The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1911-03-30
WHAT II TAKES

A subscriber. after asking several
questions. finally propouhded the fol-
lowing conundrum What does 40
take to make q fafmerg1
we suspect his query was intend
ed as 4 joke. Being . farmer how
ever, is no Joke with most people
Being a good farmer is pretty serious
business: and we propose to take the
question seriously.
AS Ia often the case a negative an
sWer is more simple than an amrma-
tive one. It is easier to say what does
not constitute q farmer than 70 state
what really does make q farmer. We
will, therefore, first go on record an
TO what In our opinion does not make
On farmer.
Owning land or attempting TO pro-
duce crops does not make a farmer.
Dressing the part does lot make u.
farmer. The "One-gallus farmer OF
fiction and picture is mostly fiction
and should be more SO. Neither "one-
paIlusa nor q matched pair OF gaIlua-
es with q full complement of other
clothing to match constitutes q far.
mer.
Sd ID q T6O04ASA44O 4QAE0 AOWI
words concerning the dress OF the
real farmer. We can conceive OF no
logical a why any class of re-
spectacle, reasonably prosperous
American citizens, when not engaged.
at their own particular labor, should
be distinguished or recognized by the
kind of clothes they wear. 1t is equ-
ally reasonable to expect that each
class of these citizens while actu-
ally engaged in their own kind OF
work should wear clothing best adapt
ed to that work. We expect the
blacksmith at his forge to wear .
leather apron. This badge OF his
trade is neither called for nor appro-
pirate IN the streets. We believe the
same principle apple sto railroad
men. merchants, professional man or
farmer.
We should expect the farmer on HIS
farm attending to the work of the
farm to be dressed like a farmer. II
actually engaged in farm work in
town. like hauling fertilizer or ship
ping cotton, the same fact holds true.
At other times we can see no valid
aso why any one should be able
TO recognize a farmer solely by the
sign of the clothes he wears.
The farmer, the real farmer, is a
business man; when in town engaged
In business, we believe his dress
should be that Of a business man.
The reasons for this belief are pure
1y business reasons. "a mans a man
for a. that " fine feathers never made
fine bird" "clothes never make the
man" may be quoted in vain. Spread
ing manure is just as respectable q
labor as counting cash in a bank, but
appearance-clothes-do count, and
good business sense takes advantage OF
this fact. The attractively Displayed!
properly assorted and arranged fruit.
vegetables or other farm product
brings best prices. It is good busi-
ness to take advantage OF this fact.
For these same reasons clothes
count. There is no room for argu-
ment on this point Among strang-
ers they a~reeeyidence of character.
Among friends theysspasss as Illus
trating personal iaiosyncracfes.
As to what It really takes to make
q farmer. here is our opinion:
The farmer needs the faith Of the
clergyman, reasoning power OF the
lawyer, close observation Of the doc
Cor, economic skill Of the merchant.
executive capacity Of the railroad
manager. personal dexterity Of the
artisan technical skill Of the engfn-
Ger, weather wiseness OF the sailor,
promptness of the soldier, and fore
sight ef the fnancier.
All this an5 then some more. Is
it apv wonde- ttet there are so few
really ideal farmer.-Southern Rural
fist.