St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1886-01-28
Ghe Ga1eduniam.
A SUCCESSFUL FARMER.

highly drawn, perhaps, but contains a
good many admirable suggestions,
that will apply to farming in Vermont
as well as in the South. Furthermore
it tells refreshing story of the new
South and gives an insight into the
d.tys that are better than the days of
slavery:
Mr.. Robert Rood is young farmer.
Thin, Drowned, all fibre, slow but easy
of motion, self-reliant and indepen-
dent-he is "a fine type of the young
Southern farmer.
""The earth is gold mine," he says,
''tO any man that works it diligently"
1t hasvcertainly proved to be one to
Mr.. Rood. In seven years he has
made,over $4,000 in farming-nOt by
speculating-fo he has lost $4,000 by
that method; but by the patient till
ing of the earth, and the slow trans
mutation of sunshine, rain and sweat
into corn and cotton. The story of his
work is significant, and it may be i'm
proving, so here it is in paragraphs,
coaxed from his own lips.
"My father said to me, about seven
years ago. My son, Pm going to die,
and leave $4,000 in honest debts that
you must pay In six weeks he was
dead, and l took the plantation in
Stewart county on the ChattahoOcheo
river. [ mOrtgaged the place for $4,000
and went to work. The first lesson L
learned was economy. l darned my
OWL socks and patched my clothes as
they wore out. When | went to Eu
fala l put biscuit in my pocket, and
when l got to town tied my horse to II
rack and saved hotel bills. | ran a
plough myself, leading the way for my
hands. At night 1 lit up the forge and
did my own blacksmithing, learning as
| went. l never left my farm day,
and slept only six hours night"
"That must have brought success"
'EOf course it did, as it would have
brought it in any other business. In
two years l had paid my debt and had
money in bank. l have made in actu-
al money over $4,000. This is my
poorest year, and yet 1 will clear over
$500. | would not give any man five
dollars to guarantee me $4,000 a year
on my ten-mule farm for the next ten
years. Farming is the safest business
man can engage in, if he goes at it
right"
''What are the rules by which you
work 2"
"First, raise my own provisions. l
have 1000 bushels of corn, 1000 bush
els of oats, 800 bushels of peas, and
400 gallons of syrup now for sale. l
raise much of my own meat, and would
raise it all except that my climate is
too warm to cure it in. l never saw
man who did not raise his own corn
Al. l., / 11rs
saw cOrn-raiser that wasn't a pros
porous farmer. You can often figure
out that you can buy corn cheaper
than YOU can raise it-but that is only
on paper. Corn raisers prOsper-the
others fail. My cotton crop is always
cash surplus. | make my other crops
carry the farm.
''Next to raising my own corn, l
count personal attention to my bust
ness. | SOW every bushel of oats my
self, because | never found a hand that
could do it right. This fall | worked
eleven hours a day with a three-peck
basket on my arm and sOwed oats
ahead of twelve plOughs, till the ends
of my fingers were bleeding. In max
ing syrup got along with four hours
of sleep in twenty-fOur, and the result
is perfect syrup. l superintend every
detail of my farming. Every back
strap of my harness has bag of moss
SeWed under the leather to protect the
mules back. Thread wouldn't do for
that sort of sewing as it would rot
Iron wire wouldn't, for it would rust.
So every pad is Sewed with copper
wire. | never had scald back or a
piece of broken skin on mule since
Fve been farming.
"Next to personal supervision is
economy. Nothing is wasted on my
farm. | have 100 tons of homemade
manure cOmpOsted now, and one ton
of cOmposted manure is worth three
tOns of guanO. Not blade of grass is
burned on my place. That, with the
refuse of my sugar cane even, is turn
ed under and enriches the ground. 1t
is small things that make or ruin the
farmer. My neighbors use two or
three sets of plough lines year-mine
last me two or three years. Every
night oil every wagon on my place,
using cotton oil. Once a month [ have
every axle cleaned and the old oil rub
bed off. This saves my wagons. My
stock and crops are all protected the
same way. The poorest house on my
place is the one l live in"
elbow about your labor p
"Better than slaves. l pay them SO
a month, half in cash every Saturday
night, and allow each hand half acre
for potatoes and an acre for corn, and
give them every Saturday afternoon.
They work because they know [ know
it when they shirk. They began steal
ing from me. l slept on the ground
every night for three weeks, bagged
three of the thieves, and now Pm safe.
When they are well make them work,
and when they are sick give them
medicine from my own hand. In short,
they know l watch them and they
work.
"You find the life happy one9"
"The freest, happiest, most indepen-
dent life in the world. L have not
been sick day in eleven years. When
l lie down l sleep. l ask no man any
odds. My broad acres are there and
they are exhaustless. The best bank
farmer can have is his land. Every
dollar he puts there is safe and will
pay him interest and principal. Many
farmers sell their cotton seed. That is
rObbing their land. l buy cotton seed,
for with acid phosphate and stable
manure it makes the best fertilizer.
The farmer is the one independent
man."
81 cannot understand" Mr.. Rood
went on to say, "why a young fellow
will stay in the city and clerk at
small salary with no future when a
farmers life is open to him. No man
could have had much worse start
than did. Now, in spite of markets,
: weather or anything else, l can live a
freeman's life with health, open air, ex-
ercise. and at the end of every wear