The Savannah morning news., 1904-10-03

Agricultural Observation-Disclosures
Instruction for Farmers.
In the past twenty years the Iitera-
ture of farming has become something
more than the effusion of mere scrib-
blers in weekly or monthly periodicals.
slow in recognizing the needs of farm
ers in this direction she has not been
slow in developing all the practice
utilities involved in the act of instruc-
tion. when she did recognize the need.
With the establishment of various
state experiment stations required to
make practical experiments or studies
in agriculture and to publish the re-
suits along with at the same time
elevating our national Department of
Agriculture to a higher plane our
progress in the past twenty years in
securing and disseminating useful
knowledge to farmers has been won
derful
The occupation of farming needs as
much it's literature as does medicine or
law or theology. There is always some
thing to be learned from those who
precede US or are cotemporary and
have the advantage of a longer and
wider experience. The time is well
passed when the farmer can afford to
jeer at or ridicule written advice or
instruction" farming as he was
wont to term it.
The young farmer, starting out in an
-. ,s11. he 1nG hQ
practical instruction will need every
thing of that description that he can
get. Granting that he may know all
that his father did about planting and
cultivating cotton and corn and few
other things and can make fair profit
out of it it does not follow that he
will ever expand into a progressive
highly successful farmer and master
of the better art of soil tillage rely
ing on his own limited experience or
knowledge.
The term farmer here includes not
only the cotton and corn grower, but
also the dairyman, the milk, butter
and cheese producer the raiser of cat
tie of horses and mules; sheep, goats,
poultry. the hog raiser: the orchardist;
the vineyardist the hay farmer. the
raiser of all kinds of vegetables for
home or market The term includes
vast range of rural work when made
to stand for whoever essays a living,
perhaps a fortune from the tillage of
Mother Earth-a badly used parent
we might reflect as we look upon
wide range of quilted and impoverished
field that we need to know how to
restore to condition of fertility so
that it will give fair returns for fur
Their cultivation.
farmer needs to learn, to know
great deal in order to make a great
success of his calling. There are many
things calling for cultivation or breed
ing that will make great money-pro-
ducers in time. (By way of parenthe-
sis we will say it is not ginseng, how
ever) The national Department of
Agriculture at Washington from time
TO time issues a concisS and practical
pamphlet of instruction or advice
known as Farmers Bulletins" In the
past ten years some 200 of these have
been published for free distribution.
The 200 issues include almost as many
distinct titles. There are many thou
sand copies of each printed. We are
told that a very small per cent. of
farmers apply for these, being ignor-
ant of their existence or publication,
and unaware that they can be pro-
cured simply by application on pos
tai card.
These bulletins are of real practical
value to the different persons that
they may appeal to. No doubt 1t will
interest many of our readers to scan
with us the more recent issues of the
new year. Some may be induced to
make application and secure further
issues as they come from the press.