Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1885-01-17
EARNING.

Inc following excellent rtlcle snOulQ
be read by every farmer in Dakota, or
any other country. It contains sound
common sense, is full of practical sug-
gestions and should be pondered deeply.
W. do not know who the author is, but
it Is good enough to and should appear
in every newspaper in the land:
There are farmers and farmers in this
country as well as in every country.
Some of them are making money every
year while. others are not, and these
wonder why their neighbors all have so
much "luck," while year afteryear they
are going to the dogs. Now, there may
be many reasons for this, and there
doubtless are, but when we see a "farm-
err who spends all of his time at the viii
lage saloons, leaving all his important
work to the care of irresponsible hired
men, we do not wonder very much at
his want of "luck'' as he calls it. Ifthat
same man was breaking a span of colts
he would not think of hitching them to
a wagon and allowing them to take care
of themselves as best they might all day
while he sought amusement elsewhere.
He would naturally think that in order
to break them successfully he must per-
sonally attend to them. He must drive
them. So if he would be successful on
his farm he must ''push things" 1t is
not enough to give orders to some one
who is interested no further than his
wages; he must personally see that
everything is done as it should be and
that not a minute is wasted. A man to
be a successful farmer must be so much
in love with his business that he will give
it his whole undivided attention. Such
a man will never fail, providing he has
good common sense to back him up. A
a might have hundreds o facres under
cultivation, with a large number of cat
tie, horses, hogs and sheep, with money
in the bank, and yet if he neglects his
farm and stock, neglects his business for
any cause whatsoever, he would be a
pauper in a very short time. No bust
ness will run itself, and that man who
acts upon the principle that it will il
worse than q fool. There is an old maxim
which no man can afford to lose sight of,
and that is, '"There is no excellence with
out labor" Again, a man may work
like a galley slave all his life and if he
does not exercise good judgment it avails
him nothing. The best business men
we have-the men who make the most
m~oney-are those who work hard both
summer and winter, whose hearts are i n
their business and who give it their
whole strength. Some grumblers there
are who, with plenty Of stock, which
should be their especial care, allow the
stock to 60 uncared for and unheeded
while they enjoy a good whine about
their ill LUCK" when if they would
brace up and attend to their business
they might be somebody in the world.
They have had every opportunity to
make a success and are themselves to
blame if they do not. Some farmers
seem to think that as soon as the pillow is
frozen fast in the furrow that settles it.
There is now nothing more to be done
until that pillow "freezes loose'' in the
spring. That's where they make their
mistake. If there is nothing else to do
the farmer can put in his winter to good
advantage studying ways and means to
better his condition. That man is said
to be a true genius who can cause two
blades of grass to grow where only one
grew before. The long winter furnishes
a good opportunity for farmers and
farmers clubs (every progressive neigh
borhood should have one) to consider
how these things al be done. The wise,
progressive farmer will have some stock
to care for in the winter and he will en-
deavor to make that stock pay the most
by attention to improving it and caring
for it. There is no country in the world
where farming will pay better than here.
Farming is a business and when so con-
sidered and managed will prove success
full.