The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-03-19

longs, and this department. if not at
fault, be relieved from a charge it is in
nowise responsible fir and helpless to
correct. Some of the assessors have
evidenced a commendable pride in the
thoroughness of their work and its de-
tails, and to these i would make my ac-
acknowledgements. The assessors are Sc
riously handicapped, however, by the at
ttude of many of the people, and deem
it wise even here to say word to the
farmers, in the hope that being with
them and of them, | may dispel some
erroneous impressions and bring about
an improved order of things
To the farmer. first of all, by reason
of his occupation, should this publica-
ton be of Importance, since it treats of
those things which are the products of
his labor, And yet how carelessly does
he too often account his toil-no record
| kept of things done, or of results ac-
complished, no systematic accounting
for products housed, or commodities sold
and profits laid by. This is no extrav-
agant picture. 1t is a fact which the
verifying. If we look to the successful
merchant for an example of the point
we. wish to make, we do not find him
laying in his stock here and recklessly
distributing it there, without record or
account, and without summing up at
stated intervals, that he may see what
his efforts are accomplishing. On the
! contrary, we see him enter upon his
| books on the one side his purchases, on
! the other side his sales, each made with
+ Il degree of care that is wearying to the
man of happy-go-lucky disposition, and
/ yet our merchant friend can mt any time
| turn to his books and tell with certainty
Just how much profit or loss his bust
ness has experienced. A true record
OF the course he is running is z never
failing notice that in one direction he
will reach safety and profit. while in
another he is sure to encounter disaster
and ruin. IT records carefully kept are
| or so much Importance to the merchant,
now much more necessary they are to
! the farmer Do not understand me to
mean that every farmer must become an
expert bookkeeper But | do believe
that every man, no matter how little
ms education, can keep such a record
or ms products and sales as will show
whether the one exceeds, equals or falls
short of the other. Keep a record of
some kind of every product of your
farm, be it eggs, butter, corn. cotton.
nay, peas or any other commercial ar
tlcle. Your products are the purchases
| OF the sweat of your brow and your
sales of those are the incomes your Ia
Dor brings. Thus, with the merchant,
your purchases and your sales are noted,
ana IKE his, your record will tell you
from time to time whether or not Won
are Judicously shaping your course. BY
TINS observance, too, you will always be
prepared to easily and correctly answer
all legitimate inquiries. which being easy
OF answer. VIII cease to appear an on
erous duty.
AS long ago as 1876 boards of agricul-
| azure were recommended The first
president of our country in a message
to congress said: at will not be, doubt
cd that with reference either to ind-
| vldual or National welfare, agriculture
IS of a primary Importance In proper
ton as nations advance in population
and other circumstances of maturity.
TINS truth becomes more and more an
object of public patronage Institutions
for promoting it grow np supported by
the public purse, and to what objects
can IT be dedicated with greater success
than the establishment of boards COM
posed OF proper characters, charged with
collecting and diffusing information, and
enabled by premiums ana small pecu-
| mary AIDS to encourage and assist a
spirit of discovery and improvement?
I This species of establishments contrib
| utes d0ubly to the increase of improve
ments by stimulating to enterprise and
experiments and by drawing to COM
mon center the results everywhere of
individual skill and observation and
| speeding them over the whole nation.
Experience accordingly shows that they
are cheap instruments of immense Ma
tional benefits
Thus, hundred years ago, the father
| OF our country outlined the objects, du-
ties and benefits of agricultural boards.
The years that have passed since Wash
| lngton, himself practical farmer, en-
phasized the value and Importance OF
| agriculture have but served to corrob-
crate the truth of his public utterances.
Meanwhile, we have been learning many
| important facts for ourselves regarding
the best methods of fostering and ex-
tending this invaluable adjunct to our
National progress, and while agricultu-
raj boards do not commend themselves
| as the best means to the ends desired,
| the organization of farmers institutes
would undoubtedly be productive of great
| and lasting benefit to the agricultural
| interests of our State.
The design and primary objects of such
| institutions would be to educate and ele-
vate the farmer, to make his business
| more valuable and his life more agreeable,
| to vary and increase the volume of his
| productions, so that he may better sup
| ply the public with pure, wholesome food
| IN greater quantity, and thus, while
adding to his own revenues, be adding
| also to the material of our great State.
Designed, as | have said, for the better
educati ton of the farmer, | do not mean
| that their influence shall stop and end
| with the man that actually holds the plow
handles, but that it shall embrace the
entire membership of his family. Some
| of the brightest children of this or any
other land are found in farm houses. and
the parents of these are often not so cir
cumstanced that they can send them
| away to school, or spare their ready help
from the demands of daily toll. And if
these bright minds of children of the
| rural districts are ever to learn anything
of the sciences that pertain to their life
work, the common schools must come to
their rescue, and parents, impressed by
| intelligent discussions at such Institutes,
may both by example and precept greatly
aid the schools in the performance of
their missions. We are all initiative
| creatures, and men ARE but children of
an older growth" and as surely as the
] fixed laws of nature change the seasons
| just so surely will your children catch the
| inspiration of your hopes, and improve
ment in thought and action. and the
maturity of their years will show the
fruits of early education. in stimulated
| desire for information and knowledge of
how and when. and what to do, and for
those who do it faithfully will dawn an
era of thrift. prosperity and contentment
| that are now too often strangers at the
| firesideS of our rural homes, have