Norwich bulletin., 1911-03-04
FORESIGHT MORE PROFITABLE THAN HINDsIGH1'

(xritten Specially for The Bulletin-)
\ sometimes think that the one thing
which keeps 80 many farmers back Is
thr1r 1nck OF what my old father used
- call ~gumption." He meant by that
Gnrnnfxhf forehandedness. ability to
- which way the cat is likely to
1ump. determination 10 make today.
Insure tomorrow. There are whole
1T Of people who can't see beyon0
rhuir noses and have snub- noses, at
0nnG I Goa't mean to- .nsinuats, for
4 don'k think that FARMERS are any
mare liable to this than other folks
They have. probably, lust about their
xaIr share OF the thing- On the other
hand their occupation and their stu
alton. their dependence on the chang
lux year and their isola ton from ham
~ supplies on separate farmsteads de-
foresight more carefully than any
In my own immediate neishborhoed
] should say that about three-quarters
OF ~ the farmers I know well enough
- sDsak Of are carefully and shrewdly
1oronnnded fellows. They reckon for
uGu9 week and next season, IS we'll as
Gw this afternoon They plan ahead
an make provision in advance for in
~vllahlo or even possible needs. In
rru<h All farmers must do this. in some
doGroo We all have to plan for our
en- harvest them. II We didn't we
shouldn't raise much
DID I say we aslr" do this7 must
take that back. for only this last week.
>zIkin< with Neiehbor Waterhouse, I
found that he hadn't made up his mind
set what crops 10 plant this very
spring OF course he had made no
preparation- He ''kinder thought as
how he would have to SOW oats on
that corn stubble. But he hadn't any
ned oats. he hadn't tried to find where
Ne could get any. one OF his team
horses had recently died and he hadn't
thus FAR looked around none TO see
where he could pick up another. And
70 on and on He s'posed he'd have
10 plant some corn for the hawgs and
come potatoes for the family. But he
hadn't any idea where he'd plant them
nor how he was going to fertilize them
nor indeed whether he could ever
set thu land plowed for them. or not
DO you wonder that Neighbor Wa
ferheuse generally farms 1t in hard
1uck9
0ut he's rather an extreme excep-
tien- II there were even a quarter of
uE Nike him. the country would go
ahort OF provisions mighty soon. Most
az - plan out our crops and work
our farms on some sort of schedule,
Hut - I started to say a few para
graphs back. while perhaps three
quarters II us do this shrewdIy. there's
> big fraction OF us who don't look
.heed and plan ahead as we ought.
Evon when we dc this with our crops.
We fRil in other matters 1 can't think
that this IN due TO mere laziness, for
] have known some of the worst Of
Tenders along this line to be faithful
ana effective workers-when some one
- - <n~+ r,x~.l
ably It's due 10 some mental twist
or k1nk either Inherited or fostered
by bae training and wrong education
~ thio - %, II should serve as a
mit1Enf1on q too harsh judgment on
shoso hard luc3<' farmers. Neverthe-
les. the truth remains that it is gem
erRuy the cause of their hard luck,
and IL they could be made to appre-
ctnte the fact. IL a cause which might
very largely be removed While 1t is
1upreggtveIy true that none of us can,
By thinking add a cubit to our stat
ure. II 10 just rs true that we can by
persistent training increase the meas
Ure OF our biceps. or acquire dextrous
p<i1 In handling tools which. at first.
We are awkwardiy helpless with. Can
anything he more unintelligible to the
Average man than the rafting clatter
OF . telegraph instrument? 1t was
once just as meaningless to the oper-
&1or IS ~ II 10 US But ne trained MS
onr and his hand and his memory till
new that chattering click-clack spells
out words and sentences and ideas to
him Apparently we were all born
snoedlBs critters" At least / never
roDGHher q boy who wasn't just that
NoFf- Some boys-most boys-grow out
- this. while few never seem to.
~ ron1 man can and does control, in
large measure. his own development.
lie can't help being born with two
11andE. But he can have some voice
5n Daying what those hands shall be
trimmed to do and how they shall be
trained to do it-whether they shall
become more skilfuI with the hoe or
che hammer. for instance. He can't
help being born Needless and reckless
8u< - can help. in some degree. car
rying that MISFORTUNE into mature life
With him
! dent suppose there was very
much difference among these farm
- -