The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1905-03-28
DANIELS BUDGET.

1nCoo40. AAIOAo - OA0
mortal loves to read as well as |, and finds as lit
tie time for 1T.
tt seems to me sometimes that / would rather
forfeit every other power and privilege that be-
longs to me than be deprived of reading. What
else can so expand the mind and ennoble the souls
Few of us can associate and converse with earth.s
wisest and greatest men, but each OF us can SIT
down in our own homes, no matter where nor how
Door, and enjoy the. wisdom of not one or two,
but many, even all the best minds of this and
every past age. ~.
Then we can turn to the Book of Books and
feast our souls upon the Infinite wisdom OF the
Eternal God. Gould any privilege be greater, any
opportunity more valuablef
The sad thing about it is the ~pitifully light estl-
mate placed upon his glorious boon by such null
titude of our race. tim axes my heart acne TO
see people, and especially young people, content
to spend hours in idle gossip or frivolous amuse-
ment when there is an open gold mine awaiting
development just at hand.
Then how sad to see so many growing up WIN
out the power to readl Thank God the number
is growing constantly less. The schoolmaster IS
abroad in the land. Brother farmers, let US do all
we can to speed his way and not only so, but Gull
tivate a reading habit In ourselves, our chndren
and all whom we can influence. In every walk OF
life the man who reads has the advantage over the
one who does not. One has only his own expe-
rience and that of his near n~eighbors to learn
from, while the other can learn from the expe-
rience of multitudes living under every magma
BILE condition.
The real book farmer has been and always
will be a great joke-the man who, book In hand.
tries to follow out thei Instructions of some author
without using any common sense of his own. L
have seen such.
But how different is the man who using his
own experience and common sense for all 1t IS
worth, still reads, thinks upon, and uses judicious-
" the experience of others. The difference Is as
great and similar to that which would exist be-
tween one person who swallowed whole any arti-
Gle of food set before him and one who selects
carefully, masticates well, DIGEST and assimilates
proper food.
Possibly you may have heard some one remark
that we've had one more winter"
Such a statement would be no joke In these
parts. How persistently it has rained, showed,
frozen, thawed, rained, showed, frozen, etc! Very
little outside work could be done. Have tried to
keep my stock comfortable. The milking and
feeding has taken a large part of each days time.
Am gratifed to find that we have feed enough to
carry us through comfortably.
Milk cows are all doing well:
Some one was writing of heifers, advising to
milk them with their first calves. Out of ten cows
In milk now, five are heifers. None of them have
given less than two gallons per day, some of them
two and a half, and one three. L butcher any
that won't reach two gallons with their first
calves.
ALI of these heifers are now quiet and well
trained. / take special pains with them, and they
seldom give INC any trouble.
/ have sold some veals this winter, q practice
that / hate, but view ere full stocked and needed
milk. Four brought me $21.O0.
We have had two weeks now of fine weather.
Have been hauling out manure, sowing oats and
planting potatoes.
Have over two hundred bushels of the latter
on hand-twice what we will use; but as every
one else seems to have plenty, we may have to
feed them.
My horses are in the very finest condition for
work. Fat enough, full of spirit, and tough. They
have not been idle two weeks all winter.