The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1895-04-18
A GREAT QUESTION.
TOO OFTEN ASKED.
Does Farming Pay?

| IbnshtngtOn Post.
One farmer tells you that farming
! pays, and another says that it does not
| pay. SO how are we to determine this bv
what the farmers say? 1t is an evident
fact farming is profitable to some, and
improbable to others. 1t is, therefore,
easily seen that farmers are divided into
| at least two classes-those that find
farming profitable and those that find
it improbable. 10 better illustrate,
let us take glimpse of a few farms,
and then perhaps we can more readily
see why farming pays some and does
not pay others. Here is a farm that
was once the pride OF the owner and
| the envy of all his neighbors. But
what do we now find it? The fences
are SO low you can almost step over
them, the fields are covered with
sprouts and fallen trees, the lanes are
| filled with briers and bushes, and the
1hOuse-lt was once a handsome resi-
dence, but now the windows are broken,
the paint is nowhere visible. the roof is
| full of holes, and all in all, it looks
Ill Il
| than a habitable dwelling Why is
this? The former owner was q man
who staid at home, titled his soil, I'M
proved his farm in every way that he
could, never "put off TIL tomorrow
something that should be done today"
and in short, did everything he could
to make his farm valuable and to have
a comfortable home.
He fully succeeded in doing this, and
then the farm fell into the hands of the
present owner, who is man that be-
lieves in taking things easy, let them
be as they may. In Winter he spend,
most of the time at the pOst-otfice or
country store, talking politics or growl-
ing about the hard times, bad weather,
&c. When his crops are laid by he
leaves his tools in the field when his
fence falls down he lets it lie TIL his
cattle get in his corn, and then he
swears at them and says they are the
worst rogues he ever saw. He thinks
that "few little sprouts won't do any
harm," so they are left from year to
year, till the soil "gets too bad to tend"
In summer he stretches himself in the
shade and growls that ''it's too blamed
hot to work anyway" Ask him if farm
Ing pays, and he will tell you that 1t is
all he can do to keep something to eat,
and that he works almost day and
night, but the sprouts grow so fast, and
the ground is so poor, and his cattle
eat ST. much that he just can't keep up
and, that he is going to quit farming
lust as soon as he can get rid of his
farm. Reader, are you puzzled to know
why farming doesn't pay this man?
| am not.
Again, we see man whose nen rOost
is in an apple tree both summer and
winter. A dozen chickens will not get
as much to eat as one ought to have.
Ask him if flaming pays, and he will
say, .'No, sir farmin' don't pay. Look
at them blasted old hens they hain't
laid an egg in three months. Scratch
up all my garden truck, and eat up ev
ervthing they can lay their claws on,
and hall; f;;of 'em freeze.to death, is all tne
SOOu Juey uO ulc. Ills SdlIcll 1CLCC
consists of a few poles, that have been
put up to keep the horses out. Here
are other farmers who pasture their
cattle on old, worn out fields, let them
stand out all winter, exposed to the
beating rains, sleet, and snow, and take
no more care of them than if they we're
oevoid of feeling, and yet they say that
their cattle do them no good, and that
they are more expense than they are
worth. But, here is another farmer
How different his farm looks from those
we have just viewed What pretty,
fat COWS and horses, and such fine fields
of grass and grain. There is his house.
What an elegant, comfortable-looking
building it is? 1t is surrounded by
large, we'll kept grove, and few rods
further is his barn, which Is a large,
| I'LL orro,,0od bui1dlnp with annie