Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1914-01-01
NIX READING WITH THOUeHT.
Reading One Of Great Sources OF
knowledge But Must Think.

10 De q Fedl1y plO6lCS9i's
date farmer, one must make use of all
the knowledge obtainable. To do this.
there are three distinct sources of in
formation, neither of which must be
neglected, namely, reading, observa-
ton and experience.
From either of these sources, n
right, in the course of a few years,
derive considerable knowledge. !
k1row a number of men who, by means
OF the last two, have become fairly
successful farmers. In fact, the most
successful farmers of my a~cquaint-
ance are not reading men, but W
their c to years of experience
and observation, together with an
enormous amount of hard work. But
they are the kind of men who always
succeed and are the exception rather
the rule. Where we find such
man who has forced his way up
through sheer ability and force OF
character, we find dozens who have
failed.
Learn to do by doing, is a pretty
good maxim, but experience keeps a
dear school, and the fellow who learns
from this source alone may be years
in absorbing some fundamental truth
which has been demonstrated over and
over again, and of which he might
availed himself, either by reading or
observing what others have learned
before him.
Observation is also a fertile source
LOT information, but the opportunity
for observing the doii4gs of others Is
in most cases, a limited one. and here
again, the progress must Of necessity
be slow.
Reading is perhaps the most pro
lifc source of information, but it lacks
much of being a complete one. Ever
If the information thus gained wer;
always accurate, n must still learr
to apply it to his own peculiar loca
: and clmatiic conditions.
What one needs to remember II
reading any farm paper is that tn
same methods under different soil o
climatic conditions may produce en-
tirely different results. Indeed, thi
one fact so complicates the study c
p agriculture that we butt into it z
every turn when we begin applyin
our theories to actual field work.
My experience has SO impressed m
with this truth that / have come |
take all advice upon farm topics wit
the ~proverbial grain of salt-to 8
slowly at first, and try out a new id;
III a small way before v~enturing t.
IS far. The one safe maxim for ther ea'
lie ing farmer is Prove all things; no
G. fast to that which is good" Howev'
e we should never accept n experien'
L as proof positive that any method
20 either a success or a failure.
l. / will give a case in point:
h A few years ago a friend of mil
neglected a field of late corn, aft
5 giving it one cultivatiOn-one trip
IS the row with spring-tooth cultiVat
II when the corn was three inches hi'
I'd When he finally got back to it, t
r corr was nearly waist high and t
weeds knee high in the middles.
He proceeded to give it a good ba
ing off" using a two-horse pillow a.
going fully six inches deep, leavi
the corn on a ridge about inches wiz
/ happened along about this tin
ST and when / saw what he was doing
ar nearly had a fit. It had just be
he reading an article condemning t
practice of harrington" corn, and,
a. cording to all my ideas of farming, t
ell corn was, ruined, because the weatf
as was extremely hot and dry, and I
ho tops of older corn were turning VIII
lr- Fin the fields. 1 even predicted that
NJ. would debut it didn't. 1t was r
ID around with a large sweep and !
until the rains came-a week lat
as then the middles we're plowed out a
nd it received no other cultivation.
IN The field made twice as much
ig- acre as my own corn which recei7
ain frequent, shallow cultivation dur
re, the entire period of drouth.
ru- Did 1 jump to the eoncl"sion t
by the article I had been reading '
ieI wrong, and that frequent, shallow {
iod tivation was not necessary?
he No. But / did some thinking,
al I discovered a number of reasons v
est, this man made good corn.
cd First of all, that piece of gro
9TH was chuck full of decaying veg
cry ton. It had grown two heavy or
of weeds during the two previ
de- years. These, together with a ]
the crop of green weeds six inches h
in had been turned under when