The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-09-15
farm aud 6ardet1.
Farming Will Pay.

.
perly conducted proviso applicable to
every regular business, if success is cal
culated on. If men can rent land, save
enough from their crops to buy them
selves farms, while they are supporting
their families, surely those who own farms
and stock ought to make living and lay
by something. We have before us let
Ter from a gentleman in Northampton
who SAYS colored laborers in this county,
as tenants, have frequently saved enough
TO buy themselves small farms and made
themselves comfortable homes" We give
these striking instances of the success of
colored men Testimony before the Exc
dus Committee'O:
John o. Kellar, of Raleigh, N. c.,
who was slave before the war, said that
he was now worth $4,000. Another col
ored man, from near Goldsboro', N. c.,
said that he owns ATS acres of land a
part of which he rents to white men. w.
w. Arlington, of Nash county, testified
that he was slave before the war, but
that now he owns 1000 acres of land. :"
Farming successfully, involves as many
necessary qualities as any other calling,
and more than farmers are generally
aware of, particularly those farmers who
select the most Indifferent of their sons
for farming life. The bright, intelligent
ones must be lawyers, doctors, teachers,
professors etc., and are sent off to college
to obtain a good education, while the
dull, unpromising boys are kept on the
farm, with little education or informa-
ton, to plod on in the beaten paths of
their forefathers, paths which too often
have led to failure and disappointment
Let young men, and old ones too, if not
too old to learn, understand that there
is no calling which requires more indus
try, more sound judgment, more practical
good sense, more thought more study of
surrounding circumstances, and changing
conditions, and more strict attention than
that of the farmer. Circumstances and
conditions are constantly changing on
farm, and farmers work cannot be carried
on by a fixed programme. Constant
thought, study, and personal attention
are necessary to plan to the best advan-
tage to meet contingencies, adapt means
to ends, overcome difficulties, and con-
quer success. Hear what an intelligent,
practical farmer, Mr.. William Holman,
of Cumberland, Va, says on the necessity
of personal attention:
No man can find another who will
attend to has business as well as himself.
1t is personal interest that makes the diff
ference, and personal interest is a great
ncentive to human action It sharpens
the wits and stimulates action in won
derful manner 1t is neither the duty
nor the interest of the practical farmer,
If his operations be extended to convert
himself into common laborer, and work
constantly with his own hands, though he
should be prepared to lend a helping
hand when necessary. 1t is more partic-
ularly his province and duty to superin-
tend and direct-to keep his laborers UP
to their work, and do the thinking and
planning. The negro, is the best and
cheapest laborer we in the South can get
but to make his labor pay, requires con
slant attention and direction. He is
machine, and scarcely ever exercises iudp-
ment or discretion in the performance Of
his work. Personal attention is neces-
sary, and valuable for many other rea-
sons 1t enables the farmer0to have more
work done, and better done; it enables
him to avoid troubles and difficulties with
his laborers, and it enables him to be Just,
ard kind, and indulgent to them, when
1T Is proper to be so, and this he should
always be, when the laborer has dis
charged his duty faithfully. Very few
persons are sufficient judges of farm work
to determine whether the laborer has
done his duty, when the master is spend
ing his time at the cross roads store :;
and it very often happens that the poor
laborer is treated very unjustly and harsh
ly in consequence. -Ame7l;cur1 Farmer,
July, 1880.
In the great scarcity of tobacco plants
this year, we heard of one remarkable
case of success in procuring plenty of
them, which We mention as an illustra-
ton of what industry and attention will
accomplish on the farm. In the county
of Louisa lives an industrious, hard
working, one-armed ex-Confederate SOL
der, who in the dearth Of plants around
him, had enough for three tobacco farms,
as told to us. We enquired how this
happened. We were told it was done by
the greatest watchfulness, and fighting
the tobacco flies or heas in every avail
able way, by day, and by night if neces-
sary. Such persons are usually called
lucky" but it will be found that fortune
always favors the industrious, as we'll as
the brave"
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