The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-15
Getting behind WIN WORK.

The most important essential to success
in any business is promptness, says an es-
TEEN contemporary. This is especially
true of farming, where much of the work
has to be done out of doors and is depen-
dent on the weather. 1t is in managing
so as TO have enough help to keep always
in advance Of work that the conditions
for success lie. No matter how hard IL e
farmer may work, much of his labor goes
for nought If not done at the right Tina
In oldcn days this was largely dependent
on physical ability to do large days works
to rise early, sit up late. and keep at work
every hour through the day. We have
changed this now Getting up early
means in these times ability and Wiling
ness TO adopt the best labor saving de-
vices as rapidly as their advantage is
proven.
But because of the weather the most
wide awake farmers cannot always sue
coed. No other class of men are so depen-
dent on the weather as farmers, except
possibly the sailor Rains are a double
delay to the farmer. They hinder work
while they make weeds grow all the fas-
ter. If through wet or Geld weather in
early spring the farmer has land left on
His hands that has not been sown, it is
impossible to entirely remedy the evil.
Some other crop may be substituted, bat
it is one for which the land is not so we'll
suited How to get the most from these
waste places is the best test of the farm
ers practical ability. When there is much
delay in seeding it is better generally
10 put in something that will not require
so much labor, and diversity the crops
so that they will need attention at differ
ent times through the working season.
If this is done the farmer can do more of
the work himself, and he can use help
hired py the month instead of hiring by
the day and paying higher prices.
The delay in spring is more often caused
by wet land than by anything else This
also causes most of the delays during
the summer. If the soil is thoroughly I'M
derdrained, the surplus water has way
of escape through the subsoil, and can be
cultivated in a few hours after the heaviest
rains. Such land will also be fit for til
lage DAYS and sometimes even weeks be-
fore the same land. without underdrain-
ing. This will enable the farmer to begin
early and keep ahead of his work all
through the growing season. The great
advantage of this can only be appreci-
ated by those who have worked land both
before and after it was underdrained.
But no matter how well drained the land,
il REQUIRES good practical judgment to en-
able the farmer to forecast his work and
provide the needed labor to enable him to
do everything in season. Most farmers try
to cultivate too many acres. They have
more land than they can till properly, be-
cause they have an idea that doing things
on a large scale is the way to success, as
it is in many other kinds of business. But
farming requires close attention to de-
tails, and this is what cannot be generally
intrusted to farm help. The successful
farmers of the present and of the future
will be those who keep their land down
to the amount that they can keep well in
hand The large farmer almost always
gets behind in work. He thus loses by do
ing his work more extensively than is
necessary while the small farmer confines
his attempts to what is within his means,
and thus makes a success that though
small, at first, becomes large by the slow
gains of years. Part of this failure to
succeed on a large scale is due to the fact
that the working capital is not increased in
proportion to the land under cultivation.
With more working capital a greater
amount of farm help would be hired, and
this will enable the farmer to do all the
work more cheaply than he can do when
worrying along with his work, always be-
hind and therefore always done at a dis
advantage.