The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1902-07-15
Farm Miscellany.
YOUNG MKN WANTED FOB THE FARMS

the lack OF young men VINO are cOupe-
tent to superintend large farms. In
almost every issue of our farm papers
we see advertisements calling for
men to take charge of farms. And the
owners of such lands complain that
they are unable to secure satisfactory
help of that kind. Why? Where are
the young men that they do not re-
spond to the call?
1t is sometimes said that the young
men are turning away from the farm
because they can do better in other
lines of business; and it is no doubt
true that in the past many have done
this. So much has been said and
written by those who ought to have
been in better business about the
wretchedness and the loneliness and
the general poverty and unpleasant
ness of life on the farm that many
boys have been induced to seek the
city and larger town in the hope of
finding something more %congenial;
but that time is fast passing by. A
better state of things exists. Our
farmers almost universally are talk
ing the farm up instead of down, and
the effect is seen in the larger number
of young men who are entering upon
careers of usefulness on the farms of
the country. 1t is no longer consid-
cred beneath the dignity of any man
to be called a farmer, nor is it any
longer looked upon as an improbable
occupation for those who go about it
theoretically and with a fair degree
of intelligence.
And there is little reason to doubt
that this very fact lies at the bottom
of the scarcity of young men who are
willing to engage as managers of
farms for others. They are farming
for themselves; they cannot afford to
work on a salary for others.
There are several reasons why this
is true. In the first place, most men
have in their natures something which
renders life under an employer dis
tasteful. independence of thought
and action are very precious to all
American citizens, and this is espe-
cially the case with the farmer. The
free air of the country puts into his
blood an iron which will not readily
yield to the dictation of a superior.
He chafes against it, and would far
rather be at work for himself, ever if
at a lower wage, than to be compelled
to submit to the directions of anoth-
er, however kind those directions
might be.
Twenty-one used to be a magic word
with the young man; but now long be-
fore he has reached his majority he
begins to want to be doing something
for himself. He likes to think that he
has some interest in the farm, if it
be nothing more than to be recog-
nized as the owner of a calf or a
lamb; and it is a proud day when the
father turns over to him a corner of
land somewhere which he is to till for
himself. This spirit of independence
is well worth fostering in a day when
we are being overrun by a world of
men who have been brought up to toll
for some n else.
And then, after fitting himself for
the work of a farmer, few of our
young men can afford to work for
some one else. For, say what we may,
it is no slight thing for a young man
to get the education necessary to quail
ify him to be a farmer in this new
and exacting century. Franklin said
once, "a straight furrow and a we'll
made fence are sure signs of a good
farmer" IF Franklin lived today he
would be compelled to add several
factors to his list of requirements be-
yOnd the making of a good fence or
the turning of a straight furrow. Not
every man can be a successful farmer
at the present time.
And here suppose we ask the young
farmer lads who read this article to
tell us ofhand how many bushels of
oats, wheat, buckwheat, rye or corn
they would use in seeding an acre?
How many pounds of timothy or
clover would you SOW an acre? What
season of the year would you SOW
these different crops? Can you tell
good timothy or clover seed when you
see it? How would you guard against
purchasing foul seeds in your grass
seed? Can you make good butter