St. Landry democrat., 1888-02-18
FARMERS PROFITS,
4 Short Talk with the Industrious Men
Who Guide the Pillow.

and flowers and shade, the ruddy-
faced children, the blooming maiden.
the sturdy youth, the patriarchal IA
ther and motherly mother; these
naturally spring up before the mental
eye at mention of the farm. Green
fields, waving corn, lowing herds,
frisking lambs, racing colts, growing
cocks and cackling geese, complete
the picture. Ear from the world 8
ignoble strife'-removed from many
Of the temptations that beset the
dcaizons of citizens and towns -the
farmer lives in close communion with
nature The sunshine, the clouds,
the rain, the storm, cold and heat,
touch him on every side and become
part Of his daily life. How to put
himself in unison with nature; how
to cooperate with her; how to avoid
opposition to her laws, these are his
constant aim and study. They bring
no personal animcsities, no initiative
antagonisms To watch the tiny seed
ling spring from the buried seed; to
see it expand and grow into the lofty
corn with its yellow tassels, flowing
silks and hanging ears. or the branch
ing cotton with it's snowy locks. sug-
gestive of death and lite, of the grave
and the resurrection, this is the pleas
ing. ennobling occupation of each
recurring year of his life. In these he
sees his own life pictured-birth,
growth, maturity, death. No, not
DEATH; for in the perfected grain
a new life is hidden away, seeming
death only-a real Immortality. 1t is
wonderful that noble natures, with
the ripening and mellowing of age,
turn instinctively to rural life, and
seek, or long for. its quiet and freedom
from the chickering's and strifes of men
and its foreshadowing of heavenly re SIT?
But farming has also a hard, bust
ness side-a matter of dollars and
cents. in the strictest sense. In every
venture, outside of the adornmcnt of
his home, or the comfort of his family,
the first questions tn at a prudent farm
er should ask himself Isl" Will it ray?
Is there any profit in it?' Why
should he labor '.for that which
is naught," any more than merchant
or man ufacturer or any body else9 "In
the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread is the Divine announcement;
he should sweat, but he should have
bread as the reward thereof After
taking due allowance for possible con-
tingencies, after careful, sober calcu-
lation farmer should have reasona-
BILE grounds for believing that an I'M
dertaking will pay before he begins ii.
Like Judge on the bench, he should
canvass every thing for OF against it.
Neither blind hop es nor gloomy fears
should sway his judgment-these
should be ruled out of court, and he
should look at the facts in the light of
past experience. Past experience
that is the touch stone, that is the
safest counselor You need not fear
20 follow it. The only point to be
guarded is, that you do not draw false
influences from it. and then substitute
these in the place of the experience it
self. Take the naked facts; they are
right hard to get at sometimes; they
become mixed up with opinions, and
false deductions, but strip them of
these as much as you can, and then be
guided by past experience, whether it
is pleasant or not. Be honest. wheth-
er it reflects on your past man gement
or not.
Let us PROFOUND some questions:
Have you good land to Justify your
running as many plows this year as
you did lastp If you had left out a
part of the poorest land you planted
last year and put the manure and la
Dor upon your best land, would you
not have made as much, or possibly
more, and saved the keeping Of one
mule and one hand? Would it not be
very pleasant to have the money paid
that hand back in your pocket now.
and the feed consumed by that mule
back in your barn? Would it not have
been better to have sowed down that
land. or to have left it to rest and
gather fertility to be utilized at some
future day? Does it pay you to culti-
vate poor land? That is the most
serious, the most important question
that confronis the farmer to-day.
Think of it. Look at it. as applied to
your own farm. Count up the cost of
cultivation. and then set over against
it the actual yields obtained. No
lodging. No showing over the matter.
Perhaps one wet year you made a fair
crop on the poor land. Will you let
that balance the failures of four others,
when the seasons were not favorable?
Far better to concentrate on the best
land on your farm, though. by so do
ing you make it one-horse farm.
than to run eight plows on poor land
and simply make enough to pay the
expense of cultivation, or possibly not
do even that.
Does it pay to keep the same land
year after year in cotton. without rota-
tionp Does it pay to run ibws up and
town hill and let the soil wash away,
WITHOUT terraces or bitches to save itP
Dies it pay to raise cotton to al ha. va
AAand meat? Does it pay to buy mules
Nd horses whe<>They can be raised at
n n .