The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1891-02-27
prove that farming in the West can be
made more profitable than anywhere

prove UnaC FARMING IN Cn0 w est can %
made more profitable than anywhere
else.
A Combination That Always Wins.
Industry and common sense in equal
parts applied together will accomplish
the result desired. It is not the man
who works the hardest but who works
the best that accomplishes the most in
the end. It is not always the best edu-
Gated who are the best farmers. Many
a collegian and many q graduate from
the agricultural college has failed as
farmer, while in the same pursuit many
another man who has been entirely
successful could scarcely write his own
name. The methods of the one were
largely theoretic; those of the other
practical and based on common sense.
This is an age Of progress. There have
been many improvements in farming
methods, but at the same time there are
certain old methods and practices which
have been discontinued merely because
they were old, not because they were
supplanted by better-indeed nothing
as good has been substituted in their
stead. There was time when
farming paid and that was when
those old methods were in use.
A good idea founded on sound princi-
Piles is everlasting. and a blending of
some of the old practices with new ones
of value will work a great change for
good among many western farmers.
The improvements in agricultural ma
chinery have, as every one knows,
wrought great and radical changes in
| farming methods. So much can be done
by machinery that many farmers are
10th to do anything that cannot be &C
| gines. There should be a return to
some of the old practices; but it will not
be necessary to discard the reaper or
thresher for the sickle or fail. All mod
ern machinery ought to be employed,
but it ought not to be wholly depended
| upon. There are other features in agri-
culture of much consequence. Most we
want of the old time, however, is its in
dustry and economy.
Diversity of Crops Means Prosperity.
The farmers of the olden time de.
| pended very largely upon themselves for
almost everything; hence they were
| forced, by reason of circumstances, to
diversity their industries and employ
ments, and therefore they planted what.
ever their lands would produce, and they
made use of whatever they gathered.
If some crops were scant or failures,
others were not. If one dependence was
lacking when the time came to utilize il
| a substitute was at hand. At all times
they lived within their incomes an6
bought less than they sold. If the faith
ers succeeded, why should not the sons
prosper? They can or else they have
sadly degenerated, and that they viii
not admit for an instant. We have moi
too many men farming, but there is too
much tendency in producing most thai
which costs the least labor. The WORLD
has not too much to eat nor too many
wholesome kinds of food.
How do Eastern farmers on poorer
soil, with higher land values and dearel
| products, compete with Western farm
ers with better and cheaper soil, and
cheaper grass and grains? They do it by
utilizing everything. Those who will
not SO economic fail and come West
and fail again. The farmers of Mime
sofa and the Dakotas depend upon the
grain crop. One reason for this is prob
ably because that crop can be planted,
harvested and prepared for market by
machinery. The result is that if the
grain crop fails the farmer fails. HI
has but one resource. The moral is
plain.
The want of system and the
| general waste which characterize the
work of many farmers would
bankrupt any railroad, factory OF
business house as quickly and as readily
as it does the farmer The great pack
ing houses, which come in for share
of public condemnation, survive because
they utilize everything; nothing is lost
except the squeal of the pig. Down il
Maine where | was raised, and where
awhole township will hardly produce a.
much as section of land here, without
| fertilization, vegetables are canned ani
line the shelves of the Western grocers
and, doubt not, help feed Western
| farmers.
| Farm Homes Can Be Made Best Homes
What field of study and information
opens before the intelligent farmer; he il
hand to hand with nature. Sir Johr
Lubbock spent years in watching ani
studying the habits of ants and wrote al
interesting and instructive book about
| them. The great Darwin gave year tx
| the study of the common angle or fish
worm, and he says in his book on the sub
ject that these little moving things thai
boys think are only good for fish bait are
the most potent factor in making the
soil of England suitable for agriculture
Cur own Downing spent many a usefu
year among fruits and berries, as Audi
bon did among the birds. A mere list
of those who have found profit an6
| pleasure III fields and woods and proved
themselves public benefactors can be ex
tended beyond the limits of an ordinary
paper. There is many way to make
country home life so attractive that the
boys and girls win prefer remaining on
the farm to be drudges in city stores and
shops. No city table can be furnished
with the sweet fresh butter, cream and
milk, good meats and vegetables that
| the farm gives at first hands. Very few