Nevada County picayune., 1889-12-04
Does Farming Pay?

Every rural neighborhood con- taIns a number of examples tending to show that farming does not pay, and generally. one or more conspic- u0us demonstrations that farming does pay. II may he that the for mer exceeded the latter in numbers. but one plain demonstration proves
 more than all the negative evidence on earth. The fact some men do make farming pay proves that fail ure is the fault of the farmer and not of the calling. The fact that many become bankrupt by following the blow only shows that farming is like any other business-must be follow ed industriously and intelligently, to avoid disaster. Time was when one could make living and little clear money besides, with very little outlay of hard work but that time has passed. Competition has rem dered the battle of life contest i'll which every power, mental and phys 1 ical, must be excrted There is nothing but failure for the sluggard, l in mind or body, for modern civili- zation has developed enemies cum ming and conscienceless, and they can only be circumvented by active, tireless worldly wisdom. Agricult
 uIe stands upon the same footing 1 that other occupations do. Constant vigilance is the price of success and the farmer who follows his business with the industry and intelligence necessary to success in other fields finds it profitable; not only linan- cially, but Tn that peculiar indepen- dence and self-satisfactiOn that comes from direct dealing with na- turC in the affairs of life. We could name such farmers by scores. Tex as Farm and Ranch knows many of them, and they all know Texas Farm and Ranch. We do not say how much this mutual acquaintance con- tributes to the result. The relation exists. however, and shows, if noth- ing more, that successful farmers are readers of agricultural papers
 without exception. We once knew q man who made money farming who never read paper or anything else; but we class him as a failure, miserable and humiliating. He spent a long life of unremitting toil, deny ing himself everything except the cheapest absolute nccessaries of life
 dressed in the coarsest fabrics,
 ate the cheapest food his farm pro- duced, starved both soul and body until there was not enough vitality
 left to maintain the unison, even when stimul ated by his inordinate love of money; and he disappeared from the sight and memory of man; and now the most that is known about him is that he was buried some where about the old homestead, in the fork of the Brazos and Navasoto rivers, and that his large estate dis appeared in the contest of his heirs and their attorneys. If man would make farming profitable, he must be mentally alert, as well as industrious; ready to avail himself of every favor able conditions of seasons, and mar kets. and he ready at all times to i learn, by adding to his own intclIi- gent experience that of others. This is not drudgery, but pleasant stimulus to a pleasurabc activity, i anu l9 hcCcNSatN pOJu to success ana the enjoyment of it. Time was when the sluggard received an unmerited reward for his labor. IL is different now. Success comes not to him who labors with his hands only, but must be wooed and won by intelligent, active effort, in which the whole man, physical and mental, is heartily engaged. Success is it's own re-