The Robesonian. [volume] (Lumberton, N.C.) 1870-current, 1910-10-03
Continued from last week. }

this sort Of job than it is for a single |
man. Farmers have theory. which
is generally correct, that married men i
are more to be depended upon. Many
Of them are willing to furnish house
and garden to man for the sake of
getting one with family
After spending a year or two work
ing for some one else the would 5e
farmer will have fairly good idea of
the art of farming. If he has been
putting in his spare moments studying
he will have fair understanding of
the science of farming. His own COM
mon sense and the training he has re-
ceived in town will fit him to handle
the business end. He is now in a po-
sition where he can plan on going to
work for himself. He will have saved
something from his wages while on the
farm. and he probably had a little
money saved up before. Then comes
the question of whether to buy or to
rent. A good many beginners in farm
ing make the mistake of tying all their
capital up in land and having moth
ing left for stock and equipment. In
order to make the farm pay the farmer
must have plenty of working capital.
1t is usually better to rent for few
years until enough money has been
saved to make a fair payment on the
land. Then a farm can be bought
without robbing the equipment fund.
The question of where to locate is an
| important one and one which the con-
| f1icting mass Of evidence makes hard
to decide. The irrigated districts of
the west offer some of the best oppor-
tunities to be found anywhere. The
country is new. and settlers are vel
come. Land is high, but it does not
take much of it to yield a good living.
The dry farming districts of the
west have been loudly doomed. This
dry farming land can be bought very
cheaply. 1t costs little to get start.
At the same time the man who goes
on dry farm must remember that
only half of his land will yield n
crop each year, sometimes not more
than a third of it. The principle OF
dry farming is to cultivate the land
for a year or two without sowing a
crop. This prevents the rain which
falls from evaporating. and by the
second or third year enough moisture
will have been stored up to raise a
crop. No one should think of going
on a dry farm without having enough
7 money laid by to pay expenses fol-
two or three years without any i'll
come. Dry farming means man!
losses and much encouragement, but
the success of many dry farmers
proves that it offers opportunities t
the man who has the courage to stick.
E The fertile lands of the middle ives
: have been little advertised of late, ant
: many people are Of the opinion tina
O this part of the country is aread,
2 fully settled. This is far from ben,
2 the case. The Mississippi valley coult
J support four or five times its presen
- farming population with ease. Lane
is high, but it is worth the price. Th
: middle west offers the advantage 0
> progressive neighbors, good churches
t schools and colleges and modern con
n veniences Of every sort. There ar
Re thousands Of chances for the city ma
10 in this section.
n In the east probably the best oppo1
|. tunities are found in truck farming
[. Only small tract of lana Is required
- and the returns are large.
.. The abandoned farms of New Ems
h land can be purchased very cheapl.
! They can never be made as productiv
- as the lands farther west. but unde
- proper treatment the fertility can h
4. restored and very comfortable prot
1 secured from them.
The agricultural opportunities OF tt
~ south have been little advertised. y,
IN there is no section of the countl
Z, where the opportunities of the sma
v. farmer are greater. Diversified farr
ing and stock raising are a compar
lively new thing in this section. tt
UP men who are growing less cotton ar
more corn and hogs and dairy Gov
AZ are getting ahead. Land is cheap