The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-08-25

France and Belgium. IF the people of
those countries can produce those sup
plies at a profit for the London market,
why cannot Englishmen on English
farms? In America, as I understand il,
young men are leaving farms because
they cannot get ON to suit themselves
as farmers, and Germans are taking
their places and supplying the markets
IF the cities with vegetables and chick
5ns and small fruits and butter and
eggs. The difficulty is that the farmer g
son wants to get where he thinks his
hours of work will be short and the
rewards will be glittering. He is not
willing TO get up in the morning BY
daylight, as his father did, and work all
day. He does not understand that farm
ing to be successfully conducted must
be done in 8 businesslike way; that the
nature of the soil and of the crops
planted must be studied; that the mar
ket must be understood. The farmer
who does these things can succeed, and
though he may not have all the Injuries
of city life he will have other and more
desirable things to take their place. He
will have better air. more peaceful sur
roundings. He will not be subject to
the temptations Of the cities It is my
opinion that the young man of today.
and especially the country young man,
has as much of a chance now as he even
did in the history Of the country.
Rewards of Ability and Character.
Hon. Thomas L. James, ex-postmas-
ter general, says that the rewards Of
today for bright young men are as bril-
liant as they ever were, if indeed they
are not more brilliant.
'sBut, . he said. cit depends altogeth-
er on the young man whether he should
leave the farm and hasten to the city or
not. Some young men should never
leave the farm. Some should get away
as fast as steam will carry them. Dom
understand me to mea13that the bright
ones should always leave and only the
dull ones should stay. It requires intel
igence OF a high order to be a good
farmer, and Oftentirhes the bright boy,
if he likes farming, will do better on
the old homestead than anywhere else.
But it requires intelligence to succeed
anywhere, and it also requires hard
work and more than ever before some
sort Of preparation for the occupation
adopted. The trouble with so many
young men who fail to get on as they
would like to nowadays is that they are
not willing to buckle down and adapt
themselves to circumstances They start
out i'll prepared for life's battle because
they have been too lazy as boys to fit
themselves for the fight. They try to
skimp their hours of work. They try
to get all they earn and a little more.
Men who prepare themselves as best
they can, try to earn more than they
get and are always ready to work sue
coed somehow. OF course chance and,
still more. ability have much to do with
the degree of their success. -
Rev. Isaac K Funk, D. D., editor of
The Voice. said:
ST think the young men of today have
a better chance than those who came
before them. Thirty years ago there
were more opportunities for a man of a
speculative character-fOr a man who
was, so to say, adventurous. Today
there is more chance for one of solid
ability than ever before in the history
of the world. A man has got to climb
higher now in order to succeed because
of the vast number of persons who are
educated in our public schools, and also
because Of the great number who pass
through our colleges. Thirty years age
educational advantages were much less
than now. but the success that may be
achieved is greater, and the oppOrtu-
mites are far greater high up than
they were 80 years ago.
As to the advisability Of the farmers
son staying on the farm. DR.. Funk
thought he could do as well at home
now as ever.
s'I think, y he said, that the young
man must study scientific farming more
than formerly, but man who viii put
brains into farming stands a splendid
chance to succeed. He has got to raise
highly bred cattle and horses in accord
ance with the advanced ideas of the
times, and SO with crops But the farm
er of 80 years ago would not succeed
now, and one of the reasons some farm
ers Of today are not successful lies in
their disinclination to adopt modern
methods. -
The reader will observe that all dis
cussion SINNERS down to the conclusion
that brains, hard work and preparation
are essentials of success; that given these
the prize may be won either in the city
or in the country, and that each must
decide for himself which field of effort
will be his. L D. MARSHALL
A Woman Landscape Gardener.