St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1889-08-03
Brains and Farming.

polished Vaccinations or evils, no selfish
creeds of selfish human theology to lead
him astray. Life to him was matter of
fact demanding all his energies to feed his
growing family. Hunger was the first
strong incentive to action, and agriculture
the chief visible means of supplying his
urgent needs. Without tools, without
OK perience, he had his row to hoe, but he
had brain and the use of virgin soil,
and so, by virtue of God given faculties
and the means of mind-culture all about
him, he succeeded nearly as well as some
now within the pale of civilization. 1t is
q wonder and yet no wonder, that so many
millions of men now on earth are tilling it
with rude and imperfect tools, barely
feeding their stomachs and clothing their
backs. 1t is only in civilized countries
that the evolution of mind has kept pace
with mans necessities, and the lack of
progress in many countries has been the
means of discriminating their ranks that
the living might have plenty of room and
food to sustain life.
indeed, without multitude of deaths,
even the most progressive nations would
soon be overcrowded, and war, pestilence
and famine would muster their death
angels, that the living might enjoy the
sweets of life. So it is throughout the
vast domain of life. Laws of equilibrium
exist, that when from excessive breeding
there is dangerous surplus of insect life,
as the grasshopper, army worm, chinch-
bug, etc., other insects, birds and reptiles
are forthcoming to stay their ravages and
neutralize their evil effects on man and
plants. The natural and mutual relation
of all animated nature form harmonious
whole, and we fancy this harmony is
often interrupted by the misdirected power
of man over the forces which, in a limited
degree, are under his control, than other
wise. Increased population in thousands
of large cities demanded increased produc-
ton of the soil, and hence it seemed
growing necessity that increased facilities
must be brought about to satisfy the
demand. Well, it was right here that the
ingenuity of man came up to the scratch,
boldly met the difficulty face to face, and
the results have been that every real
necessity has been eliminated from the
brains of fertile inventors. The triumphs
of mind in the line of invention have been
numerous as brilliant. Most of the labor.
saving machines of farmers have origin
ated with them, while those who rule us
employ their brains in the noble business
of robbing the poor and the illiterate.
Even the deterioration of the soil from
constant cropping has been remedied by
improved methods of farming, supplying
the soil with chemical agents which
restore it to it's pristine capability of pro-
duction. You cannot turn to hardly any
simple operation on the farm but what the
man with properly cultured brain excels
the lazy Drained or inactive ignoramus.
lo1I f1a, IF h1o
to running threshing machine. Mechan-
les is handmaiden of inestimable value,
as witness the thousands who make bus
mess of agriculture, and yet, are not able
to run common pillow as it ought to run );
make it do the business it is capable of
plenty of this kind of farmers who are alb
solutely unfit to run reaper or Irvine bin
der. Such men, and there are thousands
of them, have thoughtlessly neglected to
learn how to do anything in the best man
ner, except perhaps, chewing tobacco, or
holding down dry goods boxes on the side
walks of the nearest town. They do not
study, reason and experiment; neither do
their shelves groan under the weight of
useful books, nor are there even two news
papers on their tables, unless a spirited
boy or girl has subscribed for them. These
farmers are contented to jog along in the
old ruts made by their fathers, and are at
last out of cash, out at the elbows, and
their farms are sold at sheriff's sale, and
so with restricted means they are obliged
to go West and begin again, or sink to
pauperism and die in poorhouse. It
never seems to enter their heads that
brains and farming are inseparable COM
panions that practical knowledge is the
genuine manure in the hill of success
that farming opens the broadcast field for
useful knowledge of any pursuit on earth.
Brains in active operation are needed to
feed pig, calf or hen, so as to produce
the best and most profitable results; to
keep tools in good order, to prevent i'm
provident waste and stop the useless holes
in the pocket of economy; to- distinguish
the false from the true to know and prac-
tice the true system of education based on
the constitution of man, the laws Of life
and health to know enemies from friends
in the vegetable and animal kingdoms in
word, to study the anthropology of man
in all his relations with his brother man,
and the science of agriculture proper I'M
der the influence of rain and drouth, the
variations of soil and climate, the times
and manner of seeding and harvesting;
and then study with alacrity the political
economy which alone can give value to
your labors and place in your hands the
means to educate the children Alright and
extend the hand of charity ungrudgingly
to the poor and suffering.
Friends, there is absolutely no end to
the wise use of brains in our business and
intercourse with other classes and among
other things it is our serious duty to pro-
vide ways and means, if possible, to ele-
vate the ignorant, the evil the down-trod
den devise practical prophylactic against
the increasing miseries of outraged human
ity rise to the crowning glories of long
abused faculties inherent in man receive
the crown and wear it in humility and dig
nifty dispense justice to all and receive
the blessing of the laboring, the good and
the true. Sadly do our children need to
be taught in our common schools the ele-
mentary principles of mechanics and agri-
culture to prepare the Youthful mind for
the business of after life, and create love
for the noble calling that beckons them on
ward to the fowery fields of independence,
health and happiness.
Brains, legitmately cultivated, are badly
needed on the farm of political economy
now lying waste or growing crops of tares
which are roofing cut the wholesome
grains Of prosperity and the only rotation
Of crops on this valuable farm run from
laws of favoritism and laws of oppression
to laws of anarchisn distributed with a
liberal hand to the dependent classes, and
already their work begins to show in fool
sh strikes, the destruction of property, |
and overt acts of anarchy watering the
streets Of our cities with blood. Farming |
involves all these things and more, and as
farmers are uphead in numerical strength, |