Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1888-02-22
FARMERS PROFITS.
Short Talk with tho industrious Men
+ Who Guide the Pillow.

FARMERS PROFITS.
A Short Talk with tho Industrious Men
! Who Guide the Pillow.
Farming has its bright, poetic side.
The EMPOWERED cottage, with vines
and flowers and shade, the ruddy-
faced children. the blooming maiden.
the sturdy youth, the patriarchal ia
Their 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. Far from the worlds
ignsble trife''-removed from many
of the temptations that beset the
denizcns of citizens and townsville
farmer lives in close communion with
nature. The sunshine, the clouds.
the rain, the storm. cold and heat,
touch him on every sido and become
part Of his daily life. How to put
himself in unison with nature; how
10 cooperate with her; how to avoid
opposition to her laws, these are his
constant aim and study. They bring
no personal animosities, 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 its 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, no,
death; for in the unprotected grain
new life is hidden away, seeming
death only-a real Immortality. 1t is
wonderful that noble natures, with
the ripening and mcllowing of age,
turn instinctiyely to rural life. and
seek, OF long for. its quiet and freedom
from the chickering's and strifes of mea
and it's foreshadowing Of heavenly re 5,
Bat farming has also hard, bust
ness side-a matter of dollars and
cents. in the strictcst sense. In every
venture, outside of the adornment OF
his home. or the comfort Of his family,
the first questions tn al prudent farm
er should ask himself Isl" Will it pay:
Is there any profit in il?' Why
should he labor 'for that which
is naughr," any more than mer chant
" manufacturer or any body else? IN
he sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread is the D vine annou cement;
he should sweat. but he should have
bread rs the reward thereof After
taking due allowance for possible con
tingencies, after careful. sober c:lcu'
lation. farmer should have reasona.
bic grounds for believing that an un
lsrtaking will pay Def 're he begins it.
Like a judge on the benc;', he should
canvass every thin for or against it.
Neither blind hop es nor gloomy fear;
:hould sway his jul gment-these
should be ruled out of court, and he
should look at the facts in the light OF
past experience. Past experience
| hat is the touch stone, that is tn,
| safest counselor You need not fea
to follow it. The only point to b
guarded is, that you do not draw false
influences from it, and then substitute
these in the pl,ce of the experience it
self. Take the naked facts; they art
| right hard to get at sometimes; the,
become mixed up with opinions, ard
false deductions. but strip them o
! these as much as you can, and then be
| guided by past experience, whether j
! IS pleasant or not. Be honest, whcth
err it reflects on your past agemen
| or not.
Let us PROFOUND some questions
Have you good land to Justify you
running as many plows this year a
YOU did last? If you had left out
part of the poorest land you PLANTED
last year and put the manure and In
Dor upon your best land, would yo1
not have made as much, or possibl
more. and saved the keeping Of on
mule and one hand? Would it not b
very pleasant to have the money pal
that hand back in your pocket now
and the feed consumed by that mul
back in your barn? Would it not hav
been better to have sowed down thu
land, or to have left it to rest an
gather fertility to be utilized at som
future day? Does it pay you to cult
vate poor land? That is the mo!
serious the most important questio
that confronts the farmer to-day
Think of it. Look at it. as applied
your own farm. Count up the cost {
cultivation. and then set over again!
it the actual yields obtained. N
lodging. No showing over the matte
Pc, h,ps one wet year You made a ia
crop on the poor land. Will you Il
that balance the failures of four other
when the seasons were not favorable
Far better to concentrate on the be-
land on your farm, though. by so d.
ing, you make it one-horse farm
; than to run eight plows ON poor Ian
and simply make enough to pay tt
expense of cultivation. or possibly NJ