Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1881-09-07
Variety In Farming.

I
given to farmers by the agricultural news
papers. is "have a variety in your farming;
don't turn all your energies into one chan
mel and the like, the idea being that one
crop may fail or one kind Of stock fall a
victim to disease, and If your capital is
invested in that one particular thing, why
then, "dOwn goes your house." Especial
" is this course recommended to the young
farmer. whose money capital is small, and
whose practical experience is yet to be
gained by actual trial of the somewhat
difficult problem of gaining out of old
mother Earth. That was one of the ar
gumehts that agricultural editors and the
Orist advanced, almost without exception,
in favor of the best sugar enterprise, which
turned out such a disastrous venture for
everybody who was foolish enough to get
into it lit was going to add variety" to our
farming and give us poor devils another
string to oGr bow in the fight against
poverty. Well, we. some OF MS at least
took the advice SO freely proffered us by
nine-ienths of the agricultural writers of
the country, and we got all the variety we
wanted and perhaps more, and now we
are going hack to something that we have
made a specially of, and know all about,
TO try and get buck "a part of the money
lost in the variety business.
1t seems TO me that this advice against
"spscialties in farming is utterly wrong
and misleading, except in particular in
stances There is no other kind of bust
ness in the world, in which 1t i; laid down
rs fundamental rule that man should
split up his energies an his capital, and
devote them 10 half dozen things rather
than one. Indeed the tendency of the age
is toward specialization in everything.
The work of the mechanic is broken up
into almost countless parts one man be-
comes perfect master of one branch of II
trade, another of another branch, and so
on, and the result is absolute perfection of
mechanical work. 30 that a Waltham
watch, for Instance, is more perfect in
strument than ever could have been made
before for the same money. The business
man no longer deals in all sorts of goods
from laces to chain cables, but rather picks
out one particular thing, cotton, or tea or
what not, and devotes his whole energies
to 1t, watches the market bv day and
dreams of them by night, until his fortune
| is made, when he Can seek variety if he
| wants it, and can pay for it. The man
who would reach fame and distinction rs
II scholar, takes good care not 10 try to do
too much, but rather seeks to contine his
studies to one particular branch. or per.
haps even to one of the smallest twigs of
the tree of science. Even the professions
of law ami medicine have been divided up
in the same way, and there is hardly
great lawyer or Il great physician in the
world, but earned his position by pursuing
a specially. Take the whole round of
business pursuits everywhere, it is safe to
| say that the men who have been success.
ful In gaining money, friends, hunors, So
clal standing or reputation, hava in almost
every case done SO, by adopting some
sbeclalty and sticking to it.
Now am unable TO see why any differ
ent rule should he supposed to obtain in
the pursuit of farming. Like any other
occupation it is pursued, primarily for
the purpose of making ii living, and it
seems to me, that, in this, as in anything
else, the man who makes himself perfect
master Of one special branch, and puts the
whole strength of his mind into it, is going
to get more money out of it in the long
run, than if he had divided his energies
among dozen different matters. | 90
into the Boston market and | find a fancy
article of butter, selling at extreme prices
on inquiry | am told, Oh! that is Blank :
butter; he makes speciality of it; he
knows all about butter from the grass to
the market, and runs his entire farm for
batter and nothing else Below that.
but still commanding high price, which
we'll remunerates the maker, comes the
, butter from another class, dairymen who
make a business of the manufacture, and
who succeed well in it, but who lack the
ro 10 NJ ha
,, which only Il few can hope to reach Then
:, comes the poor to nasty qualities, m lde by
', ordinary back country farmers, who list
f II few onions, keep few hens, maintain
y a few pigs, make liYle butter, and pursu,
Il general system of " mixed farming'
To this latter class the work of C ,rrying
on farm is uphill and dscouraging
they see their neighbor, who devotes him
self to hut one thing, get rich and prosper
while they with half a dozen strings t,
G their bow can hardly make living. "Tr
n variety farming" says the agricultural ed
n tor, "stick another iron into the fire, wher,
% already you have half dozen a-heuting
IS and it will give you one more chanc
d TO make something" The better advice
e would be something like this: " decid
q what particular branch of farming you
r best understand, having reference, q
e course, to the capacity of your farm, an
the marketing of your productions the
n discard everything else, and work that 70
K all there is in YOU
l. To be snre if one is pursuing only
T. single line Of husbandry, u failure in tina
y line is disastrous; that is one of the risk
= of business. but the risk of total disastrou
u future is reduced to minimum certain
g y it is less than the loss caused by tn
continual and inevitable leakage whic
IL must accompany the frttering away G
II ones time and money on II dozen thing
a at once. 1t is not given to many men t
a spread themselves over large extent G
n territory at once without becoming yer
thin in spots.
d We can all easily call to mind tn
l. names of great agricultursts, and whe
D. we come to run over the list mentally, W
IT find they are all specialists; one AS
y dairyman, another market gardner; til
man raises seeds and that one breed
Is cattle; and we never think of seekn
r from any one of them advice or nforrna
r. ton about the specially of another. TheS
n are the men whose voices have authority
10 to whose skill, gained by experience i
t. special farming, we have come to look fC
se instruction, as from the masters of the
- professions, great farmers, though none
d them familiar with all branches of farl
re- knowledge or practice. -Musbetdquid, 1
y NeW England Farmer.
" " HSH.M