The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-02-22

but they have never learned to think
Systematically, and persistently apply
their thoughts to their work in hand,
and find it great burden to do 80 j;
therefore they prefer to go to some
mine or furnace or railroad digging, or
70 some employment where some one
else does the thinking, and where the
work Is meted out to them in such q
way that they need not give it ta thought,
where they can work more like beast
OF burden and let their thoughts ram
bic idly, condition they seem to en-
joy, only because they have never
learned to think properly or direct
their thoughts in the right channel.
On the farm, a man must work and
think, il he wishes to succeed as g
farmer or farmers hand; he must think
OF what he is doing and not work at
one thing and let his thoughts ramble
around about some other matters. The
exeTcis OF the mind and this training
Ot thoughts so they can be concentrated
and held on one thing steadily until
the subject is exhausted, is what is
necessary to successful farmer, or q
fasm hand; and this ability Of the
mind to concentrate their thoughts is
what elevates and ennobles q man, and
iI my mind is is this that makes all
siveagricultural communi les so
reliable and gives suca strength to gov
ernments, and 80 much independence
aud happiness to the individual fami
lies.
Ip-my opinion no man can succeed
in farming unless he is good thinker.
He must be able to concentrate his mind
on his occupation; il he fails to do this
he fails to make q success, not only in
farming, but in any other occupation
as we'll.
Nov would like to know how many
OF you do this, or how many men you
know personally that do this on their
farmi
Is it not fact, known by every body,
that has capacity for seeing things,
that every man or farmer that does
Geep his mind on his occupation is sue
cessfull And is it not equally true
that every one that does not is continu
ally in trouble and always behind hand
in all his life's doingsl
The greatest misfortune that can be
fall man is becoming too lazy to think !;
too lazy to work is bad enough, but too
lazy to think is worse.
The object of the institute is to get
men TO think, and to induce them to
educate themselves into thinking sys
and into learning to think
out one thing at q time.
A man can no more think properly
of two things at the same time than he
can build a worm fence up one side of
a hill, and lay off corn land down on
the other at the same time; he can
keep on q run between the fence and
the corn land, putting down few rails
and then running back to the bull
tongue and driving few hundred feet,
then back again to the fence to put up
a few more rails. But would on not
think and say he was fooll
Well, he would not be much more Of
a fool than you are making Of yourself
when you try to think Of two or three
things at about the same time. Your
effort at studying out the best way to
work your crops and keep your stock
would not amount to more than the
work the man did on his corn land and
his fence.
There is as much brain power in
every hundred heads in this com.
munity as there is in every other COM
munity Of the same number, and what
we want to do is to get it to work, not
on political money questions, or some
other matter that is the capital in trade
Of the politician, merchant or manu-
Iacturer, but on your farms and farm
work, and your capital in farming.
I do not believe that would venture
too far if would undertake to show
chat for every dollar man complains
Of being assessed too high, that he
wastes two, either in some useless hab
It's of life or by neglecting TO attend to
mis- business at home.
1t is we'll and proper to keep down
public expenditures, but the easiest
way to do that, is to spend an evening
or two in a year when the county &C
,ounts are published, in examining
5hem, and if they seem extravagant,
Just go to the polls and vote against
me 'sins," and for the ''outs- You
IAN do ali this in half day, and do lt
much more effectively tnRn you could
" running around a month or two
:alking about it and neglectlng your
work at home.
The institute is, to your farming In
ierests, what the political meetings are
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