Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1914-02-04
STICK TO THE HOME PAPER.


After she paper was run off last
week, we dropped into the barber
shop to get shave and incidentally
TO see If we had missed any of the
news. You see, if we had overlook
ed anything we knew we were certain
60 hear about it at the barber shop
So Ear as the news in general was
concerned, we had it covered to a
fare-ye- well-we had the kibosh on the
gossips who haunt this particular
parlor tonsorial they had nothing to
offer. But there was present q GER
tain farmer, and be had with him
about as much sense as we have
heard spoken IN many a day. We
should have said he was a prosperous
farmer" just to give eclat to our
story And surely he listened and
looked to be prosperous; he carried a
homemade shave without fear or
favor right into the barber shop as
we'll as a stomach that for poise and
proportions spelled prosperity in
aarg+ bold type
This solid, prosperous farmer
opened She first phial Of his wrath on
the farm papers, without being
specific as to the offender He named
no paper. But he thought he had a
grievance, and we thought he made
ais case all right He charged that
che night before be sat down, in
peace and good faith, to read one of
9hose papers that is published for the
ed5dcation of the farmers Of the north
west He declared he expected to
learn something that he paid for the
publication with good money and had
a right to expect to learn something
from it.
1t so fell out that tbs first item be
read was in the form nf an inquiry
from some 'fool'' farmer who had
neghbor with grove Of trees ad.
Joining field in which tie inquirer
was trying in vain to grow a crop
clean up to the fence. But Of course
the shade of the trees and the roots Of
the trees caught the proposed crop
both in the ground and in the air, to
the serious prejudice thereof
And this fool'' farmer wanted
80 know if he couldn t make the
neighbor cut down his forest. And
he wrote this fool question to the
farm paper. and the foolish editor of
the farm paper was so close run for
sensible matter either original or con
trihuted that be gave it space and
made a serious answer. Instead Of
telling the fool farmer to 60 chase
himself, as he deserved to be told.
And our prosperous farmer in the
barber shop read it and was sore
about it, and we don't blame him one
bit He had right to expect better
things from farm paper that charges
money for its circulation.
Then on top of this case. the
prosperous farmer cited others Of an
equally trivial nature in fact he de-
elared that ne searched in vain for
one word of good hard sense in last
week. issue of his farm paper But
one must not expect too much from a
man when he is sore. There may
have been a little sense in that paper,
after ALL
This is not the first complaint we
have heard from farmers relative to
the shortcomings of the farm press.
On one page it is charged, tbs paper
too often runs to technical, scientific
d0f the conscious sort) matter, and on
the next page will be printed some
GIifling stuff that is wholly IN worthy
She intelligence and seriousness of the
FARMER man. Why this is thus we
are not here to state, but we believe
she statement is too nearly true.
Eventually the farm press will meet
she condition as a whole it is now
tTying to do so.
Probably the most serious Offense
practiced by the farm paper against
she readers it is proposing to serve
aies in the utter Ignorance of the
average editors of farm papers of the
farmer. Too often they don't know
the fellow to whom they are talking.
They may know all about soils. cows,
bulls. manures, ETC.. but these things
Gan t read the paper. The Intelligent
being, the farmer, who can read and
read knowingly-well, these editors
are either Understanding, or over
estimating. him, and in either case
ne DOESN'T like it He objects to
bring monkeyed with and he objects
60 bsing paTroniZed.
There's only one publisher in the
world who knows how to dish up
news TO suit the farmer. and he is the