The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1881-09-16

. book farmer" il simply u man who wastes I
money and time with foolish and impractical
theories and experiments. Tn brighter boys |
arc allowed and encouraged to get book I
" school culture" TINT they may
honor the family I'm the so-callcd learned pro-
fcSsions, law, medicine, etc. III there IL a
dull boy, ne Is good enough for
the farm-hc can pillow, and drive the reaper, :
,lrd milk the cows, and finally succeed to the
management Tor rather mismanagemcnD Of
the farm. This IL all wrong. Here Is Il chance
FOR you farmers u work one much-needed
hope You will sec to Il that here |
after this practice be reversed-that you send
the brightest boys to school 10 lit them TO be
farmers, and turn over the dullcst to the
Madison or Ann Arbor law school. suggest
that In this way you would both promote the
interests OF agriculture and diminish litiga-
tion.
But, seriously, true success In agriculture
demands u high and varied intelligence. To
read Alright ones best interests, when those
interests depend upon the complex circum-
stances OF soils, and fertilizers, and varieties
OF grain and of domestic animals, ana fluctu-
ating markets, and enemies or friends In
creeping and flying things, requires no mean
capacity, strengthened and disciplined by no
mean culture. |
Allow me here To repeat some words I utter
cd In II former address upon this subject:
NEED OF INTELLIGENCE. |
"The farmer whose composition Is such that |
he can work only with HIS hands, and not also
with his head, IL u slave to his business, In ut
ter and irrcmediable bondage from tho begin
ming to the end of his career. Work tyran-
lies over him. He Is II slave because of his
Ignorance, because of his poverty, because Of
his ignoblc surroundings, because Of his hope
lessness. Dwelling In the midst of u possible
paradise, nc makes II, by his ignorance and
blindness, IN actual desert. Hc sees nothing
In II tree but fircwoOd, nothing In green grass
but food for his horse or OK, nothing In u
stone but an impeachment TO his plow or hoe,
nothing i'm clouds but harbingers of rain or
drouth for his fields. nothing in birds but
troublesome enemies that steal his sub
stance"
"For such farncrs-nn d there are too many
of them the world ovcr-there can be but lit
tie success. The time has already come with
us when success in agriculture, rs success In
California gold mining, il dependent upon in
tclligent, scientific processes. Neither gold
nor wheat any longer lies around I'm loose
abundance"
"You know II child is pleased with u rattle,
ticklcd with Il straw The soberncss Of more
mature age cannot he thus moved. So it is
with the soil of our country. Some years
ago, in its virgin infancy, when even slightly
'ticklcd with the pillow, it laughed with the
harvest Now the most perscvering efforts
at mere tickling are seldom rewarded with
more than II smile i'm the way of crops. That
IL, the conditions are changed. The super
abundant fertility is gone. Skill must now
effect the results which rude labor once pro-
duced. And, as u consequence of this, he
who Is hereafter to he a truly successful
farmer must be a truly intelligent farmer
| plead for n higher education for farmers.
They ought to be men Of generous culture,
with keen intelligence to SEQ what Is wisest,
truest, best, amid u multitude of conflicting
or uncertain conditions, with cultivated taste
to make their surroundings beautiful and
attractive, with Il love for literature and
science that they may enjoy recreation dur
ing the intervals of labor, I'm that which shall
be instructive to themselves and their fami-
lies"
SOME ILLUSTRATIONS.
wnat agriculture heeds III tnis country above
all other things, is intelligence and the skill
that comes from il and accompanies 1t. The
money value of skill il Is not easy to estimate
too highly. Let me give you u single illustra-
ton Of II. DIR. Harris, one of the best Ameri-
can authorities, says in an editorial article In
the american .Iyricuturist:
/ 1--WE know two farmers I'm ono of tho hest
wheat growing counties or western New
wheat One had n h,sha,. ~ whc"t ner mere,
that weighed 81 pounds per bushel |; the other
had 81 bushels; that weighed 62li pounds per
p"shei I'm, his ,,nn . ~de *" ",hcs soid hi ~
the same time for $3.50 per bushel. One crop
brought S.l.Io per acre, the other Drought
acre Far his whc.t h !" ~" ,nt,cr land n"t,,rsii~
than the one who got $22 an acre. The climate
istne same, anu there Is no diiierence except
iy ana mnnIiresh highly = - His land ii
/, clean and rich and no matter what the season
!, ~, NJ mas ainn4st m'arlanty eNcchlJua erpP Ss
couldmakc n good crop of corn II not a drop of
: rain fell from the time il was planted till II was
: H. o,.o, ms nns = a ~ r.isa i,st as
good wheat. II is not owing to the variety, for
! the kln ne raises IL the good. olu,iasniOned
! tr"afmant
Tho y,I,oo, sr,,, 10 o,so finally illustrated IN
rho history of English ooricuiture While
nearly, all o,bor co,ntr,os hova hoon steadily
reducing their .vcr.oo yield of wheat Enc.
land has Increased hers n tweptv-eight hush.
els per acre. The skin If the English farmer
enables him .to nay ANIMAL rents eouivalent
IN tba s.o-s;mnlo ,,ol,,a ~ our Porns"
i
NUKE AiihACiiNkNESs
submit, secondly, that the interests Of
agriculture and of county life REQUIRE more
attractiveness in the armor's surroundings.
Farmers homes should be pleasant. Yet as
Il matter of fact how do we find them in this
country? Only now and then ono anything
like up to the standard of what It should DO.
The typical American farm house has few
attractions and few comforts. 1t is too often
like the typical American school house, desti-
tute of grace, of trees. and of sufficient
ground. What excuse has any farmer who
has owned bis house and land a few years for
not surrounding the former with trees that add
refreshing beauty and shade and comfort and
health, and value to his dwelling place ?
What excuse has he for not having at least
an acre land much more Is betterJ in front
and about his house devoted to a neatly-kept
and grassy awn? No excuse whatever that
ne dare stand up ana utter in the presence OIL
honest tree or grass. Is II want OF money
Trees cost nothing or next to nothing, and
grass grows for the just and for the unjust,
| us freely and as impartially as the rains fall
wood niIo.
wan. vi ume! Inc coS' Ill 'ni' iS
qui.e rs .rih'hg' Inc iapor VI TWO mon ior a
'oii.ar' nour "ouiu piah' morc 'rees tnan
u v" IL o'"cr u"y, III u s''sie rioe'
"po". "'e i"rih HOUSES ine i"oor Oh TWO
men siheie""y "ouio trces'
u properly careu ror' 10 gioriiy IN I'VE years
~ '"eiins ina.
W. ss'"o "e''ci" iar"' 10" "an'
Vi aa''o u appfeoneion VI nea.hoss