The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-01-15
Suggestions Of and for the Season.

than are the makers of cloth, and of IA thou
sand other products resulting from the appll-
cation of labor and skill TO raw materials. By
mechanically preparing the soil, sowing seed,
cutivatng and gathering, we obtain grain,
hay cotton, grain, roots, vegetables, fruits and
flowers from the raw materials IN the SOIL and
the elements supplied by air and water-aIdcd
by the suns heat and light. From the grass,
hag, grain and roots we manufacture meats
and dairy products, using animals as the ma
chimes. After obtaining the perfected results,
the producers become merchants or traders
when exchanging the surplus, not needed IN
home consumption, for money or other artl-
Giles. Dealers, shippers, transporters, export
ers and importers, increase the value or raw
or manufactured materials by taking them
from the places where they are less wanted to
those where they are more wanted.
In brief, all the above classes are occupied
IN producing articles of value from those OF no
intrinsic value AS grain from mold OF the soil !;
or increasing the value of articles by change
of form or change of location. And all are
equally pursuing a praiseworthy occupation,
and they and their work are alike honorable,
if they are equally honest and industrious. All
the talk, or thoughts harbored, about the occu-
patton of u merchant, or manufacturer, or I'M
porter, being higher or more honorable or even
more desirable than that of IA farmer, are fal-
lacious and misleading. The glare and gla-
mOur arising from the fact that now and then
a merchant, not one III a thousand, secures
large wealth by a favorable combination of
circumstances and by extensive operations,
should not blind us to the fact that, in proper
ton to the numbers engaged, a hundred times
more farmers than merchants advance to indie
pendence If not to great wealth Nnety-fiye
out of every hundred who enter upon mer.
camille life fail, or do not rise above the con.
dition of drudging employees, with bare sub
sistence not one whit better than is enjoyed by
the lowest farm laborer While on the con.
lrary few who earnestly follow agricultural
pursuits fail to secure at least comfortable food
and clothing ana lodging, for themselves and
families.
The false notions, obove indicated, are a
great bar to the best success in farming and
Kindred pursuits. We all expect the manu-.
facturer and merchant to put into practice
business habits and IDEAS to study into the
best modes and appliances, to be wide awake
to what others are doing IN the same line. But
somehow, while not always publicly admitted
or allowed, the farmer and his family harbor
the idea, and fortunately act upon 1t, that their
occupation is of a lover grade, sort OF lnferl-
or manual labor employment, endured as ne
cessity rather than from choice-a machine
life, ailording little opportunity for exercising
thought, skill, enterprise, study, Improvement,
or for the eminent success that comes to other
pursuits. AS arule they are secretly gratified
| il son has an opening in a merchants es-
Establishment or daughter is atfianced to the
scion of family in mercantile pursuits This
false feeling is drag uyon the energies, the
self confidence, the cheerfulness, the ambition,
the study, the progress that should be mani
! tested IN the life and work of every cultivator
! OF the SOIL whether OF few still unpaid for
acres, or of the larger farm
! At the beginning of this new year, let US
start with "a just appreciation OF our 0ccupa-
ton, determination to make the best of it, TO
deserve the highest success, which Is the next
best thing to actually achieving it, even If we
fail to do So
In our position of farm manufacturers and
merchants, it is well to take account of stock !:
to figure up and put down on paper, in some
| form, however simple, catalogue OF every
thing we have, small and large, with its pres
ent value, indeed every implement every AMI
NAL, produce and cash on hand and dues to
u.s. the farm itself, each field and the value in
vested IN growing winter crops upon 1t, etc.
On the other hand, set down every liability
and strike a balance. One great effort OF the
coming twelve months will be to increase the
stock on hand and decrease the liabilities II
not done hitherto begin with January l, to
note down each day every transaction, the work
of the day what Is sold or bought OF or to
whom, and its price, whether paid for or not,
etc The writer of this kept such journal on
farm of 23S acres, from the age Of IA years
onward. AT first it was only written on fool
soap sheets. a rough plot of the fields was
made ana each one numbered, and the amount
of blowing and sowing seed, manure, etc, ex-
pended on each and every field were written
down at night All the larger animals were
named. The sheep, swine and poultry, too
numerous to name, were classified for refer
ence In brief, everything on the farm was
noted down on paper, and everything done or
Transporting was daily entered with the pen. 1t
| furnished entertainment and the sheets be-
came valuable for reference in many cases. A
simple style of farm book keeping grew out OF
it, which wac of decided utility; but we Will
leave that for the present. We would be ex.
ceedingly pleased to know that every farm
reader of this, or some one in his family, would
start such complete memorandum, begin
mig January /, 1881. We know Its useful
ness by experience and what good 1t leads to.
/ Let one Of the first plans for the year be to
secure more knowledge about our occupation.
Certainly we each know some things that 9TH
ers do not and every other man knows some
things that we do not. Writing and talking to
Others the talks at farmers club meetings and
conventions, what others think and say as
given in books and papers, are all sources of
new ideas. Let the head help the hands by
better thinking and better plans. One can not
talk with an intelligent neighbor, or read
farm book or farm paper without getting some
new idea or suggestion that will help his own
thinking and planning.
Well, along with the above, we must look
after the work in hand. The farm animals are
the chief care at TINS season, generally; not
merely to get them through winter, but in the
best condition, and to do this at the least ex-
pense-for that means the best profit in the
end. Any flesh or strength lost for want of
pound of hay or grain will be likely to require
half dozen pounds of feed to restore it, and
here "a penny saved Is "a sixpence lost"
Animals grow less in winter; most of their