.
As one glances over the names of the
men who have graduated at the Agri-
cultural College in the recently issued
catalogue of that Institution and sees
the word Farmer" written after SO
many of them he cannot but feel that
the young men of ability are apprec.-
ating the fact that the outlook for farm
ing Is propitious and that new era is
about to dawn in this department of the
worlds work The outlook, we feel as
sured in promising, will grow better as
such men of education aud ability step
into the ranks ofour noble voc ation.