The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1883-02-22
Farmers With a Hobby.

sue it as hobby. In fact man
with hobby is usually looked up
on as man who pursues one idea
to the exclusion of all others, useful |
or otherwise. Much, however, as
he has been sneered at, he is the
one of all others likely to make a
great discovery, or invent some
thing which the world in time win
think almost indispensable. All or
nearly all of our great inventions
have been the work of men with
hobbies, some of whom were during
their lifetime looked upon by their
acquaintance as insuferable bores,
if not as nuisances or lunatics. III
agriculture, as is sometimes claimed,
is behind other industries, it is be-
cause fewer men have pursued some
branch of it as hobby. There are
few farmers, it is true, who have
specialties and engage in them
with vigor, and, as a rule, these
men succeed better than those who
drift along easily without an effort
to excel in any special branch Of
agriculture.
The specialist makes more rapid
progress than his neighbors, not be-
cause he works amy harder, but be-
cause he is usually better informed
in regard to his business for he can
not expect to excel unless he seeks
knowledge from other sources than
his own labors and experiments.
knowledge is but the accumulation
of the ideas and experiences of those
who have preceded US, and the
man who reads is pretty certain to
learn something which he did not
know, and, more than all, he will
get the ideas out of which he can
involve others, thus adding Ito
the sum total Of human knowledge
We confess that in our expert
ence a man without a hobby is, as
a rule, asrather dnll fellow, and the
more useful the hobby is likely to
be, the better we like the possessor
of it. We hail with pleasure the APP
pearance of such men among farm
ers, for there is abundant room for
them, zand great discoveries must
naturally come from close applica-
ton and persistent pursuit of the
end or object soughtfoE There is
scarcely grain, fruit, or vegetable
cultivated that could not be i'm
proved by judicious and intelli-
gent management, and the same
may be said of every breed of do
nestle animals. In addition, new
varieties and breeds may be
brought into existence whenever
desired. - -l t
Of course we would not have a
man neglect his business or impov-
erish himself, as some have done,
in older to pursue an lmpracticable
idea, but whenever 1t is plain that
better thing lis needed than
we possess, and there is chance
of producing it, it is a commenda-
BILE act to make the attempt, even
if a complete failure be the result.
There are usually hundred fail
ures to every really great success,
but this should not discourage any
one from trying to see what he can
do in the field where the failures
are the most numerous. Thou |
sands upon thousands of vessels |
have been lost on the the ocead, but |
this has not prevented the build
ing of great and successful ocean
steamers. The inventors of reapers
and mowers did not escape failures,
some of which were disastrous;
but these men had a hobby, and
they pursued it until they tri-
umphed over every obstacle. A
farmer may raise hundred new va
Tieties of corn or other grain, not
one of which will be in any way SUI
perior to the parent sort, and then
he may try again, and the very
first one will be far superior to any
thing of the kind he has seen, at
least for his. own farm and adjacent
regions; for it should be borne in
mind that farm product or breed
of animals may be adapted to one
locality and not to another.
Our farmers are gradually com
ing to look at this subject of adap
tation of plants and animals to GER
tain locations, soils and climates
in its proper light, hence the in
crease of late years of specialists
among the more intelligent agri-
culturists throughout the country.
has shown that what is
called general or mixed farming is
not the most profitable anywhere.
The reason is to be found in the
extreme variation. in our soils and
One farm or limited re-
gion of country may be well adapted
TO the growth of wheat and oats,
another to corn and potatoes, while
others produce excellent hay and
pasture grasses, and are therefore
adapted to the raising of
stock and the production of butter
and cheese. Then there are re-
gions especially adapted to the
raising of certain kinds of fruits
and vegetables, all of which, when
discovered, become of value to
those who may choose to take adj
vantage of circumstances.
If any farmer would select some
particular breed of domestic ami
mails to experiment with, or kind of
grain, fruit, or vegetables, and
make it a hobby, much good could
scarcely fail to result from his
efforts, and if he is fortunate
enough to produce something bet
ter than heretofore been known, a
financial reward awaits him. We
want to see variety of corn that
will bear twice the quantity of
grain and no more stalks and leaves
than any now in cultivation. We
are quite confident that such va
riety is within the range of posi-
billties, and the man who has the
time and inclination to pursue such
a hobby long enough can scarcely
fall of success, provided he resides
in good corn growing country.
We are inclined to think that it can
be done by selections alone, with
some of our most prolific sorts. 1t
may, however, require the crossing