Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1907-01-01
The Best Fertilizer on Any Farm.

Inc BEST Fert1Ifzer on ANY Farm.
The best fertilizer We know of on any
farm is the brains of the farmer himself.
We do not mean by this the amount of
gray matter alone, nor yet the quality of
it as might be decided by phrenologist.
Neither do we mean the education which
the farmer has received at agricultural
college, experiment station, or else
where. Nor do we mean his ability to
make talk at an institute or any other
agricultural gathering. (Our observa-
ton has been that in many cases the
ability to fertilize the farm with brains
is in inverse proportion to the ability to
tell about it) Nor yet do We mean the
ability to write an article for the paper
telling Just how it should be done.
Then what do we mean? We mean the
ability to make careful observations, to
draw accurate conclusions, then to do
the things that should be done, and do
them at the right time and in the right
way. Many farmers have this ability
who have never been at an agricultural
college, who have never made speech
on any agricultural subject in all their
lives, and have never written an article
for any paper. They would no doubt
have greater ability IL they had attended
an agricultural college, provided they
did not learn things there that led them
away from the farm. They would have
been all the better off had they been
careful readers of first class agricultural
papers, provided they did not take all
that was written as gospel truth at first
sight, or concluded that what is adapted
to one set of conditions and circum-
stances is applicable to all. They
would undoubtedly have been better
farmers if they had taken part in insti-
tute work, and thus learned to express
themselves more clearly and at the same
time to avail themselves of the best
thoughts of others.
The actual available fertility of the
farm does not depend altogether on the
original character of the soil, nor on the
buildings and other improvements, nor
on the particular kind of stock that is
kept; but on the capacity of the farmer
to ascertain what the soil needs and
what the farm needs, in medical phrase,
to diagnose the case, or to find out what
is lacking, and then the ability to act
according to the requirements of the
situation.
Our readers have often seen two
farms, evidently of the same quality,
lying side by side, cultivated by men
of the same character and whose chances
were apparently equal; and yet one OF
these farms was operated at a profit and
the other at no profit or perhaps at a
loss. If you investigate the reasons
closely you will find that the difference
is not in the soils nor in the improve
ments, but in the capacity of the farmer
to draw conclusions as to what ought to
be done, and then do it.
1t is not an uncommon thing to see a
farmer do wonderfully we'll in opening
up farm, in planning the buildings, in
getting it into first class shape, and then
as the farm is developed into live stock
farm or devoted to some other speciality,
to fail to get the very best results. The
farm has grown faster than the farmer.
Nor is this peculiar to the farm as it
applies to every other line of business
Some men in business are able to carry
their business 80 far, and then fall down.
The business has grown faster than the
men. The personality of the farmer is
the greatest factor Of the success OF the
farm or any other enterprise.
We sometimes see farmer merely
making ends meet until the boy gets big
enough to take hold of it. The boy, If
he is the right kind, will develop it into
a wonderful success. We often see the
very reverse also. The farmer is CON-
petent man, makes money, takes his
family and moves to town, and the boy
fails to even hold it up to the measure of
profit under his father. The personal
element is after all the biggest element
in any kind of enterprise.
All this emphasizes the necessity of
growing the right kind of boys to begin
with (which may very properly be con-
sidered during counting days. and then
of training the boys to habits Of close
observation and correct reasoning, as
we'll as habits of integrity and industry.
Wallace Farmer.