Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1882-12-23
FARM AND GARDEN.
A Few seasonnbIe Hints.


i QUESTION. 1t is to be acquired. for
man is not born with any great stock of
ii. ANY one can acquire it except "a
born fool, and such person is born
with an incapacity for ever having any
common sense Common sense is the
most useful acquisition for farmer, and
the farmerSwho is not hourly and daily
increasing his stock of il is always in
trouble. Few persons, if any. are natur-
ally wise. Wisdom is learned by expert
ence. and wise man learns by his fail
Ilres. and never needs n second lesson.
There are farmers who are ALWAYS in i'll
luck. But ill-luck is personal attribute.
just as foolishncss is, and the two are
very closely related. 1t is said that
business man noted for his success would
never keepan unluckv person about him.
This man has certainly learned that i'll
luck sticks to a man, and does so because
an lmlucky mau has not sufficient com
mon sense to learn wisdom by his fail
ures. which his misfortunes and bad luck
really were.
! AN UNLUCKY FARMER.
neighbor was tempted to buy a few
sheep. and asked me what | thought of
it. Don't do it, / replied, you are not
fixed for sheep. ooh. they will take
care OF themselves, - said he. ''Well, try
it, and then vou will find out" He tried
it last winter. A few days ago I passed
his place. How are Your sheep getting
along? 2" | asked. ooh, l had bad luck
with them. put them in the yard here
10 run with the COWS, and the first day
thu red hciffr, there. punched the buck
and he died the next day His ribs
were all broke "Wcn. what then ?"
well Won see had no buck, and so 7
had no lambs, and the ewes kinder moped
round. and the colt kicked some OF them.
and two got mired in the swamp meadow,
and one broke its legs in the bars, and
one night forgot to bring Them in and
| the dogs worried some of them, and at
last / had only one left ont of the dozen.
and that got into the horse stable last
night and found it dead there this morn
! ing. Yes, I had bad luck: Won see [
wasn't fixed for sheep anyhow, and they
are miserable poor stock, guess" Alas,
there are too many men, not only farmers.
but men of business as we'll, who have
| just such hck: and they think how much
they ought to he piticd
4 COSTLY MEADOW.
Another farmer near by has a swamp
meadow which he has been irving to re-
claim for n dozen years. Each year he
has cnt the brush and the weeds in the fall
when the roots and seed were ripe. and
each spring he has turned his cows ont
| to pick what early grass there was on it.
and they have trodden III the bitches.
which each wear the owner has cleared
out, and today. after as much work as
would have cleared, drained, spaded
oven, and leveled and seeded The whole
! 10 acres, the ground is as useless aS il
was at the first, and it is covered with
! tangle of poison sumac. bur. brakes. and
tall weeds. through which n man could
not pass. And SO it will remain until the
| spring, when fire will he put to it and
! the mess burned off. 10 grow mp again as
! before. when the ground might be made
| to produce Mt least three tons of hav to
the acre every wear ii it was properly
reclaimed piece Y pccn. and each piece
finished. How many farmers spend days
every year cutting brush about their
farms, which. if thoroughly gI1lbbcd
out would ne completely DESTROYED. and
the land then put to scme profitable
| use
TOO OLD TO LEARN.
The great failing with farmers (and
other men as webb Is habit OF putting
off doing things and belief that they
know their own business better than any
Other person con tell them. They will
ask advice, hut they will follow then own
advice after ali. Il know how il is my
| self. for tlree-fourths of my life had
passed before learned that was not
too old to learn. and that sometimes a
younger man might teach me something.
\ man moves iuto distant locality
the South, or the West, or the East-or
he comes from foreign country. His
first Thought is, Now | will show these
people something they don't know"
And he does !: for they soon find out that
the new conner is not half as wise rs he
believed he was fact they might not
have known had he not taught them. 4
farmer is never too old to learn. either
from his nei9hhorS, or from books. or
from his own observation and experience;
but it is an unusually wise man who
learns much from either of these.
AN EXPERT FARMER.
Experiment, experience, and exper
are all derived from the same root, e.
pcfiri-to try. Experiment is merely
TRYING. and farmer is irving every day
of his life some new thing. if he is only
observant of what is going on in his
work. The fact that he is observing and
watching results means that he is trying.
And after experiment comes experience.
which is the result of his irving, and ex-
perience well remembered and made use
Of makes man an expect. And al this
brings lis to the startii g-point again, for
al experienced farmer and m expert in
his business is no more than Il man who
Is possessed of and uses common sense.