The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1885-07-11
FARMING.

The following article is taken from the Hagers
town Mail, and may be read with profit by farm
ers everywhere: GAS the population of the
country increases and the various occupations of
life become overcrowded, agriculture will form |
the great refuge for those striving after liveli-
hood. There can be a superhuity of professional
men, of mechanics and Of tradesmen, but in agri-
culture the ranks cannot be overcrowded. 1t is |
true that vast increase in agricultural products
may and will decrease the market price, yet
man with a family who is struggling for existence
makes a market for his own goods. He produces
his own meat and bread, fruit, vegetables, and by
raising sheep, most of his clothing also. Thus
however hard times may be, the farmer and his
family secure from starvation and beyond the
necessity for charity. The unemployed strik-
ing operative may be feeling the pinch of hunger,
the discharged clerk may see his family in want,
but the farmer long as he is reasonably thrifty,
is safe from want. In view of all of this it is not
pleasant to see the sons of farmers abandoning
the homesteads and going off to the cities to be-
come clerks at contemplate wages and with no
prospect, or but a remote one, of improving their
condition. 1t has been amusing to see some of
our contemporaries who have lately been discuss
ing this subject, undertake to account for it all on
the ground of social position. 1t seems to be the
opinion of some of these observing ones that the
social position of a bookkeeper or even of dry
farmer There has never been time since the
agricultural Egyptians refused to sit at meat
with Joseph's brethren, that farming was not
esteemed most honorable pursuit. The ancient
Romans, the proudest of all people, went to
little farm to get their Dictator, the great Cincin
nattus, and the "Cincinnattus of the West" was
himself most ardent farmer. The change from
pastoral to agricultural pursuits in ancient times
marked the advance in civilization of people,
There is probably society in the civilized
world from which a cultivated gentleman would
be excluded because of his being a farmer. The
recent convention of representative farmers of
Maryland, held in Baltimore, was made up we
suppose, of as intelligent, intellectual and able
men as could have been selected from any of the
learned professions, and more so than could have
been gathered from the ranks of any other calling
eve believe that the real cause of the reluc
lance of young men to become farmers, is the de-
sire to avoid the hard work and drudgery which
they taught to be inseparable from the life of
farmer. And herein is the mistake made by
the farmers themselves. we'll do farmer has
no right to deprive his of the advantages of a
fair education and make mere day laborer of
him. farmer should bring up his boys to take
a delight in the farm and in everything apper-
tanning to farm work. He should be taught to
be industrious, but not like dumb driven cattle.
Most farms in this county are too large, and if
they were divided up among the farmers sons
i'll the average size reduced to about 100 acres,
we believe it would introduce such improvements
in methods, that in not many years the farm of
100 acres would bring more money in the market
than 200 acres will bring now. Indeed, the price
of our land is too low, and it is largely because
it takes so large sum of money to purchase
farm Of average size, that there can be but little
competition among buyers. We reported last
week the sale of a small farm in this county for
1925 an acre. If it had contained 200 acres of
even better land, it would not have brought near
much per acre, because few people prepared
to invest $4,000 at time We believe that
farmers would advance the prosperity of our
county and of themselves individually if they
would consent to educate their sons better, not
work them like common laborers, but give the
work to those people who have no other means of
seaport and who rapidly leaving us because
they cannot get work, and to divide their farms
up into smaller tracts and set up their grown sons
as farmers"