The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1907-04-05
MAPLE RIVER CLUB
Farmers Held March Meeting
At the Home of Elmer
Waugh.
An Interesting Program by Number
of Successful Farmers.

other clubs, the Maple River
Farmers club held it's March
meeting at the pleasantly stu
ated and hospitable home of
Mr.. and Mrs. Elmer Waugh. The
Gay being a typical representation of
fine spring weather, every one caught
the spirit of the occasion and one of
the most interesting and enjoyable
meetings of the club transpired. On
account of sickness in one on two
families who were, to respond, the
program was somewhat shorter than
usual, however, the discussions that
followed were lively and Interesting
At the appointed hour President
P. b. Reynolds called the meeting
to order The regular business
session was taken up and several i'm
portant matters pertaining to club
work were discussed. The name of
one new applicant for membership
was placed upon the list to be con-
! sidered at next meeting.
The dinner hour having arrived the
usual allotted time was very earnestly
and enjoyably spent i'll partakinS OF
very acceptable dinner prepared by
our hostess. After dinner few mo-
lments were pleasantly spent in con-
versation and investigating Mr.
| Waugh's system of farming. 1t is
very apparent from the neat, tidy APP
lpearance of Mr.. Waugh's surround
| ings that he understands the farm
! ing business and not only knows how
to make farming pay, but how to
i,,4o Ia, fpNy
The afternoon session was then
called to order. In the absence of the
! first member on the program, Mrs.
George Martin read very interest
ing paper on the subject Character
Sketch of Mrs Mary Baker Eddy
Mrs. Martin very fittingly reviewed
the early life of Mrs. Eddy, giving an
interesting account of her early pre-
paration for her life work. Per-
haps no one other person has been
more faithful in her belief and ear
nest in her endeavor TO carry on the
mission of the Christian Science doc
trine than Mrs. Eddy. Through her
efforts thousands of people have be-
come followers in the establishment
of this doctrine.
Three Requisites to Success:
Principle, System, Industry; are they
generally regarded in Farm Lines?"
was the theme of very ably present
| ed paper by Mr.. John Bilhimer. We
all have a purpose in life. Some may
attain great achievements in one line
Of work while others may accomplish
equal success in other lines. We can
not lay down any well defined scale
to measure success. Principle must
be the fundamental basis upon which
a business of any character must rest.
Success cannot be permanent unless
founded upon principle. Mr.. Bill
himer thought that system should be
more fully adopted in farm manage
ment as it would tend to lower cost
of production and economiZe time and
labor. Industry | do not believe is
lacking generally among farmers
said Mr.. Bilhimer but I do believe we
should apply more system in operat-
ing our farms.
c. b. Cook opened the discussion
speaking of the importance of prin
ciple in achieveing success. In ev-
cry line of work undertaken by man
kind, principle in the underlying fac
tor. We cannot hope to achieve the
greatest degree of success in any en-
teprise or vocation unless we put as
our foundation principle of the high
est and purest character. Farming
| is one of the business enterprises
where principle must be accepted as
the fundamental basis of operation.
The farmer who will not put principle
| first and the most important factor
| in his chosen line of work cannot
| hope to achieve the highest success.
System, as one of the three requi
sites to success was spoken on by Leo
| Reynolds. AS a rule farmers do not
apply enough system to their farm
work. Too many are inclined to feel
| that the old way of doing business is
good enough. Farm valuation eX-
| ceeds by far that of any other enter
| prise and yet the net earnings on
every thousand dollars invested in
| farm lands is far below that of other
! industries.
| Our railroads today are paying large
dividends to their stockholders, be-
cause they are operated under a sys-
| tenn whereby actual expense is com
Iputed. If more railroad managers
were operating our farming interests
| they would decidedly increase the
Iprofits obtained from the business.
Farmers can well afford to study the
| system employed by other enterpris-
es and adopt such best suited to their
conditions. Every farmer should keep
a set of books so that at the end of
each year he would know how much
he had made during the year.
Ira Snyder, one of our most sue
cessful farmers, took issue upon the
subject of keeping book account of
farm operation, believing it was UNI
necessary. He spoke of our coun-
try affairs as a good illustration of
accuracy of book accounts and thought
many farmers would become discour-
aged if they knew just how they
stood at the end of each year. How
ever, it was the general impression
that system in operating our farms
was an essential factor and could be
proftly employed by every farmer.
Florida, Her Valuable Climate, My
Farm There" was the subject of a
talk by Mr.. A. L. Chandler. There
are a great many things about the
south | fell in love with" said Mr..
Chandler THE women in the south
ern states are very Industrious
class and the backbone of its pro-
gress." Mr.. Chandler, who has just
returned from an extended trip over
the southern states, and particularly
Florida, gave a very interesting talk
on the advantages and disadvantages
of southern life. II do not think, con-