The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-11-02

Habit frequently continues q type OF
farming in a community long after
that type has become Improbable.
Wheat farming on fertile virgin soil Is
usually profitable, but there are many
instances in the United States where
armer have continued to grow wheat
for a number Of years after 1t had
ceased to be q profitable crop. Inc
same is true of cotton. A tWo-ye
rotation Of corn and oats has heeh
continued in portions Of the corn belt,
Notwithstanding the fact that 1t IS OF
ter unDrOfita BILE, little or no money
ing made on either crop. Frequent
ly snese Improbable types OF farming
continue through a series of years or
untli the property changes hands or
new methods are introduced. The
farmer finds it hard to change a life
long habit.
Difficulty Of Taking Up a New Line OF
Farming.
A man who has grown up with the
agriculture Of a community is slow 10
believe that the type Of farming he has
Followed and which was at one time
profitable has at last become unSulted
to his conditions. 1t is no small task
TO think out and change his long-used
type to some better kind of farming.
Their are several reasons why such a
Change is difficult, 1t may mean a
new line Of equipment. buildings
may need notifications or fences must
be r~earranged. Tt may mean the III
PRODUCTION Of commercial fertilizers or
of more or different live stock on the
farm. 1t may mean hat honey will
have 10 be borrowed if the proposed
changes are affected. Furthermore,
the change may not succeed. AT best
the taking up OF q new line OF farming
requires a readjustment of the usual
ways of thinking and doing, a tnin5
difficult in itself and requiring consid-
cradle time to accomplish.
How Shall the Change Be Made?
notwithstanding, habit may set the
farmer in his ways, altered conditions
and lessened yields and income may
compel him to change his system or
90 out Of business. To what shall he
change? How shall he go about it:
What type of farming is likely to prove
more profitable than the kind he is
now following? What additional cap
ital is necessary to institute a new and
better system? These are the ques-
tons that confront him. They are
difficult to answer. With pencil and
paper in hand he may estimate the re-
turns that may reasonably be expected
by introducing more crops that build
up the land, by growing more Of the
crop tina is bringing him in the great
iitoAi4II u III - iNAAlo LiioIS
attention to the live took that mas
been found to pay best. and the like.
If IN these calculations he meets
with difficulty because Of a lack OF de-
finite information as TO what may be
reasonably expected when improved
methods are applied in the culture or
q crop or in the handling Of stock, he
may write to the agricultural college,
or the board of agriculture, or the ag-
;TiCultural experiment station of his
own State. or to the United States De-
partment Of Agriculture for help. 1t
Is the business of these institutions 20
discover and gather facts relative to
che science, practice, and business Of
agriculture for the benefit Of the far
mer, and particularly for lie farmer
who wants to improve his methods of
farming. The agricultural press also
undertakes to aid the farmer in the
solution of problems of this character.
In addition to these sources, q few
private firms have been established
whose business it is 10 furnish advice
on farm management for q considera-
ton.
Objections to Giving Advice on the
Management of Entire Farms.
Not always, however, are the insti-
tutiOns just mentioned prepared to
give the farmer information on a pla1l
covering his whole farm. The expert
Ealfyman cares TO give auVlce only on
~aairying, the entonologist only on in
sects and spraying, the agronomist on
ly on field crops, the pathologist only
Rn plant diseases, the shepherd only
Sn sheep. Not many care to attempt
40 coordinate all the manifold inter
PESTS Of the farm into a single cOmpre
fnensiVe farm plan, and yet this is ex-
iactly what the farmer must do every
H1ay OF his life if he would get the most
out OF his farm and make farming pay.
b The farmer is not simply q corn far
SLner, or a wheat grower, or q cattle
iinreedcr, or a sheep feeder, or a poul-
GrO 1ljcaJ, hut nftaJa oil IF fhnCn nnt