Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-12-11
THE UP-T0-DATE FARMER
10 be Successful Farmer Rsqui es Bust
ness Training.

lne time was. not so very remote
either when the term farmers" was
one OF reproach isolated as he was with
lew opportunities to obtain the educa-
tlon that comes from daily contact
with his fellows, there was perhaps
reason III the attitude Of some of the
city men toward many of the country
men, but this attitude has become a
matter of the past.
The extension of the railroad system,
the network of electric and telephone
lines, with consequent cheapened
transportation. and finally rural free
delivery, with low priced daily
paper. all these have brought the
farming community in close touch
with the business world. With this
transformation has come the trans
formation of farming methods.
Ihe up-tO. date farmer can no longer
go through the SlipShOd routine of
his fathers. Tie man who has farm
has business Being a business man
he can succeed only by following bust
ness methods. He must be open to
suggestion: he must be on the alert
Tor improved methods, he must use
judgment in selecting new machinery:
he must study the soil in order to
Know how to make it yield the most
with the least expenditure Of labor
and material: he must seek TO improve
his stock by iudiciouS selections: and
most Of all he must not possess the
prejudice, so often imputed to him,
against new tangled IDEAS
The Farmers Institutes are a
farmers convention. Manufacturers,
mprrhantS onG nthnr
hold conventions and profit by the
exchange of experience and by the
advice of those who are leaders in
their particular lines. The business
mans convention then is school OF
instruction. The farmers convention
also is pre-eminently school of
instruction At these conventions
the most progressive and successful
farmers are present. Men from the
Agricultural college who have made
u special study OF certain branches of
farm work speak from their expert
ence. No farmer can attend these
meetings and not profit by them. No
farmer can afford to run the risk OF
being counted a back number when
the opportunities of advancement are
being brought to his very door. The
conductors of these Institutes and
their assistants are fine body Of men
and women. Their example as we'll
us their teachings is worth very much
to the entire state. George McKer-
row, the uperintendent is especially
adapted to his work. He is original
in thought, careful in planning, he
lays foundation upon which to carry
project to successful issue. He is
always natural; he never poses or plays
to the grand stand. He is convinced
that there is more force in smile
than a frOWn, and he would rather
Illustrate point through an apt
story than set speech. He has the
happy faculty of being a manager
without becoming a boss He does
not lose his dignity in comforting with
his conductors; although he frequently
acts upon their advice. His w0rkmen
know him and respect him, and their
loyalty TO their Interests is born of
the fact that none seek his advice and
assistance without a hearing. He
puts his whole heart and brains into
d business transaction and goes at d
funny story with exactly the same
force. He is mentally and physically
sound and healthy. He has never
learned the meaning of jealousy, and
spite is foreign to his nature. Beyond
and above everything else he is d
farmer. lie does not know how to
beg, and he neither courts nor desserts
Il fight. 1T would be Superfluous to
call him a leader he was bora that
WaV.