The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-02-09
Farmers with . Hobby.

Farmers With Hobby.
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/, Ahobby is simply the development Of
. Especially. yA.m man may make &
specially Of a certain branch of tfsde Or
business, and yet not pprsne 1t as q
hobby. In fact, q man with hobby IS
usually looked upon as man who pur-
sues one idea to- the. exclusion of all
other. useful or otherwise. Much, how
ever. as he has been sneered at, he is the
one Of all others likely to make . great
or invent something which
the world in time will think almost in,
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 insufferable bores,
If not as nuisances or lunatics. If agri-
culture, Is is sometimes claimed, is be-
hind other industries, it is because fewer
men have pursued some branch of it as
8 hobby. There are few farmers, it is
true. who have specialties and engage
in them with vigor, and, as rule, these
men succeed better than those who
drift along easily without making an
effort to excel in any special branch Of
agriculture. f7di go lEa s. .lL's .u
> The specialist makes more rapid pro-
gress than his neighbors, not because he
works any harder, but because he is
usually better informed in regard to his
business for he cannot expect to- excel
unless he seeks knowledge from other
sources than his own labOrs and expert
ments. knowledge is but the accumu-
lation Of the ideas and experience 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 to the sum total of human knowl-
edge.
We confess that in our experience .
man without q hobby is, as q rule, q
rather dull fellow, and the more useful the
hobby is likely to be, the better we like
the possessor of it. We hail with pleas
re the appearance of such men among
farmers, for there is abundant room for
them, and great discoveries must natur-
ally come from close application and
persistent pursuit of the end or object
sought for. There is scarcely grain.
fruit. or vegetable cultivated that could
not be improved by judicious and intelli-
gent management, and the same may
be said of every breed of domestic ami
mails. In addition, new varieties and
breeds may be brought into existence
whenever desired.
- OF course we would not have man
neglecthis business or impoverish him.
self, as some have done. in order to pur-
sue an impracticable idea. but when
ever it is plain that better thing is
needed than we possess, and there is q
chance of producing it. it is commend
able act to make the attempt. evenif a
complete failure be the result. There
are usually hundred failures 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 ocean, but this has not
prevented the building of great and sue
cessful ocean steamers The inventors
of reapers and mowers did not escape
failures, some of which were disastrous;
but these men had 4 hobby, and they
pursued it until they triumphed over
every obstacle. A farmer may raise a
hundred new varieties of corn or other
grain, not one of which will be in any
way superior to the parent sort, and
then he may try again, and the very first
one will be far superior to anything OF
the kind he has seen, at least for his own
farm and adjacent regions; for it should
be borne i'm mind that farm product or
breed of animals may be adapted to one
locality and not to another. q r-Hu ri p
Our farmers are gradually coming to
look at this subject of adaptation OF
plants and animals to certain locations,
soils and climates in its proper light;
hence the increase of late years of special
lists among the more intelligent agricul-
turists throughout the country. Expert
ence has shown that what is called gen
erai or mixed farming is not the most
profitable anywhere. The reason is to
be found in the extreme variation in our
soils and climate. One farm or limited
region of country may be we'll adapted
to the growth of wheat and oats. another
to corn and potatoes, while others pro-
duce excellent hay and pasture grasses,
and are therefore especially adapted to
the raising of stock and the production
Of butter and cheese. Then there are
regions especially adapted to the raising
Of certain kinds of fruits and vegetables
all of which, when discovered, becomes
of value to those who may choose to take
of circumstances. -'- -'-
If any farmer would select some par
tleular breed OF domestic. animals to ex-
pertinent 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 better
than has heretofore been known, a imam
cial reward awaits him. Wewant, to see
a 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 a va
riety is within the range of possibilities,
and the man who has the time and in
clination to pursue such hobby long
enough can scarcely fad of success, pro-
vided he resides in good corn-growing
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 of two or
more varieties; but this can only be de-
by. experiment. -,
Considerable improvement has been
made in wheat during the past few
years, but there is room for a greater
advance, as the larger proportion OF our
common varieties produce taller stems
and more leaves than is necessary for
the perfection of the small amount of