The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1884-08-30
Business Methods on the Farm.

Farmers might do worse than take a
little note OF how other business men
manage their affairs and learn some
thing from their observations. A farm
er should not be like clam and shut
himself up within the hard shell of his
own ways and notions, nor think it mat
tiers nothing to him how the world
moves, or to the world how he gets
along. He may learn good deal by
studying the way of people in cities that
For instance, if he should go into a city
workshop and find one or two men at
work in one corner, but all the rest of
the great building empty, or, if filled, the
machines running empty and wearing
out with rust, he would be struck with
wonder and amazement. If he were
to interview the owner, whom ne would
certainly think to be crazy. and were
told that he had not sufficient means to
furnish his factory, that he could not
afford TO hire labor, or that he was doing
well enough, that he made living, and
was well satisfied with what he was
doing, our farmer would be more and
more amazed. That is, if he were not
struck with similarity between the case
of this man and his own when his
thoughts were turned to his own farm,
where the larger part of his fields was
overrun with weeds; where the crops
yielded little more than the seed for
want of tillage or fertilizers; where
half his cows failed to pay for their
feed; where his crops were destroyed
by insects, his land poisoned with stag
nant water for want of drainage, and
all this was excused because lie could
not afford TO hire labor, or buy fertiliz-
ers, or procure good stock, or that he
was doing we'll enough.
Ii we could only see ourselves as
others see us how different we should
act! 1t helps us thus to see ourselves
to watch closely other men. 1t helps
the farmer 20 become acquainted with
other business men by whose industry
and enterprise markets are found for
farm products. Competition, too, spurs
him to greater efforts or to better
methods, but, unless he knows more
about what his competitors are and
what they are doing than the bare fact
that they are growing wheat more
cheaply than he is, or are making sub
stitutes for his butter and cheese from
cheap lard and tallow, he will be poor
~ able to keep ahead in the race and
will find himself left behind.
In observing the ways of other
business men farmer will find
that each man makes his special bust
ness his life's work, and studies it thor
ougly inside among his own machinery
and work, and outside among his Gus
toners, both actual and prospective,
and sticks to it through good times and
bad that economy in every way is most
strictly enforced, no work or means of
any kind being wasted, no opportunity
being missed, no dead stock being car
ried, and everything that does not pay
being ineXorably and Immediately cut
off. And if he learns no more than this
he will at least discover that in gen
era! way the business man who should
run his store or workshop as the ma or
| ity of farms are run would very soon
be without any business at all. No
doubt it is true that large proportion
of business men fail to succeed. But
all these failures are due to the want
OF the strict business methods which
| alone insure success, and it is simply
an indication that the farmers business
is nm excellent and profitable one that
| so few farmers fail in it, rather than
| their methods are the best. So that we
see very few farmers succeed in other
businesses, while great many buSi-
ness men make excellent and success
tul farmers. AZ L. Times.