The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-10-22


Time was, when a man 60 chock full
of days works. with a good wife,
COW, an AK and rifle, could plunge
anywhere into the woods of the ''sylvan
continent" and with Gods blessing,
hew out farm and competency. That
time is substantially over. Even on the
prairies of the Red River and in the Or
egonian woodlands money is necessary
to make a beginning. Letter-writers
from Dakota declare that single man
can hardly make successful start there
with less than $500. l am satisfied
that with that sum, knowledge and pa
tience, an able-b bodied man can do bet
ter, and enjoy more, in making home
on the farm-lands of the Atlantic slope
or the Mississippi Valley. believe it
because | have tried it-once in the
Ohio Valley and since again in the St.
Lawrence Valley; both times with less
than $1,000 to begin with. Though an
IN. D." am farmer by blood, train
ing and practice, not to say by uncon-
querable proclivity. But l have thor
oughly learned, in my experiences, the
need of capital proportioned to my un-
dertaking, as an essential condition of
anything justly entitled to the name of
success. Nine-tenths OF the farmers of
America, misled by the experiences of
the pioneers, have begun.by attempting
more than they could carry out, and
have rued it all their days. Farming
cow, in America as in the Old World,
is business that absolutely demands
capital for its successful prosecution. A
money fund is just as necessary to be-
ginning in the business of agriculture
as in commerce or manufactures.
More than this, farming ON borrowed
capital Cor, what is the same thing, on
a heavily mortgaged farm) cannot, as a
rule, be made to succeed. In any bust
ness where there is free competition
the man with adequate capital wins and
the man who borrows fails. The price
of borrowed money and the price of the
risk to the lender, added together as
they are in the interest rate, is too
heavy load. often hear farmers ex-
press their surprise ut the fact that
money cannot be borrowed on farm
security, no matter how complete, at
anything like ''bottom rates." Our
town or our state can hire all the money
1T wants at four per cent. Loans on
farms are very rarely less than six per
cent, are usually more, and in some
places or under some circumstances not
uncommon, very much more. Even
where ''trust deeds and power of
sale" mortgages give absolute control
of the security to the lender, money can
not be had ''cheap" on farm security.
The reason for this have right under
my eye in neighboring farm, mort
gagged for only about half its valuation,
yet the interest has not been paid for
four years. The security is good, but
that alone is not sufficient to command
the use of money at a low rate. The
most of those who have money to lend
need, and all a0ant their interest to be
paid regularly. Mortgaged farms rare
ly do that. Therefore they pay high
rates, Notwithstanding the good securi-
ty. Besides this, the frequent necessi.
ty of taking the land eventually, and
the trouble, delay and expense in real
izing upon it, all tend to keep up the
rate of interest on farm mortgages.
Farming, as conducted amongst us,
cannot bear high interest rate on Dor.
rowed capital. The competition in all
staple articles, whether products of the
farm, the mine, or the factory, is toe
close to give fancy profits" on any
thing not protected by monopoly law.
This is particularly true of farm prod
ucts in America. with it's vast extent of
cheap and fertile land. With only or
binary skill and insufficient capital
farmer, no matter how industrious, is
sure to fail if he lives long enough to
see the end of his experiment. With
great skill, energy and "good luck ~
he may save himself ''by the skin OF
his teeth" but when he comes to count
up he will tind-as finally successful
farmer of that class in Aroostook Coun-
ty,' Maine, where the land was bought
thirty-tive years ago at Sl.25 per acre,
told me he found-that he has paid out
more in interest than his property was
worth.
My advice to indebted farmers has
been, for years, to close up their bust
ness and begin again on cash basis,
however small. The longer they delay
the worse it will be for them. A farmer
who knows any branch of his business
well can support a family upon ten
acres. Until he knows enough to do
that, he is incompetent to handle more.
He never should buy more acres than
he can pay for. Even then, if he ex-
hausts his money in the purchase OF
land he must go in debt for stock, i'm
plements and family supplies; and it
will take good deal longer to paw for
these than it took to run in debt for
them. Be sure of one thing-you can
not hire money to farm with Except
under rare and very exceptional cir
cumstances) so as to make anything
on it. A farmer can afford to run in
debt for manure; he may even afford to
run in debt for labor, for on both he
may make profit; but / never, in a
long experience, knew a farmer to hire
any large sum of money and realize a
profit from it by farming. My studies IN
finance (Which took up years ago when