Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1911-05-09
The Omnisclent Farmer.

The Omnisclent Farmer.
When was young man, remembe
hearing an intelligent farmer talk abou
using lime, aud also salt, on some Of hi
land, and | thought that he was th'
most foolish man / had ever met.
afterward learned that he had in hi
library a book on general agriculture
and, being a great reader, evidently un
derstood what his particular soil need
ed much better than the writer did, who
at that time, had not even looked intt
such book. His only daughter, whom
was counting, was soon able to win
but il was not until years afterward tha
her father was able to win me over tG
the principles OF scientific farming. Thi'
was largely because paid no attention
to these basic principles, believing tha
the knowledge one gets from actual ex
perience was long way ahead OF tha
obtained from books. supposed, using
an oft-repeated proverb paraphrased
that 1.-The way to farm Is to farm"
/ have often noticed a seeming In
difference on the part of many tillers oil
the soil 10 new and scientific methods ol
farming, however well established; meu
who think themselves proficient, but
largely because of their real ignorance,
are 10th to give up their old ways, but,
year after year, "the same routine OF
farm labor is pursued, the son planting
lust as many acres of corn as his father
did" as a writer puts it, "'in the old OF
the moon,' using the same number OF
oxen to plow, and getting in his crops
on the same day, after having hoed them
the same number Of times as his father
and grandfather did,"
A lecturer on agricultural subjects in
Wisconsin declared that he could not
make a single one of his neighbors be-
lieye what he told them about alfalfa
until he had spent five years OF hard
study and careful experiment, and two
successful years in growing it. Finally,
from 80 acres, he harvested three crops,
which, if sold, would have brought him
S27OO, and then these farmers consented
TO try it in half-acre and acre patches.
The rank and file of farmers need more
aud more to learn the very great value
of the leguminous crops on the one hand
and the more thorough tillage OF the
soil on the other. But will they ever
learn these things without reading and
studying-only by plowing and cultivat-
ing?
Recently riding with farmer, who
owns a small farm, / asked him how
many hens he kept. He replied, "About
TO-" l learned that he was feeding
them shelled corn (hens were willing')
and that he did not expect them to lay
in the winter, declaring that the most
hens could do in cold weather was to
"dig and woller." His flock was OF
mopgrel sort, like that of most farmers.
You cannot convince nine out of ten
ordinary farmers, who keep small flocks
of poultry, that they can get more eggs
from pure-bred stock than they can
from mongrels, but the scientific poul-
tryman knows that one can. The ON
not proficient, farmer will
stand and argue in favor Of the mongrel
because ouly last year with a mixed lot
of hens be obtained such big record.
1t never occurs TO him that the scientific
poultry man has big record every year.
Then, have observed that it is al
most an impossibility to induce an or
binary farmer to purchase book on
the subject of agriculture. He has been
farming all these years and does he not
know how? There is a manifest preju'
dice against scientific farming that must
sooner or later be overcome. The writ
er. realizing the great lack of agricul'
tural reading, or study, on the part oil
the farming community, has Just infiu'
enced the Grange of which he is mem
Der to secure fifty books, mostly agri'
cultural, from the New York Ednca'
tional Department at Albany, in the
section known as ''the travelling library
The reluctance on the part OF farm
ers who attend the institutes to ask
questions, even when the opportunity
is given, is Indicative of conscious all
sufficiency on their part, so far as theiI
particular calling is concerned, compre
hending, as it does, so many phases oi
so many kinds of work. Every farmer
that attends these institutes ought tC
have at least dozen questions ready tc
fire at those specialists who are sent ou,
by the state. / heard a knowing farmer
after he had listened to noted con
ductor of an institute, take issue with
the latter. was chagrined, but, know
ing the objector, was not surprised.
The conductor was too much OF gen
tlemau to Nake much notice Of 1t, anC
allowed the objection to pass without
much comment.
The writer has in mind an omniscien
farmer who never uses commercial fertil
izers, as "they injure more than enricf
the soil, having a tendency to burn ou
the original fertilizing properties, thu
leaving it in poorer condition than u
was before" This right in the face o
the fact that at the Rothamsted Expert
meut Station it has been ascertaineC
that the yield OF 80 bushels per acre o
wheat has been maintained for a periot
of so years by the use of complete
fertilizer without any rotation, and tha
when the fertilizer was omitted th'
yield fell to II bushels per acre.
The omniscient farmeri You can lint
him all over the state. He kno,cs, TO
has he not been at work all these year
on his farm? Yes, but he may not Away
have been on his job, for he has "erIet
in vision, and stumbled in judgment"
The farmer should be familiar will
all new and tried methods even though
they have been established by tn
schools. He should read farm period
icals, the more the better. He shoul'
be forming an agricultural library b.
purchasing at least one new book eacl
wear. No one can plead ignorance o
the laws of farming when there are sal
TO be more than 400 farm periodical
published in this country, and the cele
brated Astor Library in New York cor
tains 10000 volumes on the subject Q
agriculture. The farmer need not b
''cut off for lack Of knowledge"
Knowing how plants grow, KNOWN
the fertilizing properties, the chemica
elements of the soil, and thereby VI
derstanding which are lacking, and hav
ing a prescribed method of rotation
how much better one would be able
do bis work and how much happier b
would be In doing It!
IL is said that the farmers of ancier
Egypt were very skillful in their metl
| DDS Of cultivating the soil; a. the resu
of which, even with such teemin
| population, they were enabled to suppl
many of the adjacent countries wit
breadstuffs and have an abundant SUI
DIV left for home consumption. Is
not reflection on the American farm'
of to-day with all bis opportunities {
hand for securing agricultural know
sdse, II, as has been said, "the ancieI
neoples knew more than We do abo,
most things pertaining to soil buildingi
I'D. A. Retan ir Country Gentleman.