Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-04-07
A Plea For Agriculture.

II Il often times said hat the calling
If the farmer is the most honorable n
known to man. It is hard to conceive of
n necessary occupation that is more
honorable or more honest than another.
That the farmer is honored above men of
o:her callings is known to be false; that
farmers as q class are considered to be
inferior to men of other ~callings is known
to be equally true. And it will ever
continue to be so until the farmer be-
comes as we'll educated as the lawyer,
physician, senator, and men Of other
vocations in life to whom the masses look
for advice; until he has as much knowl-
edge; as profound a mastery Of Silence
and philosophical principles; as much
self-knowledge, and self-dependence; as
many varied attachments; as much brain
power, thought-power, heart-power, a.
they. Until that time, he will be infe-
rior to the others in power and influence;
and no device nor p~retense, nc declama-
ton nor protest, no sophistry, can make
it otherwise. 1t is the difference between
weakness and strength.
What, then, have we to say in fav(r of
the calling of agriculture? tits the man
that makes the calling and not the hall
ing the man. Let a person enter What
honest occupation he may and maxi q
success of it, and he will be honored \for
it. Better be an Alexander among bot
blacks than a fop in any profession'on
earth.
Surety of success and freedom ofeobn-
science are two of the great essentials to
human happiness. In the broad prairies
about us we may have them both. It is
a business maxim that the occupation
which yields the smallest returns at first,
or is the slowest in yielding returns, is
the surest of success.
Over ninety per cent, it is said, Of
those embarking in mercantile pursuits
fail in the enterprise. How few lawyers
are really successful! While there is Il
ways room at the top of the three bltSk
graces, Divinity, Physics and Law, hiw
many entering must be content to Ike
out a miserable existence at the irst
round of the ladder! The field of ayri-
culture stands open inviting you to axe
up her work, guaranteeing you moderate
success, at least for your efforts; and yet
at the same time she requires of you for
her highest development, a wider nnge
of knowledge than any calling on arth.
II ten men endeavor to support their
families by merchandise in a township
which affords adequate business fer but
three, it is certain that a majority must
fail, no matter how judicious theit man
agement Or how frugal their living But
you may double the number Of farmers
in any agricultural district without
necessarily booming one to failure or
V abridging his gains. If half the
traders and professional men IN this
country were to betake themselves to
farming tomorrow they would not render
that pursuit one whit less profitable,
while they would largely increase the
comfort and wealth of the entire COM
munity. And while a good merchant,
lawyer or doctor may be starved out of
any town simply because the work he
could do we'll is already conided to
others, l have not yet heard of a tenn
perate, industrious, intelligent, frugaland
energetic farmer who failed to make a
living, or who, unless Frustrated by dis
ease or. disabled by casualty, was pre-
Guided from securing a modest indie
vested him of the ability to labor.
Good farming is and must eve be a
paying business, subject like all others to
mischances and adversities and to the
general law that the struggler up from
nothing to something is ever an arduous
and almost always a slow process. In
the few instances where wealth and dis
t%inction have been swiftly won theyhave
rarely proved abiding. There are pur,
suits wherein success is more envied and
dazzling than in agriculture; but there
are none wherein efficiency and frugality
are more certain to secure comfort and
competence.-P1uirie Farmer.