The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-05-19

David Buffum. in Saturday Evening Post.
The antipathy TO bookkeeping existing
among farmers is deep-rooted. and is prob
ably born of the twofold nature of agri-
culture that / have already indicated
namely that it may be. according to cir
cumstances, either means of subsistence
or business. Very many farmers are thus
carrying on a hybrid sort of industry,
which is neither the one thing nor the
other; certainly much elevated above the
Observation-Disclosures kind of agriculture.
but never approaching the dignity and SYM
metry of a well-developed and organized
business. 1t is an Industrial anomaly. with
nothing exactly like it in the whole range
of trades and callings. But emitting fur
ther criticism of what is perhaps the nat
ural outcome of the conditions which first
shaped the agriculture of a new CONT
nent, let us look at the other side of the
picture and see what can be done where
farming has been conducted on a strict
business basis.
A gentleman in the West Indies with
whom am we'll acquainted, and at whose
house have spent many days, started in
lifewith a small and much-worn-out coffee
plantation, which was left him by his
IdtHeT. he now OWLS elSnI Country plOp-
critics, the smallest of which is stock
farm on which he has 600 head of cattle
and mules. He accumulated all this prop
erty by agriculture alone never having
Not very far from him lives another,
coffee planter, who started dozen years
ago $4,000 in debt His net profits now
amount to over $4,000 a year.
These men, of course, are in the tropics,
where natural conditions are extremely ia
vorable to agriculture. But they made
d. onf oh
and every property that they bought was
in the market because Its owner could not
make it pay. Nature does great deal for
you in the tropics, but she will not run
your business for you.
But we need not go outside OF our own
country TO find agricultural successes equal
ly great. Some twenty or twenty-five years
ago farmer went TO manufacturer or
harvesting machines and asked for credit
on the purchase OF single reaper. That
farmer was not genius, but he mad an
lieved would greatly increase his pros
perity. 1t was simply to conduct his bust
ness, as nearly as its nature admitted, as
any other industrial enterprise would be
system, having his men begin and leave
off work at the sound OF whistle or bell;
to care for his stock and machinery as a
part of his investment, just as the cotton
manufacturer cares for his engine and
looms, and TO keep a careful account or his
business. so that by consulting his books
The credit was granted. When / last heard
of him he was using thirty self-blndlng
reaping machines to harvest his wheat, and
he was rich, even according to modern
standards.
This great business was established in
one of the Western States. where the soil
is deep and rich. In direct contrast to 1t in
this respect l may cite another instance
here in the East. Quite recently q do not
recall the date, but / think within dozen
years. a few men formed a partnership
ctxx 4trrnf los hlrCn re
farms, their idea, like that of the above
mentioned wheat farmer, being to run
them on strictly business principles. This
was really a pretty daring experiment, as
the land was rougher and poorer than 1t is
ever advantageous to buy for farming pur-
poses. There is enough good land in the
world for all, and have always held 1t a
needless folly to choose, for farming, land
that nature never intended for ii. Despite
this drawback, however 1T not only paid
but paid handsomely. With better land 1t
its owners are more than satisfied with the
result and as an object lesson 1t is OF more
value as il Is.
But perhaps of greater value as an illus
tration than any other instance 1 could cite
is that of a man in my native State OF
Rhode Island. He inherited from his IA
ther a very good farm. beautifully situated Sate.1
| market. For some reason or reasons II
| paid him very little and he became greatly
dissatisfied. He finally decided to keep fol-
a
| ture of his farm in order to ascertain
| which was the most and which the least
profitable. This brought to light some sur
| prising facts. He found that he had been
| fattening steers at a loss and that his dairy
| was barely self-sustaining. His sheep paid
much better, but one feature which paid
far in excess of any other was his poultry
On this there was net proht OF trliit
| over a dollar head per annum.
| He now gradually disposed of his cattle
| keeping more sheep, and increasing his
x.zL ~ H. h. 0n1.
plan'J till he had over seven thousa nd
hens. Figured on the above basis, which
| is safe one, the income from these
alone is no mean figure, to say nothing OF
sources. ] have personally examined (anC
| admired) his farm great many times, and
| know that it Is an exceedingly profitable
| one. And yet this is the same farm which
| formerly yielded only a meager and un-
satisfactory income.
| might cite other examples but the above
are probable sufficient They cover very
| diverse conditions of soil and climate and
| i think, contain in pretty full measure the
| answer to our question.
| The question may very naturally follow
| IF agriculture can be made to pay so vel
| as a business, why have not more mer
gone into Ii as such?" The answer is sim.
| pie. Young farmers have rarely beer
| trained in exact business methods. and
| habit holds them to their manner of life
while young men in the cities lack thai
| intimate knowledge of agriculture without
| which all method and system In the WOrlC
| would never make the farm pay. The mum
| Der has thus been restricted of those who
| would naturally grasp the possibilities OF
| agriculture, and to whom it would apnea
| as a thing in which brains and capita
could be profitably invested.
| Nevertheless, / believe that in the future
possibly much sooner than any of US ex
| pect-greatly increased attention will bt
bestowed upon agriculture as business
| Its possibilities, as brought to light by in
vestigation and the gradual narrowing o.
| many other fields. will naturally compe
| this. 1t is a field that has never been over
| done, and ii contains golden prizes for thos,
who will cultivate 1t Alright; even in those
| departments which have been most largely
! developed and in which there has been tn,
| greatest competition there is still room fol-
| the production of the best. OF the bes
| agricultural products there has never been
| and never will be. an oversupply.