The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1889-08-31


What Constitutes Good Farmer.
Good and skillful farming cnnsti-
tntes one of the N ightiest bulwarks
of which civil liberty can boast.
But to constitute a good and an
accomplished farmer, one who can
pursue the honorable occupation to
which he belongs with profit, honor,
and pleasure to himself and with
advantage to his country, he should
have the following traits of character:
First He should have intelli
gence, industry, and enterprise;
without these, liur, gypsum, guano,
and phosphates d. very little good.
Second. He must be man of
integrity, one who should scorn to
defraud his land, his beast, his ser
want, or his neigh hor.
1had. He must understand how
to CT cate and hos To preserve the
fertility Of his land, and he mnst
not only understand it, but he must
see to it that it is done.
Fourth He must understand the
best mode of rearing and improving
stock, and should keep the best
breeds.
Fifth. He must have industry
enough to reduce his knowledge to
practice; if he pays his hired hands
one dollar per day, he can earn two
by working along with them.
The first law Of success is the
bending of all energies to one point
The range of human knowledge ha
increased so enormously, that no
one brain can gra pple with all that
is to be learned. and the man who
wants to know on, thing well must
have the courage to remain ignorant
of thousand others, however at.
tractive and inviting they may be.
As with knowledge so with work.
This life is too short to do everything,
or learn more than one occupation,
trade, or profession thoroughly. |
would by no means deny man the
satisfaction of knowing what is 60
ing on, or glancing over the field of
knowledge, but let it be remembered
that all this vast knowledge is held
in possession by the combined world.
The knowledge Of two is exactly the
same. The world is full of people,
and they are all learning, and the
one half have never come TO the
point where it is said tnat wisdom
begins, namely: When one discov-
ers that he knows comparatively
Ue,y little. From this point he
seeks counsel, advice, and insruc-
ton from others. Even book,farm-
ing will be looked upon with respect
There is no calling, let it be named
trade, occupation or profession, where
the arts and sciences are brought
in requisition more frequent
ly than in the business of farming
A man may be good farmer with
out theoretical knowledge of the
natural sciences, but he would be
much better by knowing them all.
But Silence must combine with
practice to make a good farmer.
All the energy of the hero, and all
the science of the philosopher, may
find scope in the cultivation of one
farm.
Let it be remembered that the
opposition to book farming" rests
upon the shoulders of two monsters,
ignorance and prejudice.
The following are some Of the
things that a good farmer should
not do.
First He should never under
take to cultivate more land than he
can do thoroughly.
Second, He should never keep
more live stock than he can keep in
good growing order.
Third. A good farmer should
never depend on his neighI,ols for
what he can with care and good
management have on his own farm,
and he shonld not beg fruit as long
as he can plant nor buy phosphates
at enormous prices while his hen
ond lionid mannres oro ao;na ~
waste
Eourtb A unod f,r,,or sbo,ld
never he so immersed in nnlitira
natt.rs .s to far',at nsnm i ,rhoatS
mr. nlanth;s notafnos Nor st,n,ld bo,ha
ign,ra,t If those grea, on.s,;nns If
National and S,,te nol;cy Which viii
.lwoys .u;t,to uare or loss f,aa
noonio