The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-02-11
Once Again, The One Horse Farmer.


Here are extracts from two letters
We have recently received. Says. No.
/:
Il have been very much benefited
by the paper, although l am a one
horse farmer and renter too. It's
not every one that can be a two-horse
farmer, and please don't say such
hard things about renters and one
horse farmers. Remember circum-
stances alter cases." Says Number q
I'm sending you my subscription
want to say that 1 saw something in
your paper some months ago that
literally disgusted me. 1t seems to
have been written in reply to a ques-
ton as to what tools were needed by
a one-horse farmer. am a One
Hoss Farmer strictly. There is not
a two-horse implement on my farm,
and there has never been. a furrow
plowed on 1t with anything but a one
horse plow, and / want to say that
the much-criticised Boy Dixie has
been much used and is still used to
good advantage on my farm. 1 fear
IL you can not offer any advice that
will aid one-horse farmer 1 will not
get the worth Of my dollar
Let us consider the problems pre-
Qp hNy txxyr Iakt o.,
ment:
1t Is the business Of The Progress
i've Farmer to help its readers; If it
doesn't do this. 1t has no good reason
for existence. That it has done this,
hundreds OF expressions Of gratitude
from them and a constantly increas-
Ing subscription list abundanty testi-
fy. But while we want 1t to help
every reader, no matter what kind of
a farmer he is, IL there Is any one
class of readers whom we especially
desire to serve. 1t is the small farmers,
the men who have a little land. or
who have comparatively few farm
tools-the men. in short, whom the
banker and the merchant and the
manufacturer would never dream of
considering business men," like
themselves.
We have taken 1t for granted that
the men OF this class who read The
Progressive Farmer want to do bet
ter farming, that they would like to
make more money. and we have to
help them do this by giving them in
formation--that is by furnishing them
with the experiences Of successful
farmers and telling them the facts
about farm work which students and
Investigations have found out-and
to far smaller degree by giving
them our opinions, and those OF other
men. about the questions they have
10 settle.
When We say that IL costs the man
who works one horse more 10 10
s!Tea amount OF blowing az certain
kind than II costs the man who
works two horse. or three horses, or
a gasoline tractor. we are not express
ing an opinion-we are stating a fact.
1t Is mere matter of mathematics.
When We urge the man with one
horse to get two horses so that he
can reduce the cost Of his plowing, we
are giving advice. 1t may be that
there are some readers. as the writer
OF our first letter says, who can not
take this advice. and In this case all
we can do is to give such information
as will enable them to do the most
efficient work with that one horse. We
are sure that there are readers who
can not add to the number Of their
work stock this spring, but we are
equally sure that most Of them, If
they set out to do IL, can get at
least two horses or mules by another
year, and we are sure it will pay
them to do IL.
"A man can not do good breaking
with one-horse plow' except at an
egregious cost, and while he may cul-
tivate his crops we'll with one horse,
this, too, will cost him more than 1t
should. In short, the one-horse farm
er is at a great disadvantage and will
always be.
This is why we urge our "one-horse"
readers 10 set their minds to 1t and
get another horse for that portion,
at least. of the farm work which one
horse can not do WE'LL and this ad-
vice. we believe. is the best we could
give them. The man who Is content
to limit his farming to what he can
A usifh