Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1910-02-18
Making Farming More Profitable.

"S Toi"hH9 mOTS FTOIiIdpies
Dean Davenport of the Illinois Ag-
ricultural College, in his last book,
Education for Efficiency" has most
wisely considered present day educa-
ton tendencies, and particularly the
education which affects or will affect
the farmer boy of today and the farm.
er OF the future. His plea is for a re-
adaptation of our secondary schools
to better meet the needs of the stu
dents in attendance.
He would make country life more
wholesome and more ENJOYABLE. and
his first step toward that end would
be to make farming more profitable.
Upon this he has said:
The first step in the development
OF any business is to make it pay
Whatever we may say about the glor-
les OF country life, and it is much;
whatever the songs we sing of the
free air, the twittering birds and the
blessed sunshine, and they are many;
after all, and before all, farming is a
business, and the first and the funda-
mental step in its development is to
put it on a paying basis. Our col
legeS and our experiment stations
have done we'll, therefore, to devote
their first and up to this time their
principal efforts to the labor of in
creasing the profits of farming. In
the past farming was not a capital
lied industry, and such a thing as
failure was almost impossible. From
now on, however, farming is to be
a capitalized occupation and failure
will be relatively easy; for the new
discoveries of science while they tend
to establish the business on a sound
er basis, do not make it easier in
the sense of better adapting it to the
novice or to men Of low capacity. Ag-
riculture is rapidly becoming more
difficult, calling not for less but for
more, of brains, of knowledge. and of
executive ability and as such
it is rapidly challenging the attention
Of the brightest men, who will be
attracted about in proportion as they
can feel the possibility of reasonable
profits.
mo business can hold the service
and respect of men of ability unless
1t affords them a reasonable reward
for what they put into it, and certain.
ly no occupation can commend Itself
to ambitious young men until it Offers
promise Of a good and reliable in
come.
"In this connection 1t is most sig
nificant to note the increased respect
for agriculture and the new interest
In farming and in country life thai
commenced to spring up among al
classes almost Immediately after the
work of the college and experiment
station began to show how to pu'
this business on a scientific basis
and it is significant too, that we nov
hear less and see Of the drift from
the farm to the town, and that mel
of sound business sense and wide ex
perience are beginning to look to thu
land and to agriculture not only al
a safe business, but in every way a.
a desirable occupation. That is tn
main influence that will regulate tn,
flow from the country to the tow
and hold in check that insane rusl
of young men cityward that we hay'
all deplored these MANY years"
DR.. Davenport is most intelligentl
interpreting present day tendencie
He sees the farmer making a legitt
mate profit and adequate returns 70
his investment of labor and money
At present far too many men unfami
lar with actual facts and condition
are willing to believe that the farme
is responsible for high prices and tai
he is reaping the benefits. DR.. d.
venport would have the farmers max
still greater profit, but he woul
have 1t made by the expenditure {
more thought and intelligence In far
ing. His is a wise program.