Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1895-03-01
THINKING AND WORKING.
Paper Read by E. r. Allen of
Emerson before the F arm
ers' Meeting at Ithaca,
February 10, 1895.

Farming is a business and we must view
kinds Of business which are carried on sue
cessfully, require a great deal of study,
thought and executive ability, so farming,
in order 10 be made success must require
the same careful thought and study.
Competition has brought all kinds Of
business 10 that degree where success Is
harder TO obtain than il once was.
1t was not many years ago that farmer
was not thought capable Of doing any
thing else, and all his children bralny
enough were hurried into some other occu-
patton thought 10 be more honorable or
gentecl In consequence Of this. farming
did not develop as fast as the other indus
tries and il is but comparatively
short time since farming has received its
due amount OF thought and study But
since that time farming has developed
rapidly, and now ii is becoming more and
more scientific business, and the farmer
who hopes TO make much Of success IN
the future must acquaint himself with, and
apply these scientific principles and teach
lngs TO his farm 10 the best Of his ability
do not say but what one could make a
liying-eke out mere eXistence-if he
never heard Of such thing as science but
to live as we would like to live, surrounded
by the conveniences and comforts Of life
we must pay attention TO their truths and
principles, and apply them more In the flu
ture than we have in the past, OF are do.
ing in the present.
How many farmers are doing the best
they know how to do, or rather the best
they might know how TO dof fear there
are many who are not dong nearly as well
as they know how, or could, and many
more might know how TO do better if they
would only read, think and study more.
But there has grown up in their minds a
prejudice TO agricultural papers. and you
will find most of their reading devoted 10
rank political papers, and then you will
find them grumblng and growing because
them No matter how much legislation
we might have for their benefit, they prob
ably would receive none of ii. They
would be too far behind the times and their
more progressive brethren would step in
and reap the reward and leave them still
grumbing. Not but what il is right to
keep well posted on the affairs of the ma
ton and state but do not think IL wise 10
! devote as much time as a good many are
doing 10 the detriment Of their business
"Oh, they say, there areagrcultural de
partments in all our papers, that is true
and many good things are in them too; but
they are not careful enough Of what they
publish. II was only last summer that
noticed in one of our leading state papers
an item on spraying fruit trees, which
said to use one pound of paris green &c
fifty gallons Of water, and to spray while
in full bloom. Now this solution would
be four or five times too strong, and if APP
piled to a tree would lnjure il. so it would
bear no fruit that year, If not entirely kill
ing 1t. and would also destroy the busy
bee that attempted to gather honey. Sucl
papers are not safe to follow, and had any
one tried it. it would have been TO tn en-
sorrow. Probably the person who wrote
that article never sprayed tree in his life
but had heard the subject of spraying dis.
cussed at an institute or some other place
and then wrote the article and the edito
knew no better than to insert it. 1t wa
such writings as this that got so many
down on the agricultural press and created
such a dislike for books pertaining I,
farming. But editors OF first class farm
papers are more careful of that which the,
publish, and what you read is generally
true; so every farmer should take as man,
real live agricultural papers as he can at
ford, and he will not look one through bu