Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1906-03-27
Economiziug According to Means.
HOW THE FARMER WITHOUT CAPITAL
CAN WORK BEST.

In the reproduction of the Country
Gentleman for Jan. 9, 1853, on page 2f
of the current volume, l noticed the fol.
lowing: "'I am not rich enough to be
economical, said young friend Of ours,
when We strongly recommended to him
the profits of a certain improvement
The want of means compels me to work
C instantly to a disadvantage, and can.
not enjoy the privileges and the profits
of my richer neighbors.'
These words could be uttered with
equal truth by many farmers to-day; for
il is unquestionably true that the poor
man, or the man who has not the proper
facilities for doing his work, Is ae a con-
stant disadvantage. The man with in
sufficient stock or help, for example, is
very likely to get behind early in the
season, and period of bad weather, an
accident, sickness, or anv other hinder
ing cause is much more serious matte
To him than to the man who has chance
to regain lost ground. The man with an
antiquated or worn-out machine will feel
the loss of day or two much more
severely than will the one who has the
best, and can therefore rush matters a
little if necessary. The man without
money must often sell his crop as soon
as made, even if his judgment tells him
to hold it, while his neighbor with
money can hold his. In short, the man
who is shackled or weighted down is the
man who will fall back soonest in the
race, and who will be least able to make
final squirt for the goal
There are thousands of farmers who
are weighed down by their inability to
do what they really believe they should
do, and who are thus at constant dis
advantage. The man who has only one
team on farm that calls for two is like
ly to be late with his blowing in the
spring. Then he has the option of
either being late with his planting or of
planting on land poorly prepared. 1t is
a choice of two evils; and at the begin
ming of season no one can tell which
will be the greater. II poor preparation
is chosen, more cultivation will be need
ed all along, and this work will be cor
respondingly harder. So the fall will
come, and he will still be behind,
gathering i'm the remnants of his crop
when he should be plowing for that of
another year.
The remedies generally prescribed for
the farmer who is thus disabled are of
two classes, the stretching of his abili-
ties to meet his needs, and the contract
ing of his needs to his abilities. Both
have their advocates. "If you need
new machine or a new horse" says one
adviser, "borrow the money and buy it,
you will get big interest on your invest
ment" Says another, IF you haven't
the stock or the machinery to work your
farm properly, cut down the acreage you
tend; that is the one safe plan" BE a
business man." says one, "don't do
without thing that you need and that
will pay you more than interest on your
investment" "Don't go into debt" ad-
vises the other, keep within your
means and be safe"
Which is the better course to pursue
depends, of course, on the man and his
circumstances. There are times when
it is well to avoid all risks; and there are
times when it pays handsomely to
spread ones self. Certain it is that
no farmer can afford to 60 on trying to
cultivate a four-horse farm with three
horses. He must either get more stock
OF reduce his acreage. The demand and
the supply, whether of labor or capital,
must be reconciled in some way. The
successful farmer is the one who man.
ages so as to have few extra dollars
and little spare time; and it is better
To be a successful farmer on a small
scale than an unsuccessful one on large
scale.
In this section the two most common
mistakes along this line are the attempt
to get along with insufficient help, both
of man and beast, and the doing with
out improved machinery. Many farmers
could well afford to hire more help and
keep more work stock; others need to
reduce the acreage they work over, and
to devote more of their land to pastures
and meadows. Many of them need to
change their lines of work either wholly
or in part, to devote less of their land
and labor to grain crops and more to
such industries as dairying, poultry rails
ing and fruit growing. These branches
of farming not only yield larger returns
for the labor expended on them, but
make possible the profitable employ
ment of many women and children who
cannot do the harder work of ordinary
farming. A diversified specialization is
the hope of this section; aud what most
of us most need to learn is not how to
do more work, but how to do our work
better.-E. Z. Miller in Country Gentle
man.