Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1890-11-28
THE FARM, FIELD AND GARDEN,
Selected and Original Articles On Various
Topics Of Interest to Rural
Readers.
Practical Information, Submitted By Practi
cal Men For the Use of Stock
men and Farmers.
FORESIGHT IN FARMING.


distance into the future and, by reasoning
from cause to effect, accurately anticipate
the outcome Of events, but we mean the
capacity to see in advance of the crowd
the actual occurrences of the day and
realize what they mean to the particular
line of business in which a man can be
engaged. This foresight, coupled with
courage and executive ability, will make
any man rich; the lack of it will keep
him under the harrow, if in debt, and
keep him from making a marked success
under any circumstances. 1t is not
necessary to see a long way ahead. In
many lines of business it is enought to
see a day or an hour in advance. 1t is
not necessary to foresee what will hap
pen, but the effect of what has just hap
pened. For example, an Iowa farmer
had old corn on hand and wanted to sell
it when the three days of not winds came
last July. If he had sagacity enough to
foresee that three days of hot winds that
wilted the corn leaves Gin Iowa would
scorch both leaves and stalk in Kansas,
he would have gone to the bank and
borrowed the money to meet present
wants rather than sell his corn. The
speculator with no greater means. of in
formation, but more foresight, bought
the corn and made more in a single day
than the farmer who grew it made in his
year of hard work. 1t was not necessary
to foresee the hot winds, but to see what
is plain to all of us now-that they meant
damage over,a wide section of country,
diminished corn crops and advanced
peices.
When corn is selling at fifteen cents
per bushel it should require no foresight
to see that it is good property anywhere
on the line of railroad in the west, better
property for a years investment than
government bonds. When any product
sell below the cost of production in a
section Of country specially adapted to it,
it argues a lack of sagacity when any
man loses faith in an advance in price.
AS we read the market reports from
day to day we cannot resist the conviction
either that there is a very great scarcity
of feed in the west, or that farmers have
lost faith in cattle to an extent that has
no present justification in the present con-
dtions. Necessity knows no law, and
when a farmer has not sufficient food and
cannot buy, the only thing left is to put
his stuff on the market. The fact that
cattle are going on the market in such
unprecedented numbers, and of such
miserable quality should teach farmers
who can hold on that the present condi-
tion Of the market. no matter how they
may be caused, will inevitably advance it
in the future. With a range Of $4.35 per
hundred pounds between the best and
the worst, farmers ought to have faith in
the best and produce OF Ay such for the
market.
Neither ought it to require much fore
sight to see that in the present condition
of the fine stock market in advance in the
price Of improved cattle is inevitable.
The history of improved live stock shows
clearly that farmers grade up their herds
when stock goes up and neglect grading
up when it falls in price. This gives the
marked for improved stock wider tluctua-
tionS than that for common cattle. AS
soon as cattle advances farmers will want
to buy bulls, and scores of men will want
to start in as breeders. There will be but
few bulls in reach, for breeders propose
now to steer all but the very choicest
rather than sell at present prices. The
man who buys a small choice herd of
females at present prices, and breeds
judciously, will soon get credit for an
amount Of foresight which should be the
common heritage of every man.
The conditions Of the hog market are
very similar. While there was at the
lst of August more hogs in the United
States than at any period in it's history,
and had the corn crop been even an aver
age one. there would have been very low
prices, the wholesale way in which they
have been dumped on the market at an
age and condition Of lmmaturity on ac-
count of scarcity of feed and cholera, can
have but one result in reducing the stock
below the demands of the market. When
there is a difference Of S1.5 per hundred
pounds between the best and the worst on
the market it means that there is d gencr-
al dumping of the pens into the slaughter
houses. and that the big growing business
is in \ state OF collapse. Now is the
time, above all others in recent years. for
man to use his foresight. not us 10 what
will happen, but is discovering the GER