Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1883-04-07
The Farmers Calling.

That farming is as sure, honorable,
stable and remuneratiye a business as
one can enter upon has been proved
over and over again. 1t is true that
other kinds of business-trade, COM
merce, and some kinds of manufactur-
ing-that speculations of various kinds
banking and joint stock companies
have, especially of late years, attracted
much attention, and have been popular
with dashing and ambitious young men;
still, in the experience of few past
years, the statistics of business disasters
and failures, the moral wreck of charac-
ter and the crash and ruin of men
who are. reputed rich, have proven
that farming is an industry less Auctua-
ting, less depressed by hard times, less
subject to failures-a pursuit in which
temptation to dishonesty has had less
influence and in which men have pur-
sued the even tenor of their way with
less anxiety and with less exposure to
financial ruin and wreck of moral charac.
ter than any other kind of business.
That colossal fortunes have been, here
and there, now and then, built up by
speculation, sharp practices, gambling
in stocks, spoliatiOn of labor and by
direct and indirect robbery, we cannot
deny; but those fortunes, however
large and glittering, do not stand up to
the public gaze as monuments public
> honor, of patient industry, of painstak-
ing, honest labor, but they tower rather
as beacons, warning men to beware Of
the hidden rocks and treacherous quick
sands on which so many of life's voyages
? have been wrecked. These fortunes
have no solid foundations to rest upon
and when the floods come and the winds
blow they fall like the house built upon
sand. Farming is business that rests
upon sure foundation. 1t demands
@ honest work. 1t is not built up by
r the spoliation of Others. Its gains,
}. though they may be small, are legiti
a mate and honorably earned. There i;
n more capital invested to-day in agricul
O tural pursuits than in all Other
}. industries combined. 1t pays more
!. for the support of the Governmentand
e receives less protection and considera
e ton from the Government than any
v other interest.
:. - In looking at farming in the broaC
Y full light of practical utility, of saf
n investments, of.sure dividends and o
is the best public service, we cannot hel]
IS commencing it, and urging it upon tn
s. young as a pursuit upon the Who'll
e more satisfying, less hazardous, NOR
ar useful, honorable and remunerativ
than any other business. 1t gives
n scoupe to the intellect, play to tn
,e Imagination, range to the affections
IS field to the inventive powers, wor
3 for hand and heart which no other il
n. dustry supplies.
" But for any adequate realization {
re the advantages, the remuneration an
,ss the satisfactions of farming, there mus
be among our patrons and farmers
hs high education, better culture an
ay a larger appreciation of and devotic
I'd to their own peculiar calling. The
nd must see and feel its importance in j
al financial, social, moral and industri
lis bearings, and prepare themselves wit
Nv as much zeal and earnestness by caref
experiments, close observation and pc
es. severing study as those who propose
NE enter the learned professions, or Il
Dol paths of science, or the study and tt
RID practice of the arts Spirit of Kansa