The Springfield herald., 1913-03-07
BACK YARD Farmer
Intesesting Pointers on Garden
ing for the City Man or
Suburbanite.
WHAT TO PLANT AND WHEN
Advice by an Expert on Agricultural
Matters-The City on the Farm
Notes on Chicken Raising
Care Of the Lawn.
BY PROF. JOHN WILLARD soLTE.

BY PROF. JOHN WILLARD BoLTE.
The title to this talk is a question
that is asked the writer more often.
possibly. than any other. Does the
farm hold out a promise of comfort
able living along with its advertised
Independence? Can the ordinary city
bred man, with or without a cash cap
ital OF his own, undertake farming
with any assurance of success In a
money way.
Unfortunately. this question cannot
be answered. save in qualified man
ner. Hundreds. yes, probably thou
sands OF city men have gone into
farming, in some of its branches and
have been entirely successful. Pos
sibly as many more have taken the
same step and have been mighty glad
to give up their Independence for
regular job at the risk Of some one
else. AS in all other independent pur-
suits. 1t depends almost entirely on
the man.
The farm Is no place for lazy man.
strawberries with clotted cream. Most
of 1t is hard work. with plenty of
Precipitation mixed in. 1t means long
hours. from before dawn until after
dark, most OF the year. City farmers
who have failed have been, for the
most part, those who expected to put
in an eight-hour day and let nature do
the rest.
The fact that must be borne in mind
is that nature by herself rarely pro-
duces profitable crops. The profit in
farming is represented by the differ
ence between what nature would pro-
duce IT left alone, and what man
forces her to produce by his thought
and work. the cost of his work being
deducted from the gross receipts
from the crops. Work is what makes
for success in farming as in any other
line-work and careful planning.
We are entirely safe In saying here
that a city bred man of intelligence
and perseverance can undoubtedly
make as good living on the farm as
he can In business. on the average.
II he has to do manual work. as he
certainly will. his reward will come in
strong muscles and clear. fresh
brain. II he has to put in longer
hours, he will be able to sleep nights
and awake in the morning as fresh as
q lad. The lowly natural things that
he comes in contact with in his daily
work are at least as nature made
them, which cannot be said of the
filthy surroundings in most sections
Of every large city.
What line should city man take
up in order to be reasonably sure OF
success at the start! Subject to local
conditions. we would name the follow
ing list OF agricultural pursuits In the
order OF their precedence: Poultry
and fruit, dairy farming. small fruit
farming. truck gardening. A number Of
other special local lines could be add
ed, but we do not advise any inex-
perienced man to attempt general
farming or the handling Of large
tract of land until he has had time to
become familiar with general farming
practice. 1t is absolutely certain that
any of the above lines. carefully han
died on a small scale. will enable a
man to earn a hundred dollars a month
on an average, over and above ex-
penses. provided he owns his land and
buildings. AS he becomes familiar
with his problems he can hire others
to work for him and materially In
crease his own income.