The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-09-18
The Dark Side of Farming.

PIP their minds as to how they should
! 90 about any necessary business, and
Consequently perform it in the most
insufficient manner. They change
Itheir minds with every fancied re-
Verse of fortune, and break up plans
! That have become settled by lapse OF
time, so that the breaking up is pro-
ductive of loss and perhaps disaster.
lfUnstable as water thou shall not ex-
feel" might be said of many farmers
Who blame their chosen pursuit for
their partial failures. instead of blam
ing their own mistakes. There is the
man who begins business as dairy,
nan, let as say he goes into-it with
a rush; perhaps he succeeds moder-
ately well, but he finds it hard work
needing tine closest application. while
1t is novel he Is interested, but as the
novelty wears off and he finds he is
only making a bare living and is not
laying up money, he becomes dispir-
tied and wants change. He declares
the dairy is an Improbable business;
that bogus butter ruins it, and that
something else pays great deal bet
ter. There comes boom in hops I;
The price goes up to dollar pound.
BY the time he has any hops to sell =,
spared enough though painful efforts
from the lice and mildew, and the
various other troubles incident to
their culture, the price is down to
eight or ten cents, and again he is
discouraged and on the ragged edge
which separates hope from despair.
His hop yard is plowed up and he
tries something else which is better,
but always with the same result. He
tires of 1t, or perhaps utterly fails,
which is probably because of the un-
fortunate want persistence, ,and los
ing at every change and turn, he is
soon in distress and goes over to the
dark side.
Perhaps there is no other cause of
failure that is So prolific and common
as this. If we examine into any
special business, in the grand indus
try of farming, we find the men en-
tering it mostly of this class.and who
have given up pursuits in which
thousands of farmers live in sunny
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groves in ,tttt,u'o chiefly hoped for but
not seen-as yet. occupied by many
such men. Fancy cattle men make
money out of them. They are chief
purchasers of novelties in seeds,
plants, implements. and all are rest
less, looking and hoping for some
readier way of making money than
persistent, effective work. The crowds
of frauds. like parasites which live
on diseased matter. prey upon such
misguided men and make victims of
them ,and every disappointment adds
to their misery. Those persons who
are in position to know. the editors
who receive so many urgent lette's
of inquiry about this new place, or
that new pursuit, and which is best
to be done under such circumstances
as no stranger could possibly form an
opinion of. know how many such un-
happy, unstable, undetermined men
there are existing, but not living,
upon farms. A time comes to many
Of them at last, when, like Eneas
tossed and driven by adverse fates'
they are cast upon some shore, wreck
ed amid storms and clouds. Then q
ray of light breaks through upor
them for they are where they cam
get away and must stick at least. anC
like men, go to work at whatever
tin Y are driven to, and persisting By
force of adversity they finally fine
what they have been wasting a life
in seeking. But it is thrust upor
them in spite of themselves.
Many man who has thus suffer
ed or who is now suffering, may lool
back to his childhood and see hOv
his early training led to this insta
bility and consequent failure. Ii
his poyish pursuits many thing
were begun but none finished, an
as he grew in years the habit grew
and became confirmed. This is
matter for parents to consider. The
have the forming of the character {
their children, and if any child ha
fallen into this habit they should col
rect it at once. To finish what hs
p been begun, to adhere to choic
which has been made after matul
and careful consideration, to persi'
and persevere, and never lose sigt
J of the end in view or turn aside froI
b its straight pursuit, are indispensab
to success. Think Of the men WI
y have made mark in the history
the time; of the leading farmer
stock breeders, hOrticulturists, dair.
men, all of whom are sought as a,
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