Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1886-01-14

snow the wonderful butter capacity of
one breed, the wonderful milk capacity
OF another, and the astonishing beef eapa-
cities OF still others-pOintS which weigh
strongly in the choice of breeds, as indi-
eating just these things. Astonishing
yields, however, as secured, are not usu-
ally IN themselves sources of agricultu+
raj profit. Superiative performance, toe.
is often obtained az the expense Of vi
Itality. The premature death Of famous
dairy cows has ceased to be matter of
wonder-the people having come to un-
derstand the price at 16ich exceSsfve
yield is not unfrequently purchased.
i While he should not waste bis ener>
gies in thus striving after the undesira>
Die, even if attalnable, the farmer should
not be satisfied with average merit, ell
ther in the stock which he buys or in
that which he produces; and no pro-
gressive farmer is satisfied to occupy =
position of Improbable m5diocrity.
There are enough careless and shiftless
people engaged in agriculture to reduce
the average yield of nearly everything
cropped from the fields, as we'll az of
everything grown in pasture, paddock
or stable, to shametully low basis.
! The people have but little respect.
though, and 10 admiration, either for
the contented average man in any pHr
suit, or for what he gives to the world -
the result of his labor whether il be the
average sermon, the average lecture, tue
average newspaper, or the average any
thing else which challenges public at
tention. There should be no patience
with the bare suggestion of average
work OF any kind With no higher ideal
than this, the live, common sense farm
er must work back ward-a kind of pro-
ceeding at the mere idea of Whicn ones
self-reSpect involuntarily revolts. Shuts
ting himself within this narrow limit
| be virtually dismisses all thought of
progress, and debars himself from use
fulness as citizen, and character and
standing as a,buslnes man. Progressive
men always want to do better than they
have done In the past, aud the live farm
er carries this idea into bis stOckTrais.
ing. Merit, from his standpoint, means
something better than he EaS ever own
ed, and better, if possible. than any Of
his neighbors have owned; and his ap'
probation of merit takes the form of q
determination that all shall be able 10
note, in the makeup of his focks and
herd, that he is no average st9cKman.
Itis wholesome emulation which
prompts a man to desire to excel his
neighbor in the quality of his stock
whether it be on the fair ground, or in
the market. 1t is stimulus which is
doing a vast deal for the prosperity of
American live stock interests, and which
must be counted no Insignificant ele-
ment of our national progress. Taking d
common sense view of merit, our do
nesticated animals cannot be made too
good for profit, though too much greed
IN taking advantage ef natures good
work may defeat its own end. There is
point up to which the more they can
be made to do and yield, the more will
there will be realized from them. Just
where and when this point is to be
found, the Judgment of each farmer
must decide for himself and if he in
vestigate tie matter thoughtfully, with
the liked purpose of finding out, he will
approximate sufficiently near to prevent
his making a mistake. The point is
rarely. if ever, reached, though, where a
farmer is ready to say that he has done
his possible best. To say this is practi-
cally to admit that the limit Of progress
with him has been reached. And what
live farmer will make an admission of
this kind?
The practical merit of any kind of
stock depends, among other things, upon
the treatment received at its owners
hands. Blood, and breeding, and rare
natural capacity are poweriess to eUn-
tribute to successful stOck-raising unless
accom- panied by the cooperation Of hu-
tnane thoughtfulness. intelligent man
agement, and regular care. Merit is not
proof against neglect, and starvation,
and abuse. 1t is power for good on
the farm only when supplemented by a
ljudicious adaptation, as far a. practics-
ble, of the stock purchased to ones Cir
ca instances. and, conversely, of ones
circumstances, in some degree, to the
stock purchased. Failure ia much more
often attributable to the improper treat
nent and insufficient or iujuaicious
feeding of stock than to the fact of inr
capacity in the stock itself to do what
is rightfully expected of it. Misman-
agement is an evil for which there is
absolutely no remedy, let ones business
be what it may. Let the surrounding
conditions be ever so auspici0us, lack
here will render abOrtive the most lib
eral'expenditure and tireless effort.
The farmer as q stock-raiser is the farmer in
his natural condition. 1t is an abnormal state
of affairs when the two legitimate coordinate
branches of his business are separated, or when
either is neglected. The old nomadic life
of the Orient, in which the cattle on thous-
and hills were mans only possessions, and
their supervision almost his only industry, and
the modern bonaza farming of California and
Dakota, in which livestock has no part, show
two extremes, both of which are inimical to
civiliz alton and material progress. The proper
Idevelopement of our resouces, and the Solid
growing prosperity of our nation are largely
consequent upon the fact of the general divi-
sion of our lands into farms of reasonable di-
mensions, occupied by men who realize that
the flock and the herd are as necessary to the
successful prosecution of their business as are
waving harvests and well-flled granaries. What
our people need now, more than anything else,
is that every stimulus be afforded to make
high-class stock-raising still more general, and
to induce them everywhere to improve the
quality of the product. obtained from this
source. Let every influence whose tendency is
to educate the farming community to better
appreciation of genuine merit in domesticated
animals be strengthened, and let no occasion
pass unimprOved for impressing upon the popu-
lar mind the fact that iHdi0idudI progress is
the foundation of national progress in thi.
direction.
The great American Republic is sweeping on
in the grandest material development known
in history. That this is ian age on ages tell
! ing" means as mnch, too, to the tiler of the
soil as it does to the practical scientists who
are fast crowning our civilization with every
mechanical appliance which our industries re-
quire; and who are filling the land with rail-
roads, telegraphs, telephones, and the manifold
products of the FRAMEWORK of these latter DAYS
To keek pace with other industries, agriculture
must be up and doing, and just now its most
substantial advance can be made in the i'm
provement of its stock from its own practical
standpoint. To accelerate the forward move
ment of our farmers in this matter furnishes in
itself sufficient apology for the existence of
breeders associations, farmers clubs, agrisul-
tural fairs, or anything else which may awaken
thought or stimulate action.
Progress and enterprise naturally crowd to-