The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1899-08-02
81 per Annum, in Advance

be sacrificed in an effort to turn every
stroke of work and every thought. of
the brain into dollars and cents. We
make the following extracts from the
address:
Mans life IS but continual Interchange OF
theory and practce-a instant shifting OF
speculation and experimentation, OF mental ac-
ton and physical action, OF rest and work, OF
study and play, of night and day, as 1T were.
Before beginning house, man theories III
forming his plan, then he acts; after which he
theories on the good qualities and detects, and
then considers himself better prepared to
build second holse. SO the farmer specu-
lates on all The possibilities and probabilities
Of success in the planting and cultivating OF
certain crop. He figures rain and sun
shine on drainage and fertilizers, on horses
and piows and a myriad of other things-but
his success is largely propertionate to the quail
ty of his speculatiOns, Yet when you want
him to attend Farmers Institute, he blandly
says Those fellows up there in the Court
Rouse scafs tell how to work my land.
they may be all right in theory, but they won't
do out here, ETC.. And the consequence is that
they don't extend their theories and plans be-
yond the old hewn tracts laid out by their
f,refathers and their practice is of necessity,
old the century.
Theory is worth nothing without experiment
tation, but experimentation in turn cannot ex-
ist without theory. SO whatever does it
matters not how old the habit of doing that
way it must at one time have been only
theory, then experiment, and lastly
cepted and valid fact. 1t is plainly reasonable
IL.
which have been ALL as rule, verified by ex-
Fermentation, the blood of a life
waiting to be infused into these traditional
habits and cause them to put forth into most
splendid agricultural success.
Another great trouble with farmers-a de-
icency in their education or traning-is that
they have entirely lost sight OF the true end
of life and are reverenty worshipng the sup
posed importance of the almighty dollar. For
large number of farmers, the rises and
sets in the dollar. Good homes, good fooo
fruit, vegetables, preserves tducat.on, comfort
in short all things that go to make a man a
good father, husband and citizen, are shame
lessly trodden under foot in the eager effort to
do homage to that brazen mage-the almighty
dollar. Many of our farmers work day
light-even long before day-till dark, almost
every day of the year, and with all this labor
still buy their lard, bread stufs and meat. Why
L once new a young farmer i'll this Parish,
who, with the assistance of one aborer, culti-
waited about seventy-fve acres of iand-corn
cotton and rce-and | don't think he ate
single mess of vegetables during the year,
much less fruit, poultry, pies butter and such
like. Such abnormal training or educa-
ton can hardly lead to true success in any oc-
cupatlon whatever. Mans accumulation OF
money can scarcely be termed success. | have
known instances of men being quite wealthy
and yet being sad failures, not only as to in
dVldual contentment, but also as being home
makers and citizens. A man of one and only
one idea, can. be a success There was
party in Texas who, as the story goes,
made speciality of cactus plants He hunt
ed up every variety in his neighborhood,
then in his county, and finally extended his
research throughout Mexico, coming back la
den with aures and absolute authority on any
thing pertaining to the cactus One morning
neighbor found a curious slender, brown
ish looking plant in the edge of the road and
being excited by its strange appearance, sent
over for the botanist to classify il for him. OF