The Dickinson press., 1883-06-09
A Farmers Pc.ics.
Fargo Republican

ties. In the first place there must he
! cultivated q deeper respect for the
calling of an agriculturalist. The far
mer must take Il pride in his business
and look upon himself us al import
ant factor entering into the problem
of political economy. Every farmer
should be, and the day is not far in
the future when the proprietor of
nearly every farm will be IL scientist
so far as regards the cultivation of
the soil. His children should he
brought up in m atmosphere of re-
spcct for the calling of their parents.
The teacher of every school district
should be Il graduate of an ayricultur-
al college. ana the parliamentary prin-
ciples of chemistry should enter into
the primary education of every far
mers child. Farming to-day is in its
infancy. There are three kinds of
farming; we have the common farmer:
the fancy farmer. who follows the
business for pleasure. and the scienti-
iir, businessman farmer. The first
( are II plod,liny. hard working class of
men, but they allow their intellect to
| become rusty. and weakened hy hard
manual labor until they become mere
machines. the common victim of
silarpers, and mortgages. until he
tween work and worry he drops into
his grave, almost from the plow ham
die.
The second arc {; class of men who
farm merely for pleasure. and their
amusement usually costs them money
unless they stick to it long enough to
discover and apply practical business
rules to their operations. But when
this is done they belong to the class
OF businessmen farmers.
The last class spoken of arc perhaps
the most useful mrn To their poSteli-
ty than ans other class OF profession,
and it is to- the growth nj their meth
ODDS and numbers that we must look
for the elevation OF the profession of
American farming. They are men
who are advancing the business of
farming. They seldom give n mort
gage or owe a debt they are unable to
l'ay oil hand. The merchant is glad
to see him enter his; store because he
knows he will transact business in IL
business like way. pay for what he
gets and not buy what lie don't want
OF need just because its cheap. lie
respects the man for his intellect. and
good sense always commands respect.
II he has not the means of farming
500 acres he lnc. not try. but only at
tcmptS to 60 that which he can do
well. lie is u careful reader and de-
votes ut least two hours Il day to the
prrlSal of sNme leading daily and you
will always find him we'll posted in
the affairs of the world, ;und progress
i've ON his farm. He goes often a.
mong men, that his mind may expand
and feed on the ideas of others. and
his farm and bank account feel tllr rf-
fects of his progression. He is q good
ncighbor. Il genial friend and an HON
est politician. and the Lord knows we
need more of them. lie may he a
close tigurer and has to be. but he sell
dom pinchcs the purse in the wrong
place. He will never refuse to fur
nish his wife with help, nor leave his
}ow and harvester just where they
stopped work. to suffer from the ar-
tion of the elements until they are
wanted the next season. If he has mt
money enough to own q team of
houses he makes oxen 90 until he has
the money to pay for horses. and then
he buys them twenty five per cent.
cheaper than the man Who gives the
mortgage. He tills every inch of his
farm to the best advantage and makes
all there is i'm it. In fact lie is intel
liypnt and progressive. and makes his
calling respected while he adds dignI-
tv to himself. This is the plan ON
which successful American farming
must. in the near future. stand. n
intellectual. careless farming means
The falling of the farm into the hands
of the MORTGAGE dragnet. which moves
like an evil phantom over our rich
country. gobbling up victim after vic
tim. who does not realize that IL good
iron-c!ad mort.sag can draw more o"l
of him than IL four horse team can
dra:, in for him.