Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1881-04-16
What the Farmers should Know.
Let sI.see, ,rl,Atlthe ,adheated farme

NJ What the Farmers Should Know.
Let us see wlatthe educated farmer
n this nineteenth century ought to
know in order to be up with the times in
which he lives.
J.. His work is to get out of the soil
useless, inorganic, and even poisonous
material, and transform it into shapes
in which it will serve the human race.
He must therefore know the nature of
soils; of what they are composed; what
soilsare best adapted to hatprodects;
where he can get corn, where wheat,
where cotton, where timber, where fruits
of the various kinds yy He must know
this, not merely by observation on his
own limited farm, but also by the abili-
ty to make chemical analyses. in order
that he may apply bis &nowledge moth
er localities and toother soils. ! IIelnlust
know this in order to know how both to
select his farm and how to till it to good
advantage. For this is automatic! he
never can get out of the soil what has
not been put into it by nature or by
himself.
2. He must know how to prepare this
soil; how to get out what be wants, and
how TO leave in what he does not want.
He must therefore know how to drain it
if it is wet, how to irrigate it if it is dry,
how to till il, when it needs deep ana
when shallow blowing, aud when spade
husbandry. He must know how to feed
it; for he must feed his farm and his
grain and his trees, as well as his cattle,
his horses and himself. He must know
something of the nature and effeNt Of
manures and fertilizers.
3. He must be mechanic. HIS sue
cess as a farmer will depend on his
choice and use Of toolsg and that inturn
will depend on his acquaintance with at
least the fundamental principles of
mechanism. The machinery adapted
to the prairie of Illinois is useless on the
hillsides of New Hampshire. He can
not act on general recommendation of
vendors, or even agricultural newspa-
pers; he must be able to Judge of the
adaptation of pillow and harrow and
cultivator to his own fields. He must
be practical mechanic as well. He
cannot afford to send off to the city to a
machinist, or even to the village for a
blacksmith or carpenter, for every
break. The modern farmer is in some
sense an engineer, and he must be able
to repair as,well as to run his engine.
Whether his COWS give good milk or
poor, whether he sells his butter at fifty
cents pound, or can sell it at no price,
depends on his outbuildings and his
dairy-room; and this again depends on
his knowledge, of the principles of con,
struc6onS and ventilation. W1HAH
A. Much of his labor Is necessarily
performed by horses and cattle. Much
of his success depends on their condi-
ton, and on that of his pigs, hens, sheep,
etc. He must therefore be something
of veterinary surgeon. He ought to
be acquainted with animal physiology
to know the nature of the operations on
which their health depends; to know
what are the laws of animal hygiene,
what conduces to health, what promotes
disease. He ought to be familiar with
those forms of vegetable and animal
life, parasites, which are one of the
most common causes of disease and dis.
aSter..
8. In any farming on large scale be
must employ at times considerable help
He has to deal with men as well as witt
animal and vegetable life. He needs
therefore, to be acquainted with men
to have skill in managing them; to know
how to make their industry so adapted
to immediate and prospective needs tina
the losses will be reduced to the leas
possible fraction, and the returns will b.
the largest possible. In other words, hi
must understand the labor problem in al
its various aspects tenant farming, hir
ing labor, working on shares, co opera
tive farming, wise distribution of labor
His work in this respect requires mucl
more practical sagacity and skilEful ad
ministration than the management of
great factory, where every branch o
work becomes routine, and endles
| repetition. On the farm there is no rou
tine; there is endless variety.
6. Farming is perpetual battle. Ev
cry harvest is the spoil won on hard
fought field. The farmer must under
4 stand the tactics of his enemies, ant
must know how to conquer them-weeds
insects, birds, various forms of disease
late rains, long droughts, early frosts
He must know how to pit one agains
the other !, how to make the birds XII
the insects how to forecast howito ad
| just his crops so that neither a drivin
rain, nor a scorching drought, nor a
early frost will neutralize all his labo
and leave him with absolutely empt
granaries. He must avoid putting a
his eggs in one basket, or all his basket
in q row, where one disaster will over
whelm them in a common crash.
Z. He is not only manufacturer, lbu
merchant. His laboratory is not an en-
4 dowed institution. He must make
pay. He must therefore know how
= carry it on with the least expenditur
and the best result To this end
must know his market; that is, the mai
kets of the.world. If he, does not, whe
his crops are gathered heis at the mere
4 of spectators or middle-men, and SOW
4 that they may reap. OF all the men i
the world, the, farmer, is.the one VIII
should take the best newspaper none
can purchase, and keep himself we'll az
quainted with the great worlds move
mentsvegpEN hnR- k0gpM
In a sentence, the ideal farmer is