The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-11-20
One contented Farmer.

We met the other day that rare
bird, happy and contented farmer.
| Good morning" he said, cheerily, "a
little snappy this morning; guess
twill put a stop to fall blowing, but
no matter. What a nice long spell of
good weather we've had for it. Say,
you ought to come over and let me
show you the handsomest bin of po-
tatoes you ever saw. Big yield, tell
you. Clean, every one of 'em. No
matter if they amt but thirty or for
ty cents a bushel; guess they'll be a
leetle higher next spring" And as
he hustled off, we felt as though a re-
freshing breeze had met us So diff
ferent
Many farmers growl and kick
Things are never quite right; no.
they are never anywhere near right
with them. Butter may be selling at
thirty-fve cents a pound, but Gosh
dang it. | anti maxim none Cows
all dry-most. Grain costs awful,
too" Pork may be so high that the
hogs bristles stand up but the farm
er didn't plan ont and failed to
start his shotes. Jest my luck he
means at the street corner Hay may
be worth fifteen dollars a ton, but 81
got to buy" Potatoes? We'll, ! got
enough OF en- but can't sell 'em fer
nothin'." Apples? on year with
me- Turkeys? He'd poor luck so
many times didn't try none this year
Wish now he'd
If such farmers ever do hit il right
silence, Not a word of their good
fortune in turning off a profitable
crop Same old groan about the mis-
ventures. They seem to fear that
someone else will follow their stroke
and break the market
The farmers lot is an all-round
rattle. He plants half a dozen differ
ent crops He keeps horses. cattle,
hogs, hens. In the natural event,
when he has good luck with potatoes,
so do all his neighbors, potatoes are
plentiful. the supply is large and
prices drop to correspond When his
hens cease laying, so do others, eggs
are scarce and prices rise If he has
few to sell, those few bring more.
The combination of a big yield in any
department and high prices for the
product is abnormal, and need not be
relied upon, or lamented when it fails
to arrive. BY his very diversity of
output the farmer is assured an
equilibrium of income that comes TO
few others. II is seldom, very seldom
especially in Vermont, that something
does not turn up right for him, and
make good any losses in other lines.
The farmer has the advantage OF a
quickly responsive market The
preacher who depends on stipend
fixed years ago, when all he had to
buy was twenty-five per cent, at least.
lower than in these days finds it very
hard to adjust himself to the changed
conditions. Merchants turn over
their stocks now on a relatively small
Ter percentage of profit than they did
ten years ago. Professional men OF
all kinds, wage earners and those
with fixed incomes find it harder to
figure their way along, owing to the
higher cost of living. The farmers
lot is more fortunate in this respect,
and all are glad that it is So When
he prospers, the prosperity is diffus-
ed. When he languishes. there is no
balm in Gilead.
But just for fun, we would like to
see Dame Plenty's cornucopia
dumped into the lap of some farmers
until they actually cracked a smile OF
satisfaction and emitted a word of re-
joicing. It would be worth while to
witness.-Randolph Herald and News.