The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-11-06
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.


We give the follow interesting article
from the american Cultirator of Boston.
1t is from the pen of Mr.. Ben: Pcrley
Poore, and well worth the earnest con
sideration of farmers in all parts of the
country.
Progressive agriculture, as some APP
pear to understand it means going
ahead, without regard to safety or ex-
pense. The young progressive farmer
who never hoed an acre of corn or moved
an acre OF grass, fancies that by APP
plying what he calls business princi-
pies to agriculture, he can roll up for
tune in a few years. He must have a
farm as large as his father had in his
old age; must live in better house
than his parents ever thought they
needed; he must drive better horse,
ride in n better carriage; sport a finer
watch; live in more fashionable STYLE
play the gentleman atmore expense; cut
larger swells; speak louder, and be known
further than his old fogy ancestors ever
dared to dream Of
'The young progressive farmer has
no idea Of getting rich by the little; he
is bound to have pile all at once. He
is not going to bring up lambs by hand,
sell turnips at twenty five cents a bushel,
carry chickens to market, wear patched
clothes and cart potatoes round like a
peddler. Not he. Talk to him about
cultivating farm of fifty acres! Why,
he wants four or five hundred acres, and
he will demonstrate by figures that the
more land he cultivates the larger his
percentage of profits will be.
Talk to one of these progressive
farmers, and he will laugh at you. Why,
he is sure that he knows thousand
things that would astonish his father.
Experienced To be sure he has not
had it himself, but he knows who has
and what it is. OF course he is safe
has through ticket to fortune on the
express, double-quick time. He wants
to start, not at the bottom of the hill,
but at the top of it. He don't believe
in climbing up slowly, working and
waiting, and though he may be willing
to work, he is not anxious to wait. He
would be happy could he reverse the
order of the seasons, and reap in the
spring. He would like to reap just be
fore he sows SO as to SOW money instead
of seed. The old way of beginning
with a small farm and few tools, and
working up by slow degrees, is not con-
sistent with his notions of the dignity of
agriculture.
"Now this is just the point be-
lieve young men need to be set right on
Instead of beginning with much they
ought to begin with little. Instead of
large farm they ought to have only a
small one. Their experience is small,
their judgment is weak, and their wants
ought to be few And beginning with
few acres they will soon learn how 20
proceed to insure the best results.
Large streams from little fountains flow,
Tai oaks from little acorns grow.
''Somc educators try to make us be-
lieve there is some royal road to learning
by which Ounces can take a short cut to
the Old college honors. But this is all
false. 1t is a sham, got up to cheat fools.
There is but one road to learning, and
that is the hard old up hill way OF severe
study and long, close application.
True, there has been real progress
made in agriculture, and there are many
machine helps in the field, in the barn
and in the house that our fathers and
mothers did not enjoy. But the young
farmer who has inherited bank account
should not undertake to be too progress
sive. lie should begin with small farm,
the acres of which bear some proper re-
lation to his experience acd his actual
knowledge. Let him buy few acres,
build small house, secure little stock
and such implements as he must have and
begin in a small way. Let him raise his
own seed, plant his own nursery, in.
crease his herds and cattle by natural
generation and not by purchase, except
an occasional male animal of good
blood. Let his own skill and
industry supply his own wants as
far as possible. AS he adds acres to his
farm and rooms to his house and length
and breadth to his barn and numbers to
his cattle, horses and herds, and COM
forts to his home and weight TO his char
acter and purse, he will feel Just pride
in the thought that all this is the result
of his own skill and industry. He will
learn how to keep and improve what he
gets, and to add more and still more to
his possessions. He will feel that he is
himself living power, capable of pro-
ducing The means of comfort and wealth.
''Such young man may not figure in
mutual admiration cliques as progressive,
but he will be counted as growing
man. And growing man is Il man al
ways in the favor OF his fellows. When
a man is going up everybody is glad TO
lend him helping hand. All who know
him volunteer to do him service. But
when he is going down all step forward
to kick him along. Every one acccler-
ates his downward course. 1t is always
best, therefore, to start at the bottom of
the hill and work steadily up. Better
be small and rising little than great and
falling little. The true course for
every young man in every business is to
begin at the alphabet of his business and
rise as fast as he can safely and honora-
bly,"
IN MI