Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1891-03-28
Two Glasses of Farmers.
Cor. Country Gentleman.

Cor. Country Gentleman
We hear much about farming as a
business, one class urging most en-
phatically that it does pay, while an
other class say it does not. Which
is right? Wherein lies this difference
of opinion? 1t must certainly be in
their method of doing business. [ re-
Gently attended the Otsego County
Dairymen's Association. 1t was
made up OF the best class of farmers
in the county, men who lubricate
their muscles with brains and spread
them on freely. They came there
and read essays that would do credit
to men of college education. Yet
they were disconnected lot of falm>
ers. 1t is the discontinued people of
the world who make things move. a
man that is perfectly contented with
his lot never amounts to much: he
is like the retired merchandise cap
ital is locked up in selfsupport and
he adds nothing to the world. These
farmers told Of successes achieved in
the past years and their brains were
active for the future, and next winter
when they meet again we shall hear
of good results from them. The law
yer and doctor would drop in and
take part occasionally, but when it
came to arguments, they usually got
the worst of it. These farmers did
not complain of hard times or say
farming was a failure. They were
looking ahead and planning, hopeful.
ly, tor next season, and they declared
that well directed labor on the farm
did pay, and it does. There were no
moon men there, no men who put off
till tomorrow what should be done
now.
Let us look at the other side of the
question. There are many farmers
homes throughout the country where
you may find an almanac and FASH
ion book or two on the table, but the
agricultural journal, the guiding star
in their business, is entirely wanting;
"father and grandfather never took
such papers, and we don't need any,"
This following in "grandfather's"
footsteps is the reason farming don't
pay. A new era has dawned in the
agricultural world, new methods and
more intelligent men are needed.
You ask this man how his crops were
last year, and he will tell you that he
was away, and the boys planted the
"taters" when the moon was wrong,
and they failed. When you question
him about his methods of fertilizing
and tillage, you soon find out where
} the trouble was. He will tell you
that he was converted when the
moon was wrong and he backslid;
that he reformed again when the
) moon was right, and he has stuck last
ever since. The last statement is Just
as reasonable as the first. This man
; is cOntented with his lot and he never
will be any different. He does not
try to advance, clinging to old notions
and whims that have been handed
e down to him for generation; "farm-
J ing don't pay" with him, but he
doesn't care-he gets a living, simply
exists, and is satisfied.
Brother farmers! You can so unite
your brain and muscle as to win the
respect Of your friends and neighbors
they will look to you as a model in
their business-you will be doing
much good by your methods, un-
awares. Or you can take the other
; course and become the laughing stock
of the community. Discomfort, unit-
g ed with brains and work, will push
you to the top; an empty head cons
Y bined with old whims and shiftless-
g ness will always keep you at the foot
: of the ladder. Choose!
: A. c. jerks.
r Otsego Co., n. y.
Auo1ryo,. TIb;c nvo,A;o,