Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-08-13


quoted to discourage such people from
casting their fortunes in with the
country. The cases where the city
man and his family have been success
fully transplanted to the county are
too numerous TO warrant the assump-
ton that it cannot be done. At the
same time it must be admitted that
there are difficulties in the way. The
easiest transition is made by the coun-
try, boy who has grown tired of city
life He is used to the ways of the
farm. and it will be a short task for
him to learn the new methods and take
up the furrow at the point where he
left it a few years ago.
For the man who has lived all his
life in the city the proposition is
altogether different and much more
difficult. He has all the ways OF the
new life to learn. He is unused to
country life and country customs.
Worst of all. he is unused to country
methods If man listens too cred
ulousiy to the land shark who tells
him that on the farm he proposes to
sell conditions are all SO perfect that
a gentle tickling of the soil will bring
forth bountiful results ddsappoint-
ment is almost sure TO follow. The
real estate men are in the business
for money. and if they can make
sale by minimizing the need of train
ing for farming they are going to do it
Farming is composed of three parts
the art, the science and the business.
OF the three the latter is the only
one that the average city man knows
anything about. The same business
principles that apply TO any line of
business hold good on the farm. Com
mon sense and n fair amount Of bust
ness ability comprise the chief essen
tails to success in handling the bust
ness end of farming.
There remain the art and the sci
ence. For Il young man undoubtedly
the best place to learn the science
of farming is in a school or college.
The agricultural college offers the
most complete course of instruction
along this line. A considerable share
of the enrolment at the agricultural
college is made up OF city boys who
are there to learn the science of farm
ing. | have known many of these
college made city farmerS-a combina-
ton that would have shocked the
practical man of the past generation
into insensibility. ! have known many
of them to go to farming or to follow
some line of work closely related to
farming. and / have yet to see the
first failure.
A college education means consfd-
cradle cost in both time and money.
The city man who wants to turn farm
er seldom has a very large supply of
the latter To such men the secondary
courses in agriculture. or ''short
courses" make a special appeal. A
short course of a year or two years In
one of these schools will go a long
way toward grounding the city farmer
In the principles of scientific agricul-
ture. Even such a course is impossi-
BILE for the greater share of the city
men who see the opportunities of farm
life and would like to become farmers.
The next best thing is a course of
home study. A number of agricultural
colleges offer correspondence courses
in agriculture, by means of which the |
science of agriculture can be learned |
quite thoroughly. Then there are a |
great number of experiment station |
and government bulletins which may |
be had for the asking. There are
many good books on agriculture in it's |
various branches. Last but by no |
means least. there is the agricultural |
press. Much of the advancement that
has been made in agriculture is due to
the agricultural papers. They stand
for all that is best and most progress
sive in rural life. and they contain
fund of information on methods of
farm practice that are invaluable to a
beginner.
There yet remains the art Of farm
ing-that is. the art Of handling the
plow. of caring for the horses, of feed
ing the cows. of regulating the ma
chinery and the thousand and one 9TH
er things that the farmer must know
how to do. The only way the art of
farming can be learned is by prac-
tee. The best way for the city man
with limited capital to learn is to hire
out to some good farmer by the month.
Farm help is scarce, and farmers are
always glad to get faithful men at
fair wages. They prefer skilled men.
but these are often impossible to OBJ
tain. 1t is not at all difficult for a so
per. industrious city man who really u