Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1909-01-21
THE GRANGE
Conducted by
J. w. BARROW. Chatham. N. r..
Pres Correspondent New York. State
GrdssCc
A GRANGE STORY.
The Legend Of the Blind Man and the
Cripple Applied to Farming.

Can tell the difference between
knowing how TO cultivate crop Of
corn and why we cultivate IL: Yes.
l think / can. for / have made mis-
takes a-plenty In my life because Of
not knowing the why Yes. the how
and the why OF things is something !
am qualified TO speak Of from expert
ence. "A burned child breads the
fire." and have been blistercd times
enough for not knowing the why. and
that ut times when l was very cocky
firebrands with great circumspection.
1t Is from a fullness OF such expert
ence that ! am able TO answer your
question,
Yes, j know Sol Davis. You are
right-he Is good cultivator, l grant
you. and he has a good crop Of corn.
/ mean as rule he has. but he some
times slips a cog and his crop fails to
come up to his average. Not knowing
the why Of his failure, he Is liable to
repeat his mistakes. He knows there
are cogs, but he does not know what
they are for. and he Is apt to overes-
innate the value Of some and under
estimate the Importance OF others.
Now. there is Sols wife, as good
housekeeper as ever toted a pan Of
baked beans to n grange feast Yes,
those raised biscuits that she brought
the other day were fine-good enough
to take first premium at the county
fair-but she did not get her success
the first time trying. The first batch
she kept at home. 1t was good enough
for the family and for the children's
lunch to take to school, but happened
to be just little of for public In
spection. She. too. failed to under
stand all the cogs In her baking. She
did not give the proper emphasis on
some and too much on others.
When q boy l got no further than
seeing the street parade when the cir
Gus came to town. To me the most
wonderful man In the procession was
the driver Of the band wagon, with
six or eight horses. l was able TO
handle two lines on one horse and feel
the bit. but to hold six or eight and
tight on others was a marvel
The agricultural world Is getting be
yond the one horse stage and requir-
ing men who are able to handle more
problems and their remedies and not
overdo in some things and underdo in
others.
The conditions are different now
from in pioneer days and more in de-
mand of men now than then. There
are several qualifications In the test,
but the greatest is to know the why
Sol Davis. the man we have just
been speaking of, ruined the hen ma
nure of one winters savings by mixing
corn ground one year. and II so hap
pened he had a good crop. which was
due to other causes rather than the
salt. Next year he put on salt again.
He reasoned If little salt was good
thing lot would be better, and he put
on so much as to be to the detriment
OF his yield.
Yes. / think understand your ques-
ton. which is whether q farmer like
Sol Davis, who knows the how, but
not the why. is better man than
some Of those mouthy platform talk
ers who know the why and are not
able to raise a hill Of beans That is
easy to answer Why. Sol Davis, Of
course. Each man alone is like sin
gle blade of shears-not much good
when separate, but a full team when
Joined together.
You have heard the story Of the part
nership between the blind man and the
cripple, haven't you? One could walk
and could not see, and the other could
see and could not walk. They were
stranded by the roadside until the
blind man took the cripple on his
shoulders. by which means one could
furnish eyes and the other legs. In
farming the how and the why should
be Joined together like the blind man
and the cripple.
There, hear the gavel. Grange is
being called to order I'll keep the an
nual word at my tongues end and not
stammer with stage fright when l am
called to give It, Come back just a
minute. Let me tell you what am
going to do. When the lecturer has
her program I'll ask the members OF
the grange to tell me why water puts
out fires Some will say because it's
wet, but that is no reason. whisky
Will wet whistle. but 1t Will not put
out fire. UNCLE JOHN.