The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1910-06-23
THREE WAYS TO GO BACK TO SOIL

BY Milo Hastings.
For the man with brains and liking
for nard work the best chance to make
money in America just now is to become
faithful servant of trust.
But there are they who, from a re-
bellion of spirit against servitude or a
moral resentment against the methods and
purposes of the great corporations do not
fancy such employment. To such as these
the greatest industrial opportunity-in
fact, practically the only opportunity to
increase materially ones account without
decreasing the bank balance of some one
else-is in modern agriculture.
There are two prevailing ways in which
men may safely enter upon new bust
ness enterprises-hrst by working for some
one else until one learns the business
accumulates sufficient capital to start op
erations second, BY accumulating sufficient
money in another trade to enable one to
start full-Redged in the new business.
Agriculture, because of the fact that
one may engage in it up on any scale,
from the keeping of potted geranium
in the window to a ten thousand acre
wheat farm, offers a third way of en-
tering the business, and that is by farm
ing on the side until the necessary expen-
ses and cash are accumulated to warrant
one risking it as a means of livelihood
In most trades the first method given
is the sensible one So it is in case of
farming for country lads who do not in
merit land, and for men from the city
whose wages arc less than three dollars
per day. In the case of men whose city
earning capacity is greater than this,
working for wages on a farm is likely to
prove disappointing and be given up in
disgust.
The solution, in the case of young men,
is the agricultural college, course in
which will increase ones earning power
in agriculture to a point where it will
compare favorably with city work. For the
man with family one of the later methods
must be considered.
In the case of a countryrnan who comes
to town, the buying Of business without
having had previous experience in related
occupations usually ends disastrously. The
city man going to the country frequently
thinks he can disprove this principle. Oc-
casicnally he succeeds in doing SO, but
such cases are often to be explained BY
the fact that the city man keeps summer
boarders, finds superior market for his
good account his city training.
In strictly farm work lack of experience
is very real handicap, and one that
reading books, good though that is, cannot
overcome City people usually expect toe
much of modern agriculture; they figure
probable yields by exceptional yields and
forget to consider the many little losses
that cannot be accurately anticipated. The
result is that expenses are increased upon
a scale that the incoming crop fails tc
justify. ~
Buying a farm outright is safe enough
for those who have sufficient means to
consider themselves on a two or three
years vacation, but for the city worker
Of modest means the safer landward route
is by way of the suburban garden and
poultry yard.
The commuters farm whether it is a
lot or twenty-five acres,
should be made to yield a profit. An ac-
curate account of expenses, including every
hour of labor and the value of the product,
should be kept. But remember that horse
power is cheaper than man power, and
do not expect to make profit when grow
ing by hand such products as are ordi-
narily grown with horse labor.
When you have saved enough money
from your suburban farming to buy and
equip FIVE or ten acres of good land you
should, if the agricultural bee is still buzz
zing in your bonnet. feel pretty safe in
settling permanently upon the soil.