The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-06-18
Amateur Farming.


New England Farmer.
Farming seems to be almost the only calling
which is largely followed for amusement by
amateurs The retired merchant in his deelin-
ing years, or the son of the rich merchant VINO
is at loss for some field for the employment of
his idle time and money, veryoften buysa farm,
which he tills without mucn regard to the imme-
date profit he may receive, but with the gener-
Gus purpose of improving the land. and making
it more productive. If he should be a man of
taste, and lover of the beauties of nature, he
will take much delight in embellishing his
grounds by planting ornamental trees and shrubs,
laying out lawns and drives and building green
houses and forcing pits for raising rare exotics
in winter If he loves fruit, he will plant
orchards and small fruits, and take pains to
care for them as they need.
1t would be safe to say that, on the whole, the
results of such mems labor, considered from
money point Of view only, are not profitable;
their fruit and vegetables usually cost several
times the market price; their milk and butter,
too. could be purchased in all probability for far
less than they cost their owner, and the only
part of the work which can not be safely pro
nounced Improbable is that which belongs to
the ornamental portion of the estate. Here
profit or loss are not to be estimated by any
easily applied measure and the delight
and satisfaction the owner reaps from this
portion of his work is largely dependent
upon his capacity to love and enjoy
such things, and on his ability to improve
them. Shall we infer, then, that the amateur
would be wise to confine himself to ornamental
farming and gardeningl By no means But we
would be glad to have him indulge his taste for
practical work in some method that will be of
some use to the less favored; that would com
mand the admiration and respect of the laboring
farmer, instead of provoking his derision, as is
too often the case.
works for his living on the farm, is man who
clings with good deal of obstinacy to old
fashioned ways and methods. 1t does not
help him much out of the ruts to see the
1aT,af ant
amateurs. 1t is reckless extravaganza for ex
ample, to spend 5000 per acre in clearing
stony land which is only worth 800 per acre
when cleared; it is equally reckless to produce
100 bushels of shelled per acre. if the cost of
the crop is double its market value. the anna
teur cares at all to help others, it is his duty to
carefully count the cost of any practical job be-
fore undertaking it, and to limit his enterprise
to such Jobs as are reasonably sure to pay profit
on the outlay. There are plenty of such jobs to
be done, and it only need careful consideration
of the conditions to enable any man of good
sense and business Judgment to determine be-
forehand whether they arc worth while or not;
if not likely to pay either in a pecuniary or
aesthetic way, it would be the part of good sense
to leave them undone.
There is a large field of usefulness for the
amateur farmer of means to employ his ener-
gies in making careful and well recorded expert.
ments in the use of different sorts of seeds, of
various fertilizers, of improved stock, and i'm
proved machinery. These experiments are be-
yond the means of most farmers, and yet they
are deeply interested in knowing the results at
tainable Our experiment stations doing
excellent work in this line, but there is literally
no end to the useful things worth trying, in con
nection with farm management And the intel
ligent amateur of means is the to try them,
and if his results have any practical value, he
ought to publish them in the agricultural pa
pers. If, then. there is no profit reaped in the
crop or the experiment itself, there may be val
liable information obtained, which others VIII
be glad to learn.