The Dolores star., 1906-06-29

INC dSrlculturlst or planter as one who
has lifted the farm on to the plane of
business. The term farmer. however.
covers that bast company Of workers
Tho, by the planting OF the seed. raise
any kind of a harvest, or who breed
ana raise cattle and other stock.
The railroad may cease runnlnA, and
things will continue to live. The stock
beard may board up its doors, and the
world will continue to move as It has
oeen moving for centuries, subject
only to transient financial cIoudiness.
Most businesses may go out Of busi-
ness, and the professional may no long.
er continue to practice, yet people will
continue to live and to propagate But
when there is no longer any farmer
there will be no longer any people, for
the world will have starved to death.
Farming is our greatest industry. the
Industry preservative of all industries
Notwithstanding the existence of hun
creds OF abandoned farms, and the
constant exodus from the farm to the
city, the farm in its numerical and
financial strength is to-day the creates.
power in the whole civilized world.
Tne farmer is not recognized as he
should be, because he seeks neither
notoriety nor prominence, but quietly
does his work. allowing others to play
at society and to receive its shallow
reward. Here, however. has been made
grievous mistake. The farmer, like
the lawyer. should be proud OF his pro-
fessIon, sufnciently appreciative OF 1t
tn contribute to 1t the full measure Of
his self-respect. Because he does not
do 80, he has lost both the social and
business prominence which really be-
loleo to his calling.
Why Farms Do Not Pay.
BONE farms do not pay, partly be-
cause some farms cannot be made to
ray. Probably not more than one-half
Of our fertile farms pay as well as they
would pay IL the right EFFORT was made
to make them pay. 1t is but common
remark that great majority OF farms
are Improbable because of the indif-
ference and lack OF cultivation on the
Fart OF the owners. Altogether too
many farmers, instead OF working
their farms, allow their farms to work
them.
The tendency to-day is Enthusiastically
away from the farm. The farmers
boy. partly because he wants change,
bu; largely because the great un-
known shines with light apparently
brighter than all the lights he has ever
seen, desires to leave the farm and to
earn his living under entirely different
away from nature as he has
experienced 1t, where he may lead a
life Numerically different from that OF
his childhood. The fault. in more than
half the cases. is due to the farmer
himself and to the way the farm is
conducted. The boy, brought UP upon
the farm which is not properly culti-
waited, and where most of the work is
drudgery, or is made to be drudgery,
where intellectual growth is stunted.
naturally, in the ignorance of his
youth, assumes that all farms are like
the farm of his childhood, and that the
opportunities of life must be else
where. Therefore he gravitates to the
city. not SO much because he loves the
city, but because he feels that that
which he knows nothing about, al
though he may think he does, is better
than that which he does known about
from actual boyhood experience.
II the average farmer works harder
than does the business man, it is not
always because he has to, but general
ly because he thinks he must / do not
deny that there is much of drudgery in
cost any other calling or work. But
the excess OF drudgery is usually the
fault Of the drudge, not OF the work
itself So far as the long farm hours
are concerned, they are no longer than
those required Of the majority of men
in business for themselves and OF
members OF all professions.
Brains Needed on Farm.
Although the average city business
man may accumulate more money than
the farmer can possibly gain under the
most favorable circumstances, he pays
a greater price for what he obtains;
ana in the majority of cases Is worse
of than is the farmer. II the farmer
treated his work as he should, and
applied to 1t the intelligence that is
given to other trades, he would reduce
the drudgery to minimum, and ready
money would not be stranger to
him.
Nearly all farmers make a living.
Comparatively few grow rich, from the
proceeds of the farm; but more than
half of the farmers, whether located
on the rocky hills Of Maine or on the
rapidly producing western soil, not
only make expenses, but are able to
save something every year.
The city clerk or city business man,
working in a block and housed in a.
nat, does not have one-haH as much
to progress, in the truest
sense Of the word, as does the farmer