The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1900-08-09
SCIENTIFIC FARMING.
TIE TERM misunderstood.
True Meaning is What ors Works
ost by Experience.
Atlanta Constitution.

! ] has been very frequently remarked
that practical farmers object to wha
is called "scientlEc farming" and ttl.
reason therefor hss been ascribed te
prejudice Iared on ignorance. Al
classes and conditions OF men wno arr
supposed to have the ear OF the public
have ralled agains. it. Editors wh<
have the snacl- OF "frsng the popular
heart" have written miles OF iesdln1
articles about it, but the farmer cor
times to Go business in his own way
He Is Ignorant" he is "prelndiced, :
he is ever. thing except scientific in his
methods.
We are led to refer to the matter b.
the confessions recently made to The
New Orleans Times-Damocrat by Il
gentlemen who has had q som awIla t
sad experience in ~ effort to carry On
truck farming according to scientific
rules. He Informs our cor temporary
that ":hers is something very mysterl-
ous about scientific truck farming"
Theoretically. and on paper, it is SIN,
ply perfection. There is not flaw TO
be found in it. "I can take piece OF
paper" said this gentleman, "antl
figure enough profit out of iive-acre
patch to make me rich beyond the
dreams Of avarice; yet when you at
tecnpt to put that same calculation
into practical execution, you VIII land
in the poorhouse with a velocity thai
is simply sickening."
The mystery IS very easily explained.
Real science is a collection OF cold,
hard facts, the result Of experiment
and experience. The farmer Who pos
sesses common selse and has had tie
opportunities that experience brings to
all is more scientific in lis methods
and VIII therefore accomplish more
Important results than all the theorists
i'll the world. Tee truth is, every man
Considers iiraseiE 8 gc,1,, tarsner Until
10 q 1s,uS, 81 .-ssccs<.try 10 gel between the
handles OF tho r'ow. He may have
read ali lie agricultural works to be
found, and be naay come to his work
with thousands of irresistible theories
yet when ha CONES to put them in
practice they go to pieces one by cne,
and be IS left hopeless.
One Of the most successful "scien-
tltic' TAI inefs the country has ever
seeu was Horace Gree!y. His cabbages
cost him 81 so apiece, and he never ate
a radsh at his own table that cost less
than Is cents. Now Horace Gree|y
could afford to indulge IN Scientific"
farming, but the average farmer is not
SO fortunately situated. He must ai-
dress himself to the facts and must be
prepared to meet tee ever-yarying con-
dl:ions presented by the seasons.
The gentleman who was compi@Ining
to our New Orleans contemporary SAID
he snew several unsciantlia formers
who were dolng we'll, where's ii friend
Of his lost $4,000 in an effort to oper-
are afruck farm On a scientific basis,
and Is now keeping books at $l2
week.
The explanation is very simple there
is no mystery about 1t whatever.
What is ropulsrly known as "scien-
tific' farming bears not the smallest
relation to real scientific farming. It
Is made up OF great variety of whims,
theories, deductions and assumptions
Real science Is OF inestin1abIe value to
a farmer, and it's iEnpol tance cannot be
oyerrated but because this is so, 1t by
no means follows that the theories
urged upon the farmers are really
scientific.
Such is the fecundity Of the printing
press that any ittl5 man-jack is able
to present his surmises, theories and
deductions to the public as scientific :"
aud such is the glamour the term car
ries with it that large part Of the
public Is inclined to welcome anything
even the ver.est nonsense-that bea RS
the label OF science.
The truth is that a farmer OF ordl-
nary intelligence who farms with any
degree of system, or who has average
success, is carrying on his business
He may know nothing
Of science, as such he may have meyer
heard of the technical terms that are
applied to the various constituents of
The soil, Or to the elements and agen-
cies that give value to fertilizers but
this does not render his methods less
scientific. He has discovered by ex-
perience that certain crops can be
grown more proftably than others on
certain soils, and that the vigor OF his
land may be maintained by rotating
crops. He discovered this by expert
enee long before the scientists did.
The old woman who cures a severe
sDrain OF the ankle with a poultice Of
A lame shoulder is usually caused by
rheumatism OF the muscles, and may