Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-07-24
READING UP.
,ng Matters Relating to the Farm
n and Herda.

tp. Matters Relating to the Farm
h"' and Herda.
uost farmers pride themselves upon
.e;nr practical men, 10 the exclusion,
- thew wish it to be understood, of all
.omblance to theory, and emphatically
.,.ppcd of all leaning toward science.
h, is not duly considered that the re-
s,,1ts. under the hand of the ~so-called
,ractical man, are identically the same
unon growing and maturing crops, so
far as an opportunity is given, as
slough manipulated by farm scientist.
uLe outside limit of a given farm to
carry stock, to be fed entirely upon the
,rnducts of its own surface, is now and
1bcp reached by men who have care
tnlly studied Natures book-always
ancn-through an extended term of
Wars. But it should be borne
IN mind that men who are sue
|cesssul in the stated are
always possessed of close powers OF
observation, and that rare faculty
called good Judgment. The opinion
has b en- long deeply mgraincd into the
nj nds of farmers in general, that there
is a degree of antagonism between
science and practice. That the former
tended to the elbowing aside of the
latter; in other words, that practical
views were to be ignored the moment
that science took a hand in the man.
acemcnt. The use of q new machine,
changing seed, or the procuring of a
new variety. are operations carried on
bv the so-called strictly practical man,
vet as fully based upon scientific prin-
cples as upon mere practice. The
daily routine work of the most unpre-
tending farmer brings out Illustrations
Of the most complex scientific charac-
ter, ard whenever he leaves the old
beaten path SO long troddcn by the
fathers. and ventures so far upon new
ground as to ask himself if there may
not possibly be a better way than ira
dtion has taught him to follow, he is
on the verge of theorizing.
Breeders of improved farm stock
would be in a sorry plight if they neg
lected to keep abreast of the times by
reading up in the literature OF breed
iue. No wise men, only those wise in
their w conccit, ever attempt to get
together, breed and market valuable
annals, about which there is an &C.
credited literature, without keeping
fully informed as to what this litera-
,ure unfolds from week to week, and
from month to month. The collection
of important facts, bearing upon the
bus ness of the breeder, benefits no one
but him who follows up the reading Of
these with care. OF others, it is not
saving too much of them that they are
eroping their way in the dark. The
breeding OF the higher classes of farm
stock is not q stationary, non-progres-
sive business; once looked up, perhaps
through the herd-book alone, then to
be dropped out of sight. SO far as fol-
lowing ND the news and reading up on
the details of the art are concerned.
The breeder, or ever tho herdsman. who
omits to keep tracko of events transpiring
from day to day, and neglccts to fol-
low up such details as get into print,
will find h mself very much at a loss
when thrown into the company of men
who keep abreast of the times. With
surplus stock on hand to dispose of, the
man who is thoroughly read up. is, all
things being equal. infinitely the bet
ter salesman of the two, for the rcason
that he is able to point out any minute
advantage an animal may have in its
breeding, as the fashion of the hour
may require, as well as to give such
Wholesale advice to inexperienced buy
ers as the i%ntr.cacies of the business de-
mand. These intricate details are NOS
to be guessed at, neither learned by
tradition. This is not an age when
progress is made b groping, plodding
or guessing, but only by close study
and active enterprise. Those who re-
" upon tradition and hearsay intlu-
cnccs are left far in the rear, and the
breeder who justly comes under these
c criticisms may as well go back to the
plow and consider himself a mere clod-
hopper. for. whether he will it SO or
not, he will be rated as such.-National
Lie iStOcb: %,J0N7.DnL.