The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1901-02-08
DEER CREEK FARMERS CLUB.
Reported for THE KGIs.

N IlilrTlS Archer, near Priest Ford. Ih
members and guests assembled in tn
par!cT Of the dwelling which was at OF
time the audience room where devou
Ronanists gathered to worship Til
house itself, according to Harford's his
tOrlan, is the oldest structure of its kind
standing today in Maryland. Will
there were earlier churches built and uset
by the Catholics iii other parts of tn
State, all those which antedatc this on
have long since ceased to be. The farm
which Is called Paradise, was pur
chased by the grandfather ofMr. Archie
from the Roman Catholic Association
IN 1914. The house Is said To have beer
! built Ill 1891 or earlier. 1t is erected OF
| high ground and commands one of The
flncst views in the whole Of Deer Creel
valley. Whether from its location, a.
regards attitude, or owing to the beauty
OF thc scene which meets the eye On al
sides, or from its association with the
church, it derived its name, is not known
and will probably always remain mat
ter OF conjecture. Another mernento o
those earlier times remains in the name
Priest Ford" which attaches to the
crossing of Deer Creek on the edge of this
farm
The following members and guests were
present: Edward c. Hopkins, Samuel
NJ. Lee, James Lee, W. Beatty Harlan
Fred. Lochary, William Munnikhuysen
William Silver, Henry B. Bruins, George
+. Silver, John Moorcs, John d. Worth,
mgton, Philip H. Close, Glasgow Archer,
Robert Munrilihuysen, Hall L. AIunni.
khuysen, Rev. S. Z. WATSON, John L.
Kelly ard Robert Archer
III the absence Of Mr.. Frank H. Jacobs,
the Secretary OF the club, Mr.. Close was
named secretary pro TEN.
Owing to the deep snow no committee
of inspection was appointed and Mr.
Archer announced as the subject for the
evening the discussion OF Farmers Mis-
takes"
In opening tie discussion Mr. Archer
stated that while this subject had proba-
bly, been touched upon many times before,
yec it had never been the specific topic OF
4 meeting. That in all he would say
upon it he wished to be understood as
wishing Others to do as he said rather
than as he did. Continuing, Mr.. Archer
said: In thinking over this subject /
have divided it into various heads, the
first OF which is Non-attention to Bust
ness" l do not believe any other bust
ness would succeed half as we'll rs farm
ing II it received so little attention. Other
lines OF business are conducted with a
strictcr regard for business principles and
the same method applied to farming
would bring proportionatc increase OF
SUCCESS In the second place the farmers
make 4 mistake by not keeping accounts,
So they do not know what it costs them
to produce crop or whether or not they
are running their business at 4 profit.
know this is common mistake but the
work done in bookkeeping would amply
repay the outlay OF tine. Buying ON
credit is also a great mistake. / mean
by that paying exorbitant profits to
agents i'll order to secure time upon
bill of goods. do not speak of this from
a suggestions standpoint but my know
ledge has come from actualexpericnce and
| know that a great saving would come
from paying cash for the ARTICLES we are
now accustomed to buy Oh time. Another
great mistake, and acommon one, is buy
ing things we can do without How
many OF us do it and vet we all are op-
posed to the practice. 1t is the common
mistakes which have become so habitual
that they are difficult to overcome We
likewise make a mistake in buying many
Things we can raise on the farm. We
often justify this practice because we say
we can buy tkcm cheaper than we can
raise them. That might be true when
we have plenty of money, but when we
consider the obvious disadvantage fol
lowing the outlay of ready cash, how
ever small the amount, the situation is
prcscntc,. i'll different form. One of the
. IL,
mistake is i'll selling our produce at the
proper time. The time to sell is when you
have 4 customer that comes to you; when
you have to hunt the buyer you are more
largely at his mercy. have noticed dur
ing the last ten years that wheat always
brought the top OF the market in the
month Of August.
George Z. oilver-"I think you might
say the same thing for them years back
of that.
MIR Archer, continuing-"Perhaps the
worst of all mistakes is not doing things
at the proper time. That mistake is
common to all classes and all times and
has been reduced TO more than one adage.
When the farmer learns the value of the
stitch i'll time and is willing to do today
instead of putting off until tomorrow he
will have scored a great point. There is
another matter which may not be so
great mistake, but which depends
largely upon the man, that is buying land
and placing a mortgage on it. l know
this was q practice years ago and pro-
duccd no unsatisfactory results. But
have changed and it is some
what of 4 question today whether it is
wise business policy for a man to under
take such purchase. In living beyond
our means IN endeavoring to live as
Others do, we farmers sometimes fallinto
4 mistake. We think we should have as
fine furniture and clothes, as good a
horse and as handsome carriage as our
neighbor and sometimes strain ourselves
in order to procure them. While ambi-
ton is always laudable, the error comes
i'll overrcaclling our ability. We also
make 4 mistake in not knowing the diff
ference between science and theory. There
is much we could learn which would be
of great value. Farming is becoming
morc and more of a science and truly
knowledge put into practice
cannot fail to produce beneficial results.
The time has gone by when we can afford
to ridiculc the efforts of scientists for a
better understanding of our profession
and the more of that kind OF knowledge
we can get the better it is for us. 1t is
left to us, to each one, to Sitt out the iI1i-
practicable theory and to apply what is
useful to each in his individual occupa-
ton. IN thinking over this SUBJECT it mas
occurred to lie tlat we as farmers had
bette endure the ills we have, than to
trIcze to Others that we know not OF.
We arc 100 prone to become dissatisfied
with one branch of our business, and to
institute Il radical change without
proper consideration. Before we do this
we should take into consideration all
that is to be required in the making of
such 4 change and whether our lands,
buildings, etc, are adapted for the chang
cd condition. We are too apt to be
guided by what Others have done instead
of making a test on Il small scale before
embarking largely into some new under
taking The last mistake | will mention
which probably should come first, is not
being willing to begin life where our
fathers did. do not know whetherit is
worth while to say much on this point or
not; conditions seem to be different now
;days; but it would be better for many
20 start life in the simple manner that
OH. fathers did five possess enough back
bone to do it. There are some other
matters, not necessarily voluntary mis-
takes, but which result often to disad-
vantage, among which are cultivating
TOO much ground, employing rotation
of crops that does not bring good returns,
the use Of wrong ingredients i'll Our ferti-
lizers and other mistakes which we are
less able to overcome than those l have
previously named. With them it is a
case of where the best intention often fails
and it is only by experience and careful
attention that they can be overcome"
Mr. James Lee-''I do not agree with